Merecraft (Andrew Shepherd again) plays the 17th-century conman — who plans to make Fitz-dottrel "Duke of Drownedland" for a mere £12,000 — with the joyous abandon of a time-share salesman on the trail of a hot prospect. Max Berendt is the inept devil Pug - sent down by Lucifer for one last chance at taking on the London market, before being dispatched to the pigsties of Lancashire for his incompetence; crazy shoe fans will just have to go to his.

So there's lots to enjoy and think about. There are, however, some problems with the staging. The lighting is intrusive in its changes and often throws shadows where there should be light, but the biggest problem arises from the setting - the thin muslin curtains that line the stage.

The idea is fine; walking into the theatre it made me think of the travelling wagon that would have formed the stage for many a medieval and early modern travelling troop. And it offers the potential of fearsome figures and dreadful faces looming in Faustus's sleeping and waking nightmares. But its usage thus fails to live up to the promise. Okay, in fringe theatre you don't expect Star Wars-class effects, but this is often just lame. And while central dramatic effects are at centre stage, the attention is too often drawn to thumps, rattles and rustles behind the curtain as the actors position themselves for their next entrance. It is a prosaic point but an important one.

To be fair, last night was the first night - I'd urge close attention be paid to cutting this to a minimum on future nights. There is time: the production continues at the White Bear until March 26. And who could in the end resist a production in which the programme states: "Spirits, devils and deadly sins played by members of the company."

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