SOUND & FURY'S 'DOC FAUSTUS' - A SOULLESS WESTERN IN VAUDEVILLE STYLE

Sound & Fury's "Doc Faustus"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:
Richard Maritzer (323) 394 2785 • [email protected]

Nouveau-Vaudeville Trio Sound & Fury Sets its Parody Gun-Sights on “Doc Faustus” at the Hollywood Fringe

LOS ANGELES, June 1, 2012 — After touring Edinburgh Fringe hits “Cyranose!” (2008) and “Sherlock Holmes & the Saline Solution” (2009) around the world, the boys from Los Angeles go local with their eighth in a series of genre-parody Vaudeville-Nouveau plays: ‘Sound & Fury’s “Doc Faustus!”’

The parody-mashup is a silly romp in the American Old West, filtered through the eyes of Christopher Marlowe’s famous soul-seller, Doctor John Faustus. It premiered at the 2011 Winnipeg Fringe, where it garnered 4 & 5-star reviews, and was shortlisted for “People’s Choice” at the 2012 Adelaide Fringe. Before heading back to Edinburgh this August, there are 6 performances to be had as part of the Hollywood Fringe Fest, at Theatre of Note.

Like most Sound & Fury shows, the plot is secondary to the banter and interaction between the actors (and the audience!) – but that being said, Abilene, Texas sawbones John Faustus wants to be a better doctor, through the use of the Dark Arts, but doesn’t quite understand what boundless power entails. The fun is in the wordplay, and Sound & Fury’s examination of 21st Century culture seen through the dusty gun barrel of Faustus’ 19th-Century six-shooter.

Three Los Angeles performers comprise the group: Richard Maritzer, as the put-upon soul-taker Mel Phistopheles, Patrick Hercamp as the mostly-clueless Faustus, and completing the picture with an air of mystery, Ryan Adam Wells as the Man in Black, who narrates the tragicomic tale.

Using frequent audience participation and utter destruction of the ‘fourth-wall,’ Sound & Fury draws in the patrons, making their works accessible, and non-threatening to a modern audience with limited attention spans.

Sound & Fury got their start at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Southern California, and like other “born at the Faire” acts like Penn & Teller, The Reduced Shakespeare Company, and The Flying Karamazov Brothers, they have branched out to the ‘real’ theatre world. Sound & Fury has been awarded “Best-of-Fringe” multiple times in Edmonton and Winnipeg Canada, were the Peoples’ Choice Award Winner in Adelaide, Australia in 2008, 2009 & 2011, and were one of the highest rated shows in the entire Edinburgh Fringe (over 3000 different shows) in 2008 & 2009 as well. Their fan-base ranges in age from literally 12-years to 80-year olds — there’s something for everyone in their works, inserting enough hi-brow and low-brow wit to keep audiences laughing continuously from start to finish. The actors are throwing a party, and the audience members are their included playmates.

REVIEWS:

BEST OF THE ADELAIDE FRINGE —Darien O Reilly, ThePunch.com.au
“Sound & Fury’s signature dish – the parody – is built upon a bed of puns, accompanied by sweetly chilled aural aperitifs, baked physical theatre and visual gags tossed with innuendo and served at a breakneck pace with little or no regard for the fourth wall separating audience from performer. [Doc Faustus] is full of clever wordplay, superb one liners and some surprisingly acidic social commentary and rewarded both the overtly intellectual and fart-joke-loving sides of my brain. It was droll and edgy without being offputtingly so, dumb without being stupid and consistently mirth making.”

5 STARS! —Sandee Moore, Uptown Magazine
“L.A.’s Sound & Fury start the laughs before the show even begins, joking with the assembled audience at the expense of late-comers scuttling to their seats. From there they launch into a rip-snorting, loosey-goosey adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s “only hit”, his medieval Doctor Faustus re-imagined as a wide-eyed, Texan “Doc.” Marlowe’s play provides a structure, including narration delivered by a chorus, for largely improvised giggles about damnation. Tipping their Stetsons to the “no fourth wall” tradition of vaudeville, costume/character changes are woven into the action and the dialogue: “How theatrically convenient.” Alakazam! Allosaurus! Devilishly clever laughs are summoned forth.”

HOLLYWOOD FRINGE DATES/TIMES:
Theatre of Note, 1517 N. Cahuenga
All perfs 60 minutes. Preview (discounted & industry comps available): June 9, 11pm
June 14, 10pm • June 15, 9:30pm • June 16, 11pm • June 23, 1am (late Friday) • June 23, 3:30pm.
Tix $10-15

For further info/photos/press-comps please contact Richard Maritzer at [email protected] or 323.394.2785

web: docfaustus.soundandfury.org • facebook: soundandfurycomedy
twitter: soundxandxfury • email: [email protected]