Free Theatre Christchurch presents new work for 2010: Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.

Dr Faustus – scholar, magician, and proto-scientist – sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge and for becoming a black magic spectacular entertainer.

From a time when the certainties of God and nature were increasingly destabilised by the schism of the Christian religion and the birth of science, Marlowe’s Faustus is both folk hero and villain. He speaks to a contemporary audience caught at a similar, destabilising social moment, when the success of science has led to a highly technologised entertainment culture but also to the possibility of the self-destruction of the human race. As with Faustus, our simultaneous quest for knowledge and distraction leads us into an unknown future. What are we selling our soul for? And what sort of hell awaits us?

Commissioned by the Platform Arts Festival and directed by Peter Falkenberg, Free Theatre’s Doctor Faustus offers a cornucopia of theatrical and filmic delights: shadow puppets, magic lanterns, trick film, conjuring, fortune telling, optical illusions, live instrumental music, dance, song, science and other magic.

University Theatre, The Arts Centre of Christchurch, 8pm

Dates: May, Thurs 20, Fri 21, Sat 22, Sun 23, Thurs 27, Fri 28, Sat 29. 

Tickets: $25/$15 @ Ticketek