Doctor Faustus, is Christopher Marlowe's most popular play and is often seen as one of the overwhelming triumphs of the English Renaissance. It has had a rich and varied critical history often arousing violent critical controversy. This guide offers students an introduction to its critical and performance history, surveying notable stage productions from its initial performance in 1594 to the present and including TV, audio and cinematic versions. It includes a keynote chapter outlining major areas of current research on the play and four new critical essays. Finally, a guide to critical, web-based and production-related resources and an annotated biography provide a basis for further individual research.

Series Introduction Timeline Introduction, Sara Munson Deats (University of South Florida, USA) 1. The Critical Backstory, Bruce T. Brandt (South Dakota State University, USA) 2. The Performance History, David Bevington (University of Chicago, USA) 3. The State of the Art - Current Critical Research, Robert A. Logan (University of Hartford, USA) 4. New Directions: Doctor Faustus and Renaissance Hermeticism, Andrew Duxfield (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) 5. New Directions: Imperialism as Devilry: A Postcolonial Analysis of Doctor Faustus, Toni Francis ( The College of the Bahamas) 6. New Directions: "What means this show?" Directing a Student Faustus, Andrew James Hartley (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)7. New Directions: The Other Black Arts: Doctor Faustus and the Inky Words of Printing and Writing Georgia Brown (London, UK) 8. A Survey of Resources, Sarah K. Scott (Mount St. Mary's University, USA) Notes on Contributors Index