Faust et Marguerite

Faust et Marguerite is a "drame fantastique" in three acts and 4 tableaux, by Michel Carré (1819-1872)[1] and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)[2]

The original text

Written by Carré and loosely based on Goethe's Faust, it was later to become the basis for Gounod's opera Faust, for which Carré also wrote the libretto with Jules Barbier in 1859.

The play first performed and published in Paris, 1850(?)

Translations and adaptations

Adapted and translated into English as Faust and Marguerite, romantic drama in three acts, by T. W. Robertson (1829-1871)[3]. Published in London by Samuel French, [187-?]),

It was first played at the Princess's Theatre, London, in April, 1854

Robertson's translation may have been the play that, at least according to D.C. Boonzaier (1923), was performed in South Africa as A Deal with the Devil. Boonzaier lists it as an anonymous play, but F.C.L. Bosman, (1980: p. 434) credits T.W. Robertson.

Performance history in South Africa

1875: Performed in the Bijou Theatre on 17 July as Faust and Marguerite by Disney Roebuck and his company, with The Area Belle (Brough and Halliday).

1910: A play called A Deal with the Devil was performed in Cape Town towards the end of the year by the De Jong-Black Company.