Interview with an actor

 

This is a 12 minute video of an actor called Gareth Kannerley who played Dr. Fautus in a play. He shares his experience in the shoes of the ambitious scholar who fears for his life in the end. The actor tapped into emotions felt by the Dr. Fautus through the words of the play and describes how the emotions were. It is very informative as it is like the closest personal account of Dr. Faustus that we can still attain.

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Dr. Faustus : A Reenactment of Students.

The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus from jack on Vimeo.

In the video, a group of high school students made a short movie about The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus with minimal actors and props. The usage of the background music is remarkable and it captures the suspense in the play. Though they do not use the exact same words of the play, their reinterpretation enables everybody, including non-literature students and children to understand the play, at the same time get a scare and laugh out of it.

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The Winter's Tale : A Play Commentary

Backstage at the Goodman: Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale from turgical on Vimeo.

This is a video-commentary of the Shakespearean play, A Winter's Tale that was staged in the 1990s. The play is directed by Frank Galati, a passionate director and also an actor. His direction of Grapes of Wrath in Chicago gained him a Tony Award for Best Play, later transferring it to Broadway, where he gained another Tony for Best Direction of A Play.

In this play, the seasoned Frank Galati looks at the play from a very personal manner. Rather than thinking of the Shakespearean play as a masterpiece and keeping a very professional demeanour in directing it, Frank approaches it very personally. He relates the play to the consistency of mankind and how certain things in life does not change, be it in works of literature or in real life. For example, in the video, Frank explains that Shakespeare's plays are usually either comedic or tragic, but in this play, Shakespeare combines both elements, resulting in a play everyone could relate to. The combination of happiness and tragedy is life. There will be moments of joy yet tragedy would not be very far away. Life is unpredictable and full of ups and downs. That is what Frank Galati as a director tried to capture in his version of the play.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Galati
http://vimeo.com/10989968


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The Devil and Demon in Dr. Faustus

The Devil in Dr. Faustus has always been Lucifer himself. Being the prince of Demons, with many servants, he sends one of his servant, Mephistopheles to secure the deal with Dr. Faustus. Lucifer is only after the Dr's soul and gives him 24 years time to live life before he is damned to hell forever. The Devil personifies Faustus the seven deadly sins as an acknowledgment of the sins of Dr. Faustus yet he does not realise the severity of it. 

Besides Lucifer, the main demon role in the play is played by Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is a loyal servant of Lucifer. Yet based on his words, it seems Mephistopheles regrets being in Hell. Mephistopheles is able to relate to Dr. Faustus's situation and sympathises him. The demon tries its subtle best to change Dr. Faustus's decision but unfortunately to no avail. In the end Mephistopheles collects Dr. Faustus's soul .

Mephistopheles is a very popular demon from the German folklore. The demon originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust folklore and later on becoming a stock character for the devil himself. Though the Devil i s Lucifer, Mephistopheles is identified as the Devil instead because the demon's infamy. 

 

Mephistopheles

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Faust

Christopher Marlowe's "The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus" is a play written based on an ancient German folklore that revolves around a man called Faust. The play was published 11 years after Christopher Marlowe's death, in the year 1604 and 12 years after the first performance of the play.

The German folklore is a story about an ambitious man called Faust who exchanges his soul with the Devil for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. This storyline has been the basis for many other literary, artistic, musical and cinematic works. The term 'deal with the devil' is now used as an idiom for the act of giving up one's moral integrity for power and success. The term is also used for people with unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

There is also another play based the same folklore, other than Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. The other play is by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who is a German playwright and his play is called 'Faust'. The final version of his play, though published after his death, is a pride of German literature. 

The image is the depiction of Faust and the demon, Mephistopheles by Harry Clarke, the Irish artist.

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