Come and See!

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Based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust I & II
Adapted for stage by Mike Geither, the director, and the company
Cleveland Public Theatre

"An intriguing view of the power and vitality of acting."—Pat Jenkins, The Plain Dealer

This intense rendition of the Faust legend was an answer to the question: Are we today living without souls?

Through a year of structured improvisations surrounding this question, four actors, the director, and a collaborating playwright created Come and See!

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While the primary influence was Goethe's Faust, the performance used echoes of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, John Milton's Paradise Lost, Par Lagerkvist's The Dwarf, and Franz Kafka's The Castle. These literary heavy-hitters were counter-balanced by a physically agile acting style laced with mocking humor, inventiveness, and intricate ambient sound scores created by the actors. The action was aided by a sparse but versatile set—movable flats rhythmically manipulated by the actors that enclosed small scenes, but when pulled back revealed a vast space.