David Mamet's New Dr. Faustus Begins at Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Feb. 24
By Ernio Hernandez
24 Feb 2004
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David Mamet
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Magic Theatre's world premiere staging of David Mamet's Dr. Faustus, which just announced its second extension, begins performances Feb. 24.
The playwright directs his new take on the classic story at the San Francisco stage. The production was originally slated to end March 21 but has extended through April 18.
David Rasche will play the title character Faustus while Dominic Hoffman will take on Magus, the tempter Magician. Broadway and West End veteran Colin Stinton and newcomer Sandra Lindquist are also featured in the cast.
The Faust legend — made famous in separate plays by Christopher Marlowe and Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe — is given a new spin by the playwright. Mamet's Dr. Faustus looks at how a rivalry between a philosopher and a magician causes the title character to neglect his own family, even as his wife prepares for their sickly son’s birthday.
Rasche has collaborated with Mamet on Broadway in Speed The Plow and Off Broadway in Edmond. Other credits include Broadway's Getting and Spending, Lunch Hours, Loose Ends, The Shadow Box.
Actor Ricky Jay, who was set to star in the world premiere, was forced to drop out of the production on doctor's orders. Hoffman replaced the sleight-of-hand artist, who now serves as consultant on the production's magic.
Hoffman, who recently completed an episode of "The Shield" directed by Mamet, won two Ovation Awards for his one-man show, Uncle Jacques’ Symphony.
Jay performed his one-man sleight-of-hand shows Ricky Jay: On the Stem and Ricky Jay & His 52 Assistants Off-Broadway under the direction of Mamet. His film credits include roles in Mamet's "Heist," "State and Main" and "The Spanish Prisoner" as well as such non-Mamet works as "Boogie Nights," "Magnolia" and "Tomorrow Never Dies."
Stinton is also a veteran of Mamet works having appeared in premieres of Mr. Happiness, A Sermon, and Speed-the-Plow at the Royal National Theatre in London. Other Mamet works include The Old Neighborhood and Edmond in the West End as well as Broadway’s The Water Engine.
Actress Lindquist recently completed filming on Mamet’s new project "Spartan" which is set to debut in the spring.
The design team for Dr. Faustus includes Peter Larkin (set), Russell H. Champa (light), Fumiko Bielefedt (costume) and Sarah Ellen Joynt (properties).
The Magic will present "Talkbacks" sessions with artists and staff following the performances on March 5, March 12 and March 19. On March 7, there will be a post show panel discussion on the Faustus legend in literature and the performing arts.
Tickets to Dr. Faustus at the Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center (Building D) in San Francisco, CA are available by calling (415) 441-8822. For more information, visit the Magic Theatre website at www.magictheatre.org.
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