Doctor Faustus

Sedgwick Theater
7137 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia

When it premiered in Elizabethan England, Doctor Faustus was understood to be so authentic that actual demons were once conjured up on stage, confusing the cast and terrifying the audience. But if hellish visitors did come, it was a wasted trip: For Christopher Marlowe's mysterious masterpiece is spellbinding enough without supernatural intervention, thanks to a riveting story and his ecstatically beautiful language ("Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?"). Now Quintessence Theatre Group presents this tale of the brilliant Faustus, who fueled by insatiable greed for knowledge, leaves his research to study black magic. Summoning the devil, he trades in his soul for 24 years of infinite knowledge and the services of a demonic concierge. Alexander Burns directs this inventive new production at Sedgwick Theater.