When The Necromancer: or, Harlequin Doctor Faustus opened at Lincoln's Inn Fields on December 20 1723 audiences were likely surprised to discover a production that was quite different from the recent hit at Drury Lane. Certainly there was plenty of opportunity to laugh at the tricks occasioned by the Doctor's powers of magic, and to marvel at stage transformations, and other scenic effects. The basic framework of the entertainment—the Faustus legend turned into a comical romp—was now familiar to them as well. In the afterpiece designed by Lewis Theobald (1688-1744) and John Rich, however, singing enjoyed a conspicuous place, there were noticeably fewer scenes of comic action, although they were generally more extended than those in Drury Lane's production, and there was no concluding masque. As well, audiences were treated to the masterful comic skills of the recently arrived French brothers Francis (fl. 1723-1739) and Louis Nivelon (fl. 1723-1729), both dancers from the Opéra comique in Paris. Although they had offered entr'acte dancing since their arrival at Rich's theatre in late October, and had taken the parts of Punch/Pluto and Pierrot/Hercules respectively during a production run of Jupiter and Europa, or the Intrigues of Harlequin just a week before the premiere of The Necromancer, this was their first opportunity as featured dancers in a new production.

But perhaps the most striking difference between the two afterpieces was the treatment of Harlequin Doctor Faustus himself. At the Drury Lane house the Doctor had been portrayed in a way that did not invite much empathy. His character, notwithstanding its split personality, was evidently not a particular concern for Thurmond. But it was for John Rich. In The Necromancer the Doctor has great difficulty in committing to signing his fateful pact with the devil. So great is his distress, in fact, that he is attended by Good and Bad Spirits who plea the pitfalls and merits respectfully of pursuing the black art. On this count Theobald's story comes very close to Marlowe's play. The Doctor's character is problematized further by virtue of its initial presentation with no Harlequin alter ego. The Exact Description is quite emphatic that we are to discover an “earnest” Doctor Faustus at the show's opening: Harlequin has no role to play.