A.H: And now for something completely different! Adieu to Ogres, Fairies, Table Slaves and Princes and a hearty welcome to tales of damnation, fame, asylums and soul music. Sleeping Beauty is over and Lucy and I now move on to the next phase of our Theatrical endeavours with the Citz. However, sadly, this also means that there must be a parting of the fellowship as Lucy heads to Edinburgh to rehearse Takin’ Over the Asylum at the Lyceum while I remain in Glasgow to rehearse Dr Faustus. In a way it’s rather apt that we’ll be spending the next phase of our internship apart, it was fantastic to be with Lucy on Sleeping Beauty knowing I had a wee confidante in the room going through similar challenges and worries as we found our feet. However, now that said feet have been firmly found and, moreover, thoroughly worn in, it seems right that we now stretch our legs apart before coming back together for what will hopefully be the triumphant Far Away.
But what a journey lies ahead till then. For Dr. Faustus it’ll involve four weeks of rehearsal in Glasgow, two in a different city, a four week run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse before returning to Glasgow for another four week run. The first league of this journey began on Monday at 10am as the full cast arrived from all their different corners of the country and began the process of getting to know each other over copious cups of tea and shortbread. Then it was through to the rehearsal room for a read through of the script, the first time that Dominic Hill, our director, and Colin Teevan, our writer, will have heard the full script out loud in full.
‘Hang on!’ I hear you cry, ‘what do you mean by “our writer”?’ Dr Faustus doesn’t need a writer, it’s already got one: Christopher Marlowe! Surely we’re not augmenting a well established 17th Century? Well, you see, actually...we are. Dominic has had two acts of the play entirely rewritten by Colin Teevan, his writer and collaborator on the acclaimed NTS/Dundee rep production of Peer Gynt. As we sat round the rehearsal table preparing for our read through Dominic clearly laid out his reasons for rewriting the middle two acts: first, it may come as a surprise to find out that there are actually two versions of the play which are known by academics as the ‘A’ text and the rather different ‘B’ text both published within ten years of each other and so the text we all know and revere is actually already corrupt. What is Marlowe and what is not is estimated but a definitive version of Dr. Faustus written solely by Christopher Marlowe does not exist. Secondly, if you read the original version of the text the middle of the play is noticeably uneven in tone and structure. And so when Dominic first reread the play with the idea of potentially putting it on these factors stuck in his mind and eventually led him to the idea of having these troublesome middle acts rewritten by Colin. And finally, Shakespeare’s tragedies were given happy endings in the 19th Centuries and so in comparison to that blasphemy we’re not really being that drastic. So, cut to a year later and after several drafts and redrafts we now have a new version of Dr. Faustus to show the world, part Marlowe, part Teevan, and it is completely fantastic!
Obviously, I won’t give anything away but what I will say is this: as Monday drew to a close and I was walking my 20minute walk home and the combination of the design team’s ideas, the casts read through and Dominic’s vision for the play ringing in my ears I simply couldn’t shake the sheer excitement of it. The script simply by itself is dark, funny, disturbing and amazing, and then if you throw a bunch of insanely talented people into the mix with the intention of bringing that amazing script to life then I don’t know what could go wrong!
‘Dr Faustus’ is on at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from 23 Feb to 16 March. And at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, from 5 Apr to 27 April. For all tickets please contact the box office on: 0141 429 0022, or book online at www.citz.co.uk.
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