By Caden Mustoe
I would feel guilty if I didn’t take this opportunity to tell you about Doctor Faustus as performed The Grassroots Shakespeare Company at The Castle Amphitheatre. Why would I want something so flawless to go unknown?
From the moment you arrive, you feel a sense of belonging. That these people who are greeting you aren’t ushers, cast and crew, or unfamiliar audience members, but rather long-time acquaintances, all ready to share a good time with you. Being a GSC junkie, I knew that I wanted to be a little early. Along those same lines, I also knew that I wanted to be right in the front row. You may think that tickets for the standing room only part in front of the stage may not be as good as the seats, but don’t let the lower price fool you. This spot is as fun if not more so than the sitting space. Every performance has a prelude music ensemble — amazing musicians (more on them later) and members of the cast. It feels like an old minstrel show with the folk tunes and the occasional juggling. It’s their customary ritual that gets you in the perfect place to watch their piece.
Now some of you may be thinking to yourselves “but didn’t Christopher Marlowe write Doctor Faustus, not Shakespeare?” And you’d be right! This set of performances marks the first time the GSC presents a non-Shakespearean play. This is all explained beforehand, along with the customary location of the bathrooms, like us on Facebook, etc. etc. They also inform you how they strive to create their shows the way Shakespeare did in his day. This is why I’ve neglected to put the director’s name — there isn’t one!
The story, as the name implies, is about Doctor Faustus, played by the talented Eric David Geels. In the beginning, he is a young but brilliant man. But it isn’t enough for him, so he seeks the aid of a demon named Mephistopheles, played by Shawn Saunders. What follows is the tale of a man grappled with the decisions he’s made. Other characters include Alexander the Great as played by Joshua Michael French, the seven deadly sins as played by… a lot of people, and Lucifer himself, played by Amos Omer. While I cannot include everyone in the cast in this review, I’d like to give a special shoutout to Greg Larse, who played Robin, and Maddy Forsyth, who played a myriad of characters. Most of the actors plays a myriad of parts, but it’s not hard to follow who’s who. They use masks and costume pieces to differentiate.
The Castle Amphiteater in Provo is a fabulous venue for this play. It’s tall, dark, and creepy. Bring a blanket though and something to sit on if you are buying the sitting tickets. It’s cold and those rock seats get pretty hard after a while.
It should be said that this production at times can be quite, quite creepy. That being said, this production, crazily, had moments so funny I was doubled over with laughter. How they managed to do it is just one more thing that makes the GSC magical.
As I mentioned before, the play is preceded by a musical performance. These musicians also play throughout the duration of the play. This theatre company would only be half as good if not for them. What they do is subtle, but once analyzed becomes clear. I won’t get too deep into this, but certain melodies are associated with certain characters or emotions. The transitions between the songs are done in a seamless, non-distracting way as the musicians are right there instead of using a recording as so many companies do.
As I watch the Grassroots time and time again, the thing that continues to amaze me is how easily I can follow the story. I hate to say this, but we’ve all seen at least one bad performance of Shakespeare, where they get up and say the lines the performers themselves don’t even understand. The Grassroots aren’t a bit like this. My favorite way of them doing this is not being afraid to add contemporary elements. There was one point when a character pulls out a copy of Conjuring for Dummies. It was silly and everybody laughed, but it also helped me to understand that whenever that prop was used, he was looking at spells of conjuring. Simple as that.
Lastly, not only is this show a top-notch form of entertainment, but I left the amphitheater feeling like I had learned something. That I had something grander to take with me. That there was more beyond the theatrics. Thank you again for reading this.
Grassroots Shakespeare Company
Doctor Faustus
Castle Amphitheater, 1300 East Center Street Provo
Thursday October the 31st @ 8:00 P.M.
Thursday October the 31st @ Midnight
Friday, November the 1st @ 8:00 P.M.
Saturday, November 2nd @ 8:00 P.M.
Gallery – $15, Yard – $10
Thanks for the review and thanks for coming! We also have performances on the 25th 26th and 28th!