Doctor Faustus
★★★★☆ Smartly staged
St John’s Church (Venue #127):Tue 18 – Wed 19 Aug 2026
Review by Bri Boehm
Doctor Faustus, presented as a staged reading for two performances only at St. John’s Episcopal Church as part of the Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts, is a delight for Marlowe fans and newcomers alike.
As this is a staged reading, the level of performance is limited. Emotional heights are hard to reach with scripts in hand, and so the stakes and nuances lack their full potential. However, this production features a cast of strong performers, so bold and well-characterized in their many roles that the script still shines.
St Johns Episcopal Church interior. Pic: St Johns
Michael Daviot’s Faustus is grounded, strong and authoritative from his first words. His performance unfortunately plateaus, perhaps partially due to the script in hand. As the narrative stakes increase, his performance is left ultimately unaffected by the context and his emotionality is found wanting in the climax.
But Daviot’s assertive voice and his command of the stage ultimately keep his performance grounded and the rest of the cast – Susan Chynoweth as Mephisto, Tim Barrow as Wagner and with Claire Cochrane director Janet de Vigne as scholars and demons – provide a strong ensemble, populating the world with plenty of well-defined characters.
The venue alone holds a tremendous amount of conversation with the text at hand. Marlowe’s rumoured atheism holds a scholarly presence as this tragedy – about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for power – here plays out inside a religious structure.
a twisted dark sermon
Director Janet de Vigne makes brilliant use of the space. Faustus stands upon the lectern as he enacts his summons, a twisted dark sermon that turns the audiences into complicit witnesses of utter blasphemy. As the play (and the characters) descend into darkness, more and more of the space below the stage and into the pews is used, playing with levels and audience intimacy.
The company take their bows at the end of Doctor Faustus. Pic: Bri Boehm.
To further the meta-theatrical friction, Tim Barrow transforms into Christopher Marlowe himself to read the lines of the Chorus, translating his work to a rapt crowd of his own devotees.
Costuming is impressively effective considering the minimal staging: sleek, simple, but true to character. The props and costume pieces that are used to signify changing characters are similarly impactful, with single crucial traits emphasized and clarified with ease. Despite the small cast covering many parts, each role is notable and distinct, partially due to the talent of the ensemble and partially due to these well-curated signifying pieces.
Overall, this production of Doctor Faustus is an engaging, solid opportunity to get to experience a brilliant text read and staged by a stellar cast and team. The play is clearly well-known and well-loved and the choice to lean into the venue provides a unique angle to the play.
Running time: One hour and 45 minutes (no interval).
St John’s Church (Main Church), 1A Lothian Road EH1 2AB (Venue 127).
Tuesday 18/Wednesday 19 August 2026.
Tue: 6.30pm; Wed: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Edinburgh Sacred Arts Festival website: www.edinburghsacredartsfestival.org
Facebook: @EdSacredArtsFest
Instagram: @edinburghsacredartsfest
Linktree: @edsacredartsfest.
Christopher Marlowe.
ENDS
