BWW Reviews: Noth Barely Sells It as DOCTOR FAUSTUS

If Chris Noth had made a blood pact with the devil he might have opted for a role in the more entertaining scenes of director Andrei Belgrader's lopsided production of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.

Using an adaptation by Belgrader and David Bridel, the evening alternates between sluggish episodes telling the story of a scholar who rejects higher learning and signs a contract giving him 24 years of absolute power - allowing him to hob-nob with Alexander the Great (Lucas Caleb Rooney) and make out with a naked Helen of Troy (Marina Lazzaretto) - and far more entertaining comic vignettes.

Noth seems to be spending the night coasting on his sharp looks (the man knows how to strike a sexy pose), displaying barely enough command of the stage, vocal power or variety in his performance to draw attention to the drama. Faring far better are Zach Grenier as a cunning Mephistopheles and Jeffrey Binder as a self-satisfied Lucifer.

But commedia-style clowns Rooney and Ken Cheeseman liven up the proceedings considerably with low comic bits involving a lot of audience participation. Their material isn't exactly the best and its connection to the main plot is questionable, but their antics are skillfully done with the bossy Roony and the loveably dim Cheeseman resembling a pairing of Moe Howard and Stan Laurel.

Heavy fog, disembodied voices, puppetry and a grotesque pageant with the game ensemble singing and dancing as the Seven Deadly Sins are all featured in a disjointed production that has no real drive to it.

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