Fautus Performance

Our mini assessment of Classical Theatre was Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe.

Every pair blocked and self-directed their own section, which was a fun and creative experience.

Fautus Performance

Others Strengths:

• Sophie's change in volume was a strength. This is because her raising her voice showed that she was acting stern, making the mood more serious and the feel of the scene much more dramatic.
• Physical theatre in Catttrina and Beth's scene - I really liked their use of physical theatre. No other group decided to use the technique, so it was unique and stood out from the rest. It was kept simple (John and Josh acting as a table and chair), but looked highly effective.
• The levels used in Lauren and Niamh's scene - Niamh being sat on the floor clearly showed she was inferior to Mephastophilies, who was played by Lauren.
• Lighting - this always sets the atomosphere. The choice of red was a smart one because the colour is easily linked to hell.

Mine and Sax's scene:
I thought that I used the space well in our scene. Playing Mephastophilies, I had to obtain some power over Fautus, which I tried to show through circling him. In our performance, Sax forgot majority of her lines, however, I carried on and covered it well, adding a burst of energy to the scene. My improvement for the future would be to spend more time choreographing the miming sections - of the scene and of our seven deadly sin (lust.) On the day, our miming sections were practically improvised. One thing I was really pleased with was the learning of my lines. I thought my confidence with my lines helped me deliver a stronger performance. A goal for my next classical theatre performance would be to have a greater understanding of the language in the text. The language can sometimes create a barrier for the actor.

My favourite scene was Josh and Ellie's - they started back to back, which was different and a powerful image. Standing back to back also helped to reflect that they were playing the same character that had two minds. Ellie's pauses left more wanting more, and heightened the suspense. They both projected their lines to the audience, with no interaction between them, which created a really strong conenction between actor and audience.