The set was ideal for the play. It was a traverse stage with people on both sides so everyone could see what was going on. The lights were very low so the room was dark. This created an eerie effect and increased audience concentration. They used black to show evil and white to show good. This wasn’t very effective and created confusion.
The production created a tense mood. The director created dramatic moments by using freeze and thinking out loud to show the characters thoughts. Faustus showed confusion through his facial expressions and his body language. He put his hands up to his face and asked himself questions trying to decide what to do. The pace was slowed to show the characters thinking in detail and there was tension between the two angels. Lucifer walked onto the stage slowly with a horrid facial expression that gave the audience the expression that she was mean and evil. The direction of both sides (good and evil) clearly showed the contrast. The good angel’s had sweet voices and spoke nicely. The evil angel’s had their own way of bringing Faustus to their side. They spoke quietly but the impact of their words was hard. The difference was powerful. The scene that showed each of the sins was convincing and dramatic. The scene that showed each of the sins was convincing and believable. Each of the sins acted what they represented and spoke how the sins would. They each thought they were better than the rest and represented themselves well.
Themes in the play include good/evil, sins, heaven/hell and time. Good/evil was explored through colours and moods. The good angels’ faces were painted white and showed that they were full of light. The bad angels were never smiling and always talked so the impact of their words and tone was hard. Sins were explored through body language and voice. Each of the sins spoke and acted differently according to what they were, e.g. wrath spoke angrily and sloth walked very slowly showing laziness. Heaven/hell was explored through thoughts. Faustus talked out loud to himself to express his thoughts about what he has done and whether it’s the right thing. He also talks about which is right for him, heaven or hell and which one he would prefer. Finally time is explored through freezes and slow motion when the angels are trying to convince Faustus which way to turn. They take their time and plan their attack wisely.
The audience were not involved in the performance. They were bored at some bits where Faustus was talking to Lucifer and some bits where he was talking to himself. The audience were amused when the sins introduced themselves. There was no audience participation and in some scenes the atmosphere was almost deadly (e.g. the sins) and there was pin-drop silence.
Slow music was used to create a creepy effect as time was running out before the clock strikes 12. Also it presented the angels as they moved into different positions.
I found the deadly sins interesting because I liked comparing it to the work we did. It reminded me of the fashion show (miss ‘sineverse’) that we did and I compared each of their sins to ours. Ours was more humorous and had less of the script included in it.
Overall I thought the play was interesting and used different dramatic techniques to convey their ideas.
