Having won the Audience Choice Award and received superb reviews for their performance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Brighton Fringe Festival 2011, Tanglehead are back with their take Christopher Marlowe’s Dr Faustus.
Offering the hope of an entertaining and inspirational evening, all the seats available on the opening night of their performance The Happy Cell Factory were taken. The event got off to disorganised start, meaning we were 20 minutes behind schedule, but any lost time was soon forgotten, as we were lead into the studio space and the depths of the play.
Placed around the edge of the intimate room, a heaven of soft lighting and rich décor, we were part of the set ourselves: it would have been impossible not to get sucked into the passionate, amusing and at times entirely ridiculous story of Dr Faustus’ fall from grace. Having sold his soul to the devil, the learned Faustus explores the world of dark magic, taking us on an often-hilarious journey of petty tricks and blasphemous foolery.
Highlights included Dr Faustus’ wife; Lucifer’s companion; the Seven Deadly Sins; and the affordable drinks menu in the interval. Adding to the seduction of the performance, Faustus’ submission to the devil was bizarrely sexual, an interesting layer to the delicious power of Marlow’s rhetoric. Beneath the comedy value and aesthetic pleasures of the play, Marlowe engages with complex philosophies, exposing the paradoxes of religion and the farcical boundaries of greedy human power. Although it took a while for the actors to truly get into their roles, they gave an excellent performance overall. The play was accessible, even for those unfamiliar with the plot, and although perhaps a little too lengthy – it was gone 11 by the time we left – ensured a refreshingly memorable and extremely enjoyable evening.
