Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus

DOCTOR FAUSTUS

BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

Directed by PJ Escobio

The core of Doctor Faustus is the question of opposites and a distinct look at an age in transition. Its themes revolve around contrasts such as good vs evil, sin vs redemption, technology vs magic, future vs past. It is a story about pettiness and the abuse of power, something we see all too often in today’s leaders. Our hope is to share a fresh and vitalized version of this wonderfully German-centric story.

Doctor Faustus will premiere on Thursday 1 February 2024 at 8 PM at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt.

Further performance dates:
2, 3 February at 8 PM
1, 2 March at 8 PM
3 March at 6 PM
18, 19, 20 April at 8 PM
2, 3, 4 May at 8 PM

Approximate run-time: 2 hours 20 (plus 15 min. intermission)

WARNING: This show contains minor instances of sexual situations, religious content, and strobing lights.

TRAILER

BACKSTAGE

CAST

Jonathan Roth has been active as a performer for almost 20 years in various companies, including Zettels Theater, Theater 3D and Staatstheater Darmstadt. He has appeared in numerous Shakespeare productions and played the title roles in Hamlet, Pericles and Henry V. His first work as a playwright, Dichterliebe, in which he also portrayed the German poet icon Heinrich Heine, was awarded the jury prize at the MADE.Festival Hessen.

Jonathan joined Shakespeare Frankfurt in 2021 as the Fool in King Lear in the Botanical Garden. In Antony and Cleopatra he played the notorious Emperor Marc Antony, a role he then reprised for Julius Caesar. As Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Jonathan now takes on the role of an even more infamous character, and will happily sell his soul to the devil for each and every performance.

Antonia Görge is a native of Frankfurt with a background in musicology and literary studies. Doctor Faustus is her seventh production with Shakespeare Frankfurt following Julius Caesar (2023), Antony and Cleopatra (2021), Spiritus Vitae – The Breath of Life (2020), Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018), The Tempest (2016), and Hortus Inclusus (2016).

Other projects in 2024 include Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of Much Ado About Nothing at Botanischer Garten Frankfurt as well as Künstlerplattform Noctenytor’s productions of Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub and of Addams Family, both at Kulturhaus Frankfurt.

Varvara comes from Athens, Greece. She has trained on Meisner Technique, Improvisation, Shakespeare’s Language, Meyerhold’s Biomechanics & Physical Theatre at various theatre organisations in Germany, Austria and the UK. Some of her performance credits include the roles of Cleopatra (Antony & Cleopatra), Eckart (Baal), Kent (King Lear), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Tupolski (Pillowman), Emilia (Othello), Aslaksen (An Enemy of the People) and Hippolyta & Fairies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). She also performed for two years at The English Theatre’s production of Huck Finn. Most recently she directed Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of Julius Caesar and she played Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet

Conor Doyle is an actor and comedian. A familiar face with the company, Conor has showcased his talents in earlier productions, including Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Beyond the Shakespearean realm, he extends his performance finesse to the young audience through plays with the English Theatre’s Education Department. Conor’s versatility shines through, making him a notable presence in both classic and contemporary theatrical landscapes. Catch his captivating performances as he continues to weave his magic on stage, leaving audiences both entertained and enriched.

Keith, a native Tenessean currently residing in Germany, has been successfully working as a singer, dancer, actor and choreographer. He has a diverse educational background with diplomas in Musical (American Musical and Dramatics Academy), Speech & Theater and Elementary Education (Austin Peay State University), and ESL Training Cerification (Cambridge University, England). Keith has performed nationally and internationally in the German productions of The Lion King, Starlight Express, La Cage Aux Folles, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Dream Girls (in concert), and European Productions of the opera Porgy & Bess (Rome Opera, Teatro Bellini, Semperoper Dresden, Frankfurt Opera, and many others). Some of his choreography success include: Song & Dance (Landestheater Eisenach), Some Like It Hot (Anhaltisches Theater Dessau), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (U.S.) and Jesus Christ Superstar (U.S.). Keith is a member of AEA and has performed in Equity productions such as Big River, Guys and Dolls, Fives Guys Named Mo, Anything Goes and Sophisticated Ladies and starred as Tony Whitcomb in Shear Madness at the Kennedy CTR. Doctor Faustus marks Keith’s fifth production with Shakespeare Frankfurt, following King Lear, As You Like It, Sweat and Julius Caesar.

