Chances are you won’t fully understand the play “Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights,” but its director and cast members say that’s OK. The University Theatre production is supposed to make you think.
“Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights” is a work from playwright Gertrude Stein, who wrote during the turn of the century but had “the mindset of a psychedelic in the 1960s,” according to cast member and theater arts student Blythe Daniels.
“She was ahead of her time and her plays don’t make much sense,” Daniels said.
The play is a meshing of Christopher Marlowe’s work “Dr. Faustus,” in which a man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for enlightenment, and Johann Wolfgang van Goethe’s poetic drama “Faust.” In “Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights,” Dr. Faustus sells his soul to the devil for an electric light and total knowledge of everything imaginable. Things get interesting when Dr. Faustus wonders if he knows more than the devil knows.
“It’s very interesting because you wonder which character is the winner and who has control,” cast member and psychology student Morgan McFadden said. “Each character thinks they’re in control and there is debate on whether or not that is true.”
Daniels said the cast will create a soundscape with their voices and bodies that will help the audience understand the emotional highs and lows in the play. Stein’s script features intricate language, which McFadden said was difficult to master.
“The language was very hard to get down,” McFadden said. “Stein likes to play with words and it was hard to get them perfectly right and make sure we didn’t lose
the meaning.”
Characters include a devil, a dog, a puppeteer, a country woman and a chorus of actors all dressed as Gertrude Stein. Director Erica Milkovich said the costumes are “fantastical,” and Daniels described the sets, which consist of moveable platforms, as “vague and chaotic.”
Daniels said by participating in a show that lacks a story line, she was able to grow as an actor.
“It made me experience theater for what it is,” she said. “There is less of an emphasis on the product and more on the process of self-discovery, and that’s really moving.”
“Some points are dark and
potentially depressing; it has wonderful word play and language games, and some parts are very
funny,” Milkovich said.
The University Theatre will present “Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights” on
Feb. 2-5 and 10-12 at 8 p.m. in the Arena Theatre in room 104 of Villard Hall. Tickets are available at the door for $4 for University students, $5 for seniors, University staff and non-University students, and $6 for the general public.

[email protected]