Anything this good has got to be bad for you.

Faust is a learned man. He has devoted his life to the pursuit of knowledge and now he's at a stage where he feels he knows everything. Everything that you can study Faust has studied. So there's only one thing left to do, as far as Faust is concerned, he must look to the dark arts. In his experimentations with magic he summons a spirit who is charming, cunning and devilishly bad. Faust wishes to know the limits of human experience and Mephistopheles can provide. All Faust has to do is sign away his soul. The rest of the two plays are made up of the classic battle between Good and Evil, and it is a compelling tale, told perfectly.

John Clifford's Faust is not just a reworking of Goethe's classic poem for the stage but a commentary on himself and the world he inhabits: an observation of the Faustian pacts that people make everyday for pleasure, power or cash. In these two plays, Clifford, Professor of Theatre at Queen Margaret University College's Drama Department, has managed to pass comment on global, local and personal themes and experiences concerning the nature of war, democracy, love, loss, gender and the politics of modern educational institutions.

This are great pieces of theatre, presented with the pace and passion that the text deserves by an alarmingly good cast. Paul Brennen and Dugald Bruce Lockhart are outstanding as Faust and his demon, each revelling in their respective parts. Mark Thomson's production is set in the world created through Francis O'Connor's bare and suggestive design that transports us to all the venues in Faust's imagination with aid of Mike Windle's gorgeous video designs. The script stays true to Goethe's original work while in adapting it for the stage Clifford also reinvents the age old tale for a contemporary Scottish audience.

These are thought provoking, exciting and beautifully crafted pieces of theatre that are performed and presented excellently well. Scottish theatre does not get much better than this.

Recommended for those aged 16+. Both plays contain swearing and scenes of a sexual nature.