Paul dabbled in the arts from a young age. In school, he played the drums in jazz and rock bands, recorded two albums, and performed concerts in Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Russia. While also making short films and singing in choir, he acted in several school theatre productions, playing, among others, Franz in Die Räuber and Flute/Thisbe in Midsummer Night’s Dream. After moving to Frankfurt in 2021, he started writing plays – his debut, Kaulquapp, is currently being reviewed by publishers. Paul then discovered Shakespeare Frankfurt and joined the company for Doctor Faustus, and has been cast as Claudio in their upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing. This is his first time on stage in 10 years, and his first time performing in English.

Sarah was born in the United States and currently lives with her family in Frankfurt. Since childhood, Sarah has had a passion for performance art. She began dance training in early childhood and was heavily involved in her high school’s theater department, and later studied Dance and Theater at the University of Iowa. She was inducted into the International Thespian Society in 1990, and has worked both onstage and backstage with various theatre groups. Dance roles include the Wicked Witch in the Dance Theatre of the Hemisphere’s production of Hansel and Gretel, and one of the Furies in Orpheus and Eurydice. She was choreographer and costume director for R-ACT Production’s presentations of Wizard of Oz and Nunsense (for which she also understudied Mother Superior and Sister Hubert). Other roles were Marty Maraschino in Grease and Ingrid Laszlo in Noir Suspicions. Doctor Faustus is her first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt.

Henriette is excited to be in her first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt. As a theatre studies student at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, her fascination for the Elizabethan theatre has led her to the stage, where she played Hecate and Lady MacDuff in Shakespeare‘s Macbeth in a production of the Stonechurch Players (Middletown, New Jersey). She would like to thank her talented cast and crew for all the support and the cheerful mood. 

Nathan is a student at the Metropolitan School Frankfurt. Fascinated with theatre and drama from a young age, he has already performed in a variety of productions. School productions include the roles of Captain Hook in Peter Pan, the title role in the Phoney Physician as well as the Mayor of Whoville in Horton Hears a Who. In 2019, Nathan debuted with Shakespeare Frankfurt in their production of Macbeth and followed this with performances in Trojan Women in 2020 and King Lear in 2021. In 2021, Nathan also played the main role in a film by Jackson Beyda, Elements of Reading. In 2021, Nathan played  the role of Silvius and was the understudy for the character of Charles in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of As You Like It.

Jamaican-born Trisha Fiss moved to Frankfurt, Germany almost 20 years ago to join her husband and build a life together. Today, she is a mother of two and professional language trainer with a passion for the stage. 

Trisha has been involved in the Frankfurt English theatre scene since 2016. She has also worked with the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden in productions of the opera Anna Nicole by Mark-Anthony Turnage in 2020 and Three Sisters by Russian playwright Anton Chekov in early 2022. 

Trisha joined Shakespeare Frankfurt in 2022 as an actor in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage, and was stage manager for the 2023 production of Romeo and Juliet in the Botanical Garden. Trisha is really excited to be back on the stage again in Doctor Faustus, her third production with Shakespeare Frankfurt.

Blanca is twenty years old and currently studies musicology in Frankfurt. She started taking singing, dancing and piano lessons at age six, and through school she was inspired to join the English Theater Workshop at the Amt für Multikulturelle Angelegenheiten in Frankfurt, where she discovered her love for acting. 

This is her fourth time working with Shakespeare Frankfurt, having performed as Celia in As You Like It, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and most recently having played the role of Emilia in the 2023 production of Othello.

Casey is a German-American theatre and film student. Their interest in performance started with short film and theatre productions in and around school where they performed as an actor, director and writer. Their writing has featured in the Bildungsstätte Anne Frank’s audio tour Das Private ist Poetisch as well as the game Hidden Codes. Interning for Shakespeare Frankfurt has moved them along their path in the theatre world, where they hope to spend many years.

CREATIVE/PRODUCTION TEAM

PJ is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Frankfurt and for the 2023-24 season is directing Shakespeare’s Othello and Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Other plays he has directed for SF include Trojan Women by Euripides, Sweat by Lynn Nottage, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen,  Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, King LearMacbeth, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night. In 2020 he directed the film Spiritus Vitae, The Breath of Life. He is a House director at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt where his production of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh was in the Fall of 2019. PJ has directed for the English Theatre Frankfurt Robinhood by Kathryn Schultz Miller, Huck Finn by Sean Aita, and Girl with a Book by Nick Wood. From 2015-18 he was the Director in Residence at The LOFT, where he directed Shakespeare in the Garden: Hortus Inclusus, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Grounded by George Brandt and was the co-creator of Where. For 10 years he was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Anyone? founded in New York City in 2005, where he directed, produced and/or performed roles from all but five of Shakespeare’s plays. He was the Associate Artistic Director of WordBRIDGE Playwright’s Laboratory from 2007-12. He also cast and directed BFA playwriting thesis projects for NYU’s Tisch school of the arts. He has taught Acting, Scene Study, Stage Combat and Shakespeare courses at the collegiate level as well as high schools and private institutions for over 20 years. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-KC in Acting and Directing.

