Stage and Production.

Doctor Faustus is a play and therefore it needs to be performed in a theatre (yes THEATRE, not TheEter) to arrive at a clear interpretation of its meaning. However, depending on the performance and presentation, the interpretation of the meaning and of the performance as a whole may change/ be different. So, in the quick blog I will noting how different interpretations may occur in Doctor Faustus.

Marlowe wrote Doctor Faustus during the Elizabethan times, or, in a Literature view of History, the Shakespearean times. This means Marlowe most probably intended or designed his play to be performed on a Shakespearean type of stage, with a large so called "thrust stage" projecting into the auditorium. This type of stage would have caused the audience to feel involved and close to the action of the play, which may have been the intention of Marlowe, because, as a free thinker, he would have wanted the audience to begin to question their beliefs and their religion.

Whereas, today, although there are still stages which project in to the audience, like the Crucible, it is not as common as it would have been during Marlowe's day. The style of stage could possibly (although this is a long shot) affect the way in which Faustus is interpreted, as the distance between the stage and the audience will cause a modern day audience to feel less involved compared to during Marlowe's time and so don't become as caught up in Faustus action's and cause them to question their beliefs. I did say it was a long shot because people will interpret it differently because we have very different beliefs to 500-600 years ago and so the play won't be as controversial, rather than it being down to the stage but hey ho, I'd already started typing it.

The 3 main forms of symbolism on stage is:
 -Clothing
 -Props
 -Above (raised platform, area of the stage)

Clothing and Props are, truthfully, kind of obvious ones. The clothes the character is wearing and the objects they are either holding or using will create different interpretations and meanings, as they can show the wealth and status of a character as well as showing what is unfolding or about to unfold in the play. During the Marlowe's time, the clothes for characters would have been mostly donated by aristocrats.

The less obvious out of the three is the Above, however, when it was explained to us in class it made the most sense. Above refers to either a raised platform or even a balcony, just an area of the stage which is higher than the rest. It can create symbolism as placing a certain character on a elevated part of the stage can represent or symbolise or show their status and wealth, like props and clothes can, or it could even suggest they are possibly spirits or ghosts. However, when you read plays a stage direction may say "[ blah enters from above]" and therefore the character arrives from above or is above, so it can be symbolic or literal.

All 3 the factors mentioned above would be key or vital to a play when Marlowe was alive because the stage(s) were often bare. This meant that the audience would learn more from the way the character was dressed, stood and holding compared to what was the on the stage with the character.

We looked at a possible example of how Faustus could be presented in Act 1.1, where the Good Angel and the Bad Angel try to persuade and talk to Faustus. We were asked to draw out the stage in which we thought this scene should be presented to the audience. Like it would have been during Marlowe's time, I kept the stage bare apart from a bookshelf and a chair which were in a far corner of the stage. I included these because I thought it would help show further Faustus intellect but because they were at the far side of the stage in a corner I thought it would also show that he has started to turn his back on studying traditional forms of well studying. Then I had Faustus in the centre of the stage and had to slightly elevated stages just behind him, basically in line with each shoulder and an Angel would be on each stage, separated. One would be in all black the other in all white and Faustus in normal get up. Plain and simple. Faustus would not turn to either of the angels, wouldn't approach them or acknowledge them, however he would walk from one to the other to show his indecision.

Done.