The Contractual Death of Jonathan G Faustus managed to avoid being pretentious despite subject matter that could hardly be anything but. The show was about life, death and the meaning of both, but, to its credit, it wasn’t above the occasional phallic joke.

Written and directed by Alex Davis ’15, the play followed the journey of Dr. Jonathan Faustus (Connor Wahrman ’17) after he summoned the demon Mephistopheles (Zach Smith ’15) and signed a contract selling his soul to the devil.

Wahrman stuttered, hypothesized and stumbled his way across the stage in a brilliant portrayal of a troubled genius struggling to find meaning in his life (and death). Smith alternated between hellish anger and sassy sarcasm as Mephistopheles, who used his power to guide Dr. Faustus through time and space. For example, the demon had to be reminded that humans need oxygen to breathe.

The supporting cast, Sara Kenney ’18, Lily Shrayfer ’18 and Morgan Winters ’17, revolved around the stage, playing roles including fellow faculty members, Dr. Faust’s subconscious, the less friendly demon Beelzebub (Shrayfer) and Faust’s comatose wife (Winters).

The cast was versatile and made the small stage seem like it was bursting with energy.

The play ran smoothly, and the choreography was tight through the strong work of stage manager Nick Galinski ’15. Though few props were used, they were used smartly, with a desk, books, whiteboard, trash can and water pitcher all featuring in important moments throughout the show. For instance, the trash can’s big moment was when Dr. Faustus flung himself to his knees and vomitted after a particularly horrifying epiphany about what hell might be like.

I found the play entranced me For an hour and a half on Saturday night, Dr. Faustus had me under his spell like a lowly undergraduate sitting in awe of the great professor’s lecture, unaware of the turmoil in his lecturer’s mind.