Mephistopheles, Southampton University Student's Union Theatre Group, Annex Theatre (From Daily Echo)
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Mephistopheles, Southampton University Student's Union Theatre Group, Annex Theatre
10:31am Tuesday 1st November 2011 in Curtain Call By Ham Quentin
ALEXIS FORSS’S new play takes on the familiar and fascinating Faustus legend but his version rarely strays outside the campus, apart from visits to Emperor Nero’s court.
Faustus (Sam Beath, who can be relied upon to display strong emotion regardless) only has drugs and a yen for a girl as motivation, so his relationship with Mephistopheles is uncompelling and nothing is real in this jokey student “dream play”, despite smart references.
The girl is, of course, Lust.
Jade Thompson exhibits and inspires this quality, but suffers the fate of too many women written by men.
Best taken as a student indulgence, then, but the performers are personable and Leanne Shorley demonstrates real talent in her comic acting and singing (rather less in her characterisation, but promising more), Sam Jenkins-Shaw makes a plausible, sometimes commanding Mephistopheles and Raees Mahmood’s debut with this group seems likely to win him many admirers.
