MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
Faustaff: The Mockery
of the Soul
Cockpit Theatre, London NW8
3/5
LIKE Punch and Judy in 16th-century England, Faust and Mephistopheles shows in Germany originated in the commedia dell’arte.
They were a blunt comedic instrument, poking ridicule at Faust and his association with the Devil.
DIANE WATT argues that while evidence of sex is not there, a 16th‑century lesbian poet could be Scotland’s answer to Gentleman Jack
KEITH RICHMOND relishes a superbly conceived modern version of Aeschylus’ drama of murderous family succession
MARY CONWAY becomes impatient with the intellectual self-indulgence of Tom Stoppard in a production that is, nevertheless, total class
DAVID NICHOLSON is thrilled – and shocked – by an opera that seethes and sizzles with passion and the depraved use of power



