So, it's been a while, huh? I actually have a recap-blog post in the works, but I want to write about the play I saw today before I forget everything about it.
So, as the title says, I went and saw Faust this afternoon/evening with Akvile, Myriam, Anne and Robin. I'd studied Faust in a module last year, so I wasn't too worried about understanding the Russian as long as I remembered the story, and it worked!..Riiiight up until the intermission...
The first half of the play was good, Mephistopheles' actor was absolutely fantastic - as bouncy and mischevious and down-right fun just as he ought to be. Faust, similarly, did well being grouchy but somehow passionate. The scene with the ghost was especially amazing, because the stage had a large number of windows and doors built into the walls of the stage which opened and slammed shut loudly and frantically, building the emotion and the terror of the scene.
However, some of the characters were missing, such as Faust's...whatever he was. I'd say roommate, but I seem to recall he had a different role. In any case, due to the relatively small cast and his altogether unimportant role, he was replaced by a monologue from Faust. A more important person who was missing, however, was the witch who makes Faust younger, enabling him to be attractive to Gretchen. Now I know what you're thinking: "But then how the heck does the rest of the play work?"
This was a stroke of genius from the director, in my opinion, because throughout the entire play Mephistopheles had 2 interesting characteristics (besides his rather dapper red suit): He always wore a single black glove and carried a cane which gave him a pronounced limp (L-I-M-P, pronounced "limp".) In the scene of Faust's rejuvenation, the glove and cane were passed to the older actor who played Faust, so in this version it seems Faust and Mephistopheles swapped bodies for the sake of the story! Very clever indeed!
Up until this point I had followed the story well enough to at least know where we were in the story, though some parts confused me which I don't recall being in the original play, such as the scene in which Faust and Mephistopheles show each other a mirror and, in turn, recoil in horror from their reflections...
But that's NOTHING compared to the second half...
So in the original, Faust and Mephistopheles sneak into Gretchen's room, plant some beautiful jewellery and make their escape, she finds it and is overjoyed.
In THIS version, Gretchen, or possibly her friend Margaret, and 3 other girls (and I STILL don't know who they were meant to be, the prevalent theory is hitherto unheard-of sisters) are throwing a piece of lacy material around and giggling childishly. This continues for several minutes.They then use the material and pretend that it is a baby...And then throw it around again as the piece of material...Then the scene of Mephy and Faust hiding the necklace occurs. Can you guess what the necklace was? That's right, the same goddamn piece of fabric.
Reality is apparently very flexible where they live.
So Gretchen (a NEW one this time, meaning there's possibly 2 Gretchens on stage) put the material around their necks, oohing and aaahing at how pretty it is and then...Start suffocating. That DEFINITELY didn't happen in Goethe's version, so for a terrifying few minutes the girls spasmed and choked as a large number of people dressed in black danced chaotically around them.
Then a woman dressed in a red, floral bodysuit appeared on-stage and started mimicking Gretchen's movements as she and Faust started...I THINK Faust was charming her and she was resisting, but it was getting pretty violent at times...
So between the red woman, the flailing people in black and the multiple Gretchens who may not have been multiple Gretchens, I was lost for a good 15 minutes. Things started getting back on track, though, when Faust presented Gretchen with a bottle of a colourless liquid saying "Just a little drop will do the trick!" (If I remember correctly, this is a sleeping draught intended for Gretchen to use on her mother so she can sneak out with Faust at night.) At first Gretchen refuses, but the red lust woman (...Did I really just type that?) urges her on as the woman playing Gretchen's mother (who didn't look to be much older than Gretchen, but I WAS sitting fairly far back) walks on stage.
The poisoning scene was actually done very dramatically. The people in black (who I assume represent evil spirits or general wickedness) danced around the mother and sang harshly and angrily. They then all drank from small bottles and spat simultaneously in the air above her (not like "Ptooi", but more sort of "Fusshshh", if you know what I mean.) She then started choking and spat out some water of her own. (It actually got pretty damn high, I was impressed!) This happened a few times, as the music and the stomping and the shouting increased in intensity and then suddenly stopped as the mother fell to the floor, obviously dead.
Gretchen returns to find her mother dead and, as you would do, starts weeping, yelling at herself for her mistake and her foolishness. Just as she's getting up to recover, she spasms and clutches her stomach area as one of the spirits imitates a baby crying. Again, and again, faster and faster as Gretchen falls to the floor, writhing in pain as the cries grow louder and more frequent.
At this point I have to say, the young lady who played Gretchen was absolutely incredible! Her movements were so sudden and jarring that I felt quite distressed just watching her as she twitched violently across the stage. It just didn't seem that someone should be able to move like that!
Anyway, if you're not up to speed with yer metaphors and prefer things explained in plain English: Gretchen just went through the quickest human pregnancy humans have ever experienced, clocking in at under 1 minute. Once again, the fabric-baby is presented and Gretchen holds it.
Evil spirit people once again start their infantile crying (because, last I checked, cloth doesn't tend to get cranky) and Gretchen rocks gently back and forth, trying to soothe the baby with a lullaby that she can't help but utter shakily as she slowly loses her mind.
Once again, the crying gets louder, Gretchen starts singing louder, a bit more angrily, why won't the baby stