Faustus: That Damned Woman - Chris Bush reimagines the darkly compelling tale of Doctor Faustus

Danny Lee Wynter and Jodie McNee in
Faustus That Damned Woman (c) Manuel Harlan

FAUSTUS: THAT DAMNED WOMAN

A Headlong and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre co-production,

in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Wednesday 26 February – Saturday 7 March

In an exciting collaboration with Headlong and Lyric Hammersmith, Faustus: That Damned Woman comes to Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 26 February – 7 March.

Inspired by the works of Marlowe, Goethe and other versions of the Faust myth, award-winning playwright Chris Bush (Standing At The Sky's Edge and Steel, Sheffield Crucible Theatre; The Assassination Of Katie Hopkins, Theatr Clwyd; Pericles, National Theatre) reimagines the darkly compelling tale of Doctor Faustus. Jodie McNee will play the title role of Johanna Faustus with Danny Lee Wynter cast as Mephistopheles.

In this radical retelling, Johanna Faustus makes the ultimate sacrifice and sells her soul in order to time travel across the centuries and change the entire course of history. But can she now escape eternal damnation?

Writer Chris Bush says:

“The story endures because greed endures, and ambition endures, and we are never short of contemporary figures who believe they can beat the system, or that the rules needn’t apply to them. A modern Faustus might be a tech billionaire, a doctor playing God – the only part that may feel like a stretch is that, in most versions, Faustus gets his comeuppance.”

Jodie McNee is a critically acclaimed actor known for her work on stage and screen. Her extensive theatre credits include Venice Preserved (RSC), Anatomy Of A Suicide (Royal Court Theatre), The Night Watch, Hamlet, Orpheus Descending, A Taste of Honey (Royal Exchange, Manchester); An Oak Tree, Our Country’s Good, Three Winters (National Theatre); Game (Almeida); A Life of Galileo, Written on the Heart, Measure for Measure (RSC); Hobson’s Choice (Regent’s Park Open Air); Canary, When We Are Married, Twelfth Night (Liverpool Everyman Playhouse); The Empty Quarter (Hampstead Theatre); When We are Married (West End); The Frontline, King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe); Seagull, Knives in Hens, Double Portrait, Jenufer (Arcola) Cymbeline, The Changeling (Barbican/ International tour); Mother Courage, This Happy Breed (ETT) and The Burial at Thebes (Playhouse, Nottingham).  

Jodie’s television credits include Britannia series 1 & 2, Vera, Little Boy Blue, Ripper Street, Criminal Justice, Poirot and The Liverpool Nativity. Her film credits include Judy, Official Secrets, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool and The Physician, whilst her radio credits include Zola: Blood Season and With Great Pleasure.

Danny Lee Wynter is an actor known for his work across stage and screen. He is the founder of the campaign and charity Act For Change. Danny’s theatre credits include The Maids (HOME, Manchester), Cell Mates (Hampstead Theatre), Forty Years On (Chichester Festival Theatre), Deathwatch (The Print Room), The Glass Menagerie (Nuffield Southampton), Much Ado About Nothing (Old Vic), St John’s Night (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Miser (Manchester Royal Exchange),  The Changing Room (Royal Court Theatre), Comus, Bedlam, Henry IV Part II, Henry IV Part 1, King Lear, The Frontline (Shakespeare’s Globe).

Danny’s TV and film credits include the lead in Stephen Polaikoff’s Joe’s Palace & Capturing Mary, Luther, Hot Fuzz, Walliams and Friend, The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth, Partners in Crime, Holby City, Mr Stink, Episodes, Beat Girl, Trial and Retribution and the forthcoming film Censor.

Caroline Byrne directs this radical new work in which the iconic character of Faustus is reimagined as a woman who makes the ultimate sacrifice to traverse centuries and change the course of history. The creative team are set designer Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, costume designer Line Bech, lighting designer Richard Howell, sound and composition designer Giles Thomas, video and projection designer Ian William Galloway and casting director Annelie Powell CDG.

Chris Bush is an award-winning playwright, lyricist and theatre maker. Her writing credits include Standing at the Sky’s Edge, a collaboration with musician Richard Hawley, Steel (both Sheffield Crucible Theatre), The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatr Clwyd), Pericles (NT) and The Changing Room (NT Connections).

Caroline Byrne is known for her distinctive and innovative direction. Her theatre credits include Spring Awakening (Young Vic), All’s Well That Ends Well (Sam Wanamaker Theatre), Katie Roche (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) Oliver Twist (Regents Park) and Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre). Her upcoming work includes Portia Coughlan starring Ruth Negga (Young Vic).