© Jan Kobel

Faust - eine Tragödie

stellwerk - junges Theater (Weimar)
#Youth Theatre
When: Fri 09.05. 16:30
Sat 10.05. 17:00 | Theater an der Parkaue - with follow-up workshop
Sun 11.05. 14:00
Where: Theater an der Parkaue
Recommended for ages: 15+
Duration: 75 minutes, no intermission

About

For many people, Goethe's Faust is the epitome of a theatre classic. Hardly any other work has been so often attributed with being ingenious, profound and always topical. Hardly anyone gets through their German lessons without reading about the scholar Faust and his deal with Mephisto. There is hardly a German stage where the so-called ‘Gretchen question’ has not been asked and the young woman of the same name has not been made the murderer of her child. The pudel's centre was last revealed on the stellwerk stage 20 years ago. So it was high time to revisit the absolute all-time favourite of theatre history and see whether it can withstand the questions of the times and the perspective of a new generation.

Just as Faust gets involved with the devil, an ensemble of young people make a deal with Goethe's masterpiece and are seduced, taught and betrayed by him. The stage becomes a multimedia study room. From here - just like Faust did - the world is scrutinised and examined to see whether there is still something that holds it together at its core. Driven by the need to finally understand what makes Goethe's Faust such a powerful classic, a performance between road trip and search for meaning begins, complete with poodles, witches and great love.

Follow-up conversations

Follow-up workshop after the performance on 10 May at 5 pm

Credits

By and with: Leonie Adam, Jonathan Frisch, Victoria Kerl, Emma Rauch, Philine Upmeier (Hannah Röbisch, Jonah Martensen, Melanie Hultsch)

Artistic direction: Till Wiebel

Stage: Philipp Münnich, Till Wiebel

Costume tailoring: Anna Wiebel

Sound, lighting and video:
 Agnes Weidenbach, Jannik Strohm, Philipp Münnich

Dramaturgical support and theatre pedagogy: Louisa Grote

Production assistance: Florian Holter

Theatre management: Julia Heinrich and Stefanie Heiner

 

Vote

Anyone who lives in Weimar is regularly presented with a new ‘Faust’. Its lofty verses have caused headaches for several generations of schoolchildren - it is still compulsory reading in Saarland, Hesse and Bavaria. But it was only recently that ‘Faust’ was declared to be in crisis - less and less of what was once considered the pinnacle of German theatre was being performed. 20 years after the last production of this classic of German literary theatre at Stellwerk Weimar e.V., director, dramaturge and author Till Wiebel was commissioned to rewrite it: the organ music, which sometimes also features the odd pop song, could also be seen as a swansong to this classic of German literary theatre. And canon criticism has never been as entertaining as with this young ensemble, which declares its willingness to scrutinise the world on stage and examine whether there is still something that holds it together at its core.

What holds the production together is the convincing interweaving of verse-bound drama on the one hand and performative play events on the other. I have to admit: I have little contact with these classics myself and have never read Faust or many others. And yet I understand how playfully and convincingly original texts, biographical material and spontaneous improvisation occasions are mixed here: where in one place the angels and the devil look down on the earth, the performers observe the audience and speculate about their righteousness, where Doctor Faust recapitulates his studies, the performers list what they can and know, and so on. Where elsewhere such rewrites sometimes lack reference to the original and simply assume that it is already known, the discussion is presented in a critical, reflexive and largely comprehensible way and deconstructed with humour. This production is remarkable because someone says that it is remarkable, because someone says that it is remarkable, because someone says that it is remarkable. This production is played up and down in Weimar and is already what the original always was: a classic.

Thilo Grawe 

Content Note

Content warnings: Sexism, classism, abuse of power, crises and heteronomy are addressed. Intoxication is implied.

Sensory stimuli: Flickering lights are used (strobe effect). Fog and loud organ music are used in places.