Faustus in Africa
A play by William Kentridge, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, with additional text by Lesogo Rampolokeng, and the Handspring Puppet Company - a multimedia blend of video, music, acting and puppetry.
Contents
The original text
The legend of Faust is based on the story of the sixteenth-century learned scholar who squandered his fortune and then sold his soul to the devil in exchange for additional time to search for the meaning of existence through travel and indulgences. After making his pact with the devil, Handspring’s Faustus goes on a safari. Indulging in elaborate feasts and buying sprees, Faustus attempts to consume all that Africa has to offer. Transposed to Africa his desires become those of the archetypal greedy colonialist – his victims the African people and their land. [1]
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
World première on 22 June 1995 at the Weimar Arts Festival in Germany.
Premièred in South Africa at the Grahamstown Festival 1995, directed by William Kentridge, with Dawid Minnaar (Faust), Antoinette Kellerman (Helen of Troje), Leslie Fong (Mephisto), Busi Zokufa (Gretchen), Basil Jones, Louis Seboko and Adrian Kohler - music by James Phillips. The same production was staged at the Market Theatre in July 1995.
Won the 1996 Vita Award for Best Production of the Year of a new SA Play.
Sources
http://www.handspringpuppet.co.za/handspring-productions/faustus-in-africa/
Go to ESAT Bibliography
Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays
Return to South African Festivals and Competitions
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page
