Dr. Faustus and the 7 Deadly Sins

Two very different pieces this week that dwelt on similar themes of epic sin. It would be churlish to suggest that Marlowe’s Dr Faustus by Third Party has been dumbed down. It has actually been excavated from beneath centuries of dramatic tradition and given a new lease of life. Some of the language remains in tact and certainly the thrust of the narrative – one of the most popular themes for authors, playwrights and moviemakers since – is in place. Oddly it was one of those plays where I was able to switch off a little. There were no grand theatrics, the magic was underplayed perfectly and the acting was strong. It is often more difficult to write a good review than a bad one and this turned out to be the case.



The same was true of The Tiger Lillies – 7 Deadly Sins, who’s sheer weirdness it is actually very difficult to sum up in words. Howard, fortunately, has forgone this by critiquing the plays we see in cartoons, which is rather sweet. He tells me that somebody is interested in developing this idea and personally I think it’s a corker. Bugger the ‘stars’ concept – give us a cartoon to sum up the performance. Naturally, I shall continue with my 250 words as it is easier to e-mail and I have run out of day-glow Post-Its. I wonder if Howard will find it easier to draw bad critiques than good ones?