Hannah Whittington is very excited to be working on her first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt! Having graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with honors in English, Dramatic Art, and Music in 2022, she has been performing since a very young age in dance recitals, plays, and musicals. She found her passion for the production side of theater by stage managing community theater for youth in her hometown and serving as the Executive Producer for a collegiate theater company at UNC. Here in Germany, she is involved with the Amelia Earhart Playhouse in Wiesbaden where she appeared as Wayne in Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic and as Portia in Something Rotten! and also directed and produced their 2023 Summer Camp series for youth. Next up, she will be assistant directing and choreographing Tuck Everlasting with the Amelia Earhart Playhouse. 

Varvara comes from Athens, Greece. She has trained on Meisner Technique, Improvisation, Shakespeare’s Language, Meyerhold’s Biomechanics & Physical Theatre at various theatre organisations in Germany, Austria and the UK. Some of her performance credits include the roles of Cleopatra (Antony & Cleopatra), Eckart (Baal), Kent (King Lear), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Tupolski (Pillowman), Emilia (Othello), Aslaksen (An Enemy of the People) and Hippolyta & Fairies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). She also performed for two years at The English Theatre’s production of Huck Finn. Most recently she directed Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of Julius Caesar and she played Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet

 Casey is a German-American theatre and film student. Their interest in performance started with short film and theatre productions in and around school where they performed as an actor, director and writer. Their writing has featured in the Bildungsstätte Anne Frank’s audio tour Das Private ist Poetisch as well as the game Hidden Codes. Interning for Shakespeare Frankfurt has moved them along their path in the theatre world, where they hope to spend many years.

Luna Schreiner is a happy late addition to the Doctor Faustus production as an intern with Shakespeare Frankfurt. A Gießen native, Luna has been discovering the English-speaking theatre scene in Frankfurt for the past two months after spending too many years away from the stage. As a child, Luna was part of the Stadttheater Gießen’s youth club and co-wrote a play with her fellow youth actors. During her year abroad in New Zealand, she participated in the 2015 Stage Challenge, which was her last foray into theatre until this winter. She’s currently preparing to write her bachelor’s thesis about Shakespeare and is super excited to finally be involved in the practical aspects of a play rather than just reading it.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy of Doctor Faustus premiered in 1594 in London; just over 200 years later, the first version of Goethe’s Faust was published and began being produced. The story originates from the 16th century German legends regarding a Dr. Johan Fausten. A translation of those tales made it into England as early as 1592, and soon after Marlowe created his version of the story. This short history lesson is to simply say: it’s a German story, first dramatized by Marlowe, and many decades later Goethe offered his version, one that is honored today as arguably the greatest piece of German literature. We chose to produce the Marlowe version to give the German community a rare opportunity to see on stage his playful, alternative, magical vision of the story which almost every student in Germany is required to study. Example, the Gretchen story line does not exist in Marlowe’s version. 

Marlowe’s story is, at its core, a tale of a man who feels he’s achieved greatness and still wants more. Academically he’s studied it all but turns to necromancy and the dark arts to learn the secrets of the universe. In his search for power, he abandons God and the church and makes a 24-year deal with powers of darkness. This story is about wasted opportunities, he becomes all powerful with Mephistophilis as his invisible servant, but over time he wastes that great power on parlor tricks and cheap illusions. This is not a tale of redemption, it’s cautionary. One of the most compelling elements in this version of the story is the presence of several working-class characters. They replicate so much of what we see Doctor Faustus go through but with a filter of humor and absurdity. This play is titled ‘a Tragedy’, and the fall of Faustus is deeply tragic, but the play is filled with wonderfully comical moments that remind us of the absurdity of it all. It’s also reflective of the time it was written and brings to light so much regarding religion and its place in society. Marlowe was fearless in his commentary on the church and its hypocrisy, we have done our best to highlight that aspect of the story.

All in all, this production focuses on the humor, the critical view of religion and the choices we all make to achieve greatness, it’s a journey into a world of fantasy and magic that will leave a lasting impression and asks our audiences the most important question: What would you do if you were omnipotent?

PJ Escobio
January 11