The principle joy of this production was the wonderful James Hayes in the title role. He has since written an entertaining memoir about his half-century as a working actor called Shouting in the Evenings: 50 Years on the Stage.
Doctor Faustus has some great speeches, but the comic scenes, which were the ones I was mostly involved with, can be hard work. I remember struggling with the material. I assume the audience must have struggled, too.
This was the first of three plays I did at Chester with Chris Honer’s associate director, David Thacker. After a fifteen year gap, we were to encounter each other again at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
