DR FAUSTUS A successful production requires teamwork
Henry Rolleston, who played the lead in Dr Faustus, says he found the role challenging but stimulating.
“Faustus is a very intense character, who goes through huge changes at the end of the play when you see him change from an arrogant, self-absorbed man into a terrified man going to hell, and nothing can stop that.’’ When Year 12 student Henry first found out he had the lead part, he was “totally ecstatic’’. The last two years he had been in the chorus in productions and while he expected to get a speaking part, he never expected it to be the lead. “While there were times when it was daunting, I had the sense that it is not all about me and all the pressure was not on me. There were so many characters and everyone on stage added something, for example the devils who writhed around on stage and really added to the creepiness that made Dr Faustus what it was.” The creepiness and intense emotion Faustus experiences when he realises the inevitability of his fate are key to the play, Henry says. He believes Faustus was a really good choice for an all-male cast because of its intense physicality. “We were all leaping about, running up scaffolds and in and out of the audience. We changed a few female roles into male roles and kept a couple of female roles, which boys play for their comedic effect.
Year 11 student Paddy Coates had a non-speaking, mini-devil role. These devils were on stage for much of the play and patrolled the back of the stage climbing on frames or rolling around. “Our role was to intimidate the soldiers of Faustus and to scatter into the audience. There was a lot of interaction with the audience. At the beginning of the play, we came charging on to scare away the choir. We were creepy and part of the dark mood of the play.’’ Stage manager Sam Walker says he had put together a good stage crew with a diverse range of skill sets and they worked well with the challenges the set presented. “I guess this is different this year as the play was new to us and a
challenge as it was the first time we hadn’t done it with another school,’’ Sam says. “We had a simple but very different set which was set at angles rather than straight on which made it more dynamic.’’ Another challenge was that some of the exits and entrances were through the audience which made stage management a bit more tricky, says Sam.
Henry Rolleston and Director of Drama Mr David Chambers.
Christ’s College Canterbury
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