Productions at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre are always a noteworthy event, but watching a performance of Doctor Faustus for me was a life changing experience. This was my first visit to the Globe and I cannot wait to repeat it. If you are planning a trip down to The Capital, book your tickets a few months in advance.

Having watched in October last year a performance of this play in Manchester, it was as if I was watching an entirely different play. Contrasted to the Manchester dark, noisy and disturbing production, this version was full of bawdy humour, movement and music, which provoked issues of retribution and payback for choices.

The first performance of the play was in 1594 at the Rose Theatre and the story was very topical in its time with the population of England obsessed with witchcraft, sorcery and devilment.

The Globe stage is filled with fantastical creatures of enormous size and complexity. The characters include venal clowns and pompous buffoons. The laughs tumble over each other and lots of stage 'business' pads out the production, but this is to glorious effect and the result is a mesmerising broth that needs partaking with a large pinch of salt.

Paul Hilton as Dr Faustus gives a compelling yet cool and measured performance and Arthur Darvill as Mephistopheles is urbane and witty. I found exchanges of the good Angel (Beatriz Romilly) and the bad angel (Charlotte Bloom) very well realised. Robin (Pearce Quigley) and Wagner (Felix Scott) are hilarious, with Wagner's facial expressions illustrating a world in themselves

The denouement is spectacular, but I won't spoil it by describing it exactly. The tiny stage becomes a world in microcosm, and the audience is swept along. I particularly enjoyed the co-ordinated routines by the learned scholars.

This is a very physical and robust retelling with high production values that lift it out of the ordinary and offers great entertainment on a rather grey night in open air London

Directed by Matthew Dunster, this is a surprising, engaging and ultimately unforgettable production that I urge you to see as soon as possible.