Local director tackles 'Faustus'
By KAREN SHADE, 04/17/2008
John Cruncleton and Sara Cruncleton appear in a scene from the Nightingale Theater's production of "Faustus." SHANE BEVEL / Tulsa World
Goethe's done it. So has Liszt, Gounod and Marlowe. Now David Mamet has added his name to the list of great composers and writers who have tackled the Faustian legend.
Mamet's rendering of "Faustus" opens this week at the Nightingale theater, 1416 E. Fourth St., at 8 p.m. Friday. It will play for three weekends.
"It's really deep, complex material. We're still making fairly big discoveries about different moments," said Joseph Gomez of the play's cast.
Better known as an actor and writer with Nightingale's 50 Swats writers' group, Gomez decided to direct this production.
What was an old German story about an obsessed doctor who gambles his ever-loving soul to a devilish character for the secret knowledge of life is new again, and more complex.
In Mamet's telling, Faustus has discovered the answer he's obsessively searched for. But to protect it from a certain shady character, he's then willing to do anything.
Because the nature of his bargain is fundamentally different from that of other Faust stories, the deal becomes a "much more understandable bargain," Gomez said.
Jason Watts (left), Joseph Gomez and John Cruncleton appear in a scene from the Nightingale Theater's production of "Faustus." SHANE BEVEL / Tulsa World
"It's not a play about religion, but it's a very religious play," he said, and "Faustus" asks its audience to look closer at personal rituals, rites and beliefs, whatever they may be.
"I think in a religiously charged environment like Tulsa, this is perfect material, and a lot of food for thought," he said. "I think it's definitely the kind of play that the audience will be mulling over for a while."
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When
8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 25-26 and May 2-3
Where
Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
Tickets
$10. For more, call 633-8666