Dr Faustus vs Jon Snow

Time to fulfill my own promise and the last few New Years’ resolutions and start my blog anew.

B and I went to see Dr Faustus at the Duke of York Theatre last night. Kit Harington of GoT fame was playing the lead and I suspect this accounts for the selling out of the auditorium. It’s certainly a shrewd move on behalf of the producers; knowing full well the popularity of GoT and especially one of the most popular leads.

It’s probably worth pointing out that I’ve not watched GoT. I’ve seen a few clips and I will watch it, but at a time when I’m ready for it to consume my life. B, my sis and bro-in-law are fans along with pretty much everyone else you seem to speak to.

So why was everyone watching last night? To see Faustus or Harington. Personally, I went to see Faustus. Anyone could’ve been playing the lead for me. I studied Marlowe’s play in the first year of my OU degree and it’s stuck with me since. If I’d not seen Faustus before, or knew nothing of it, or had a tin ear for Shakespearean language (which to some extent, I have) then I would have been mightily confused. I’m sure I’m doing many a disservice, but I got the impression many were confused, which makes me suspect they were there to watch Harington. OK, so first, why do I suspect this and, second, why is this a problem?

Anecdotal evidence can only answer the first as, apart from B, I didn’t talk to anyone during or after the play – apart from one lady, who’ll be mentioned later. B is a trained actress, knows Faustus as a text and is also a GoT/Harington fan. Win-Win. However, overhead at the interval, a girl said, ‘Well, that was quite confusing.’ Confusing regarding the modernist slant the director took? The seamless transition between Shakespearean speech and modern language/slang/idiom/swearing? Or was the plot of a man who sells his soul to the devil confusing?

Did anyone who went to watch Harington because it was Harington know what was going on? I suspect some did, yes. But, the others who audibly gasped when Harington stripped to his (tight) underwear and whose eyes popped and jaws dropped when he provocatively bared his behind; I suspect not. They were there for one thing and it wasn’t Marlowe’s text.

I’ve seen some great and some not so great performances in theatre. However, I’ve never seen the clamour at the side of the Duke of York when the show had finished. Everyone wanting a glimpse of Jon Snow. ‘Ohh, I saw his bum on Saturday night, you know.’ Such comments can be imagined over the desks and water coolers on Monday morning. I wonder if the gathering was there to cheer his performance or to get sight of a guy who plays a hunky character on TV? How about the phone photography and filming at the end of the performance, when the cast bowed to the audience. It might be pertinent to mention that Harington finished the performance in his pants. Would the cameras have been out, or the pockets of standing ovations taken place if an unknown actor had played the lead? How about if that lead had performed ten thousand times better than Harington?

On one hand, this is a crying shame. Harington did a good job. I’ve seen two other performances of Faustus, and in my humble opinion, he was OK. He wasn’t rubbish, yet he didn’t blow me away. I think it’s hard for the Faustus character to blow the audience away; that role seems reserved for Mephistopheles. Regardless, I think it’s a shame for an actor to turn up, do a good job and the only reason people are there is because he’s Jon Snow. And what do the other actors think? Special praise must go to Tom Edden, who for me (and B) stole the show. His modern vernacular and range of expression showed how actors can completely capture the mood and audience. His seven deadly sins had the audience laughing and his demand for truffle (the modern grape), gagging… Praise too for the directors and production team for attempting to bring Marlowe into the 21st century.

Sadly, I wonder how many people will remember Edden and the other cast, who all put on admirable performances. Instead, I wonder how many people will remember the time they went to see Jon Snow get his bum out and walk around half naked. This isn’t a criticism of Harington, or the directors – I suspect whoever played the lead who have done the same, but I doubt the reaction would have been the same. I went to watch Faulks’ Bird Song in Richmond and the male lead – even more ripped then Harington – was similarly non-attired, yet the reaction wasn’t the same… odd. I don’t even criticise the audience for wanting to see Harington, but, maybe just maybe, someone might have taken something away from the text.

I certainly hope so and this is the alternate argument and why the casting team should be praised. Having Harington as the lead has undoubtedly brought in the punters, but (and I really hope this is the case), it has also introduced people to Marlowe and his text. One of Edden’s lines is (and I paraphrase): ‘Well, we saw it and it was really good, and it made you think, y’know’. I can’t help feel this is a clever directorial piece of meta theatre – a wink towards those who went to see Harington and came away thinking about society’s covetousness and gluttony, against the futility of life. Faustus can conjure anything you want, but damn, I want those caviar truffles.

I suppose if, one or two people went away and did think about the play, then the director and the cast have done their job. Harington has brought in the crowds and put on a good show. He’s also brought people to the theatre who probably have never been. This can only be a good thing. Edden and the other actors have been seen and rightly praised. If Harington wasn’t the lead, or more interestingly, if he was and had never been known as Jon Snow of GoT fame, would the stalls have been as full?

I really hope plenty of people left last night, having gone to see Jon Snow and left thinking of Dr Faustus. I hope they enjoyed the experience and any cogitated on any confusion. I hope they’ll think of going to the theatre again and not because Matthew Perry is making a renaissance, but because it’s good to open one’s mind to new experiences.

Finally, I wonder if the woman who sat in front of me, scanning her emails halfway through the second half, will take anything away from her trip to the Duke of York? I’m not talking teenage girl, obsessed with her Twitter and Instagram feeds (not that that excuses using your mobile though any performance). No, I’m talking a sixty odd year old woman, who blatantly flips on her phone, illuminates the local area and starts checking her email. If anyone sums up my criticism of watching Faustus for the aesthetics of Harington and taking nothing away from the performance, then it is her. She personified sheer ignorance and showed a blatant disrespect for the cast, the producers and the people who did go to watch Dr Faustus, even it was to get a sight of Harington in the buff. There clearly can’t have been anything too urgent because when I asked her, ‘is there any interesting on your phone?’ she snapped it closed and didn’t check it again. Embarrassed? Yes, I hope she was and I hope she took that away with her that night.