The performance of Faustus on stage

  The performance of a play has a great deal of influence on how the audience interpret its content. Since, during Marlowe's time, the stage would have been quite bare, the audience would have to rely on staging, costumes and props in order to read between the lines and understand the parts of the story that weren't actually voiced.
  For example, using different levels of the stage, like the 'above' (a raised platform or balcony), you could depict the relationship between two characters. The characters being present above could represent their separation from the rest of the characters. This separation could be in terms of place or time or even status - so the character above could be higher in status or part of a different timeline.
  As for the costumes, these would have been donated by aristocracy when fashions changed and could be worn to show the status of a character -tattered for poor characters, fairly recent fashions for rich characters. Costumes could also relay the mood of the characters or the atmosphere - bright colours for happy characters or a joyous occasion in the play.
  The props used could also symbolise different elements or themes in the play. For instance, the appaerance of a red handkerchief could imply that the character in possession of it is bleeding. The presence of a few books on stage could show the studiousness and intelligence of a character.
  When I imagine the staging of the first scene with the Good Angel and the Evil Angel, I visualise the Good Angel being above and the Evil Angel being near the above, closer to Faustus who is centre stage facing away from them both, because Faustus ends up following the Evil Angel's advice in the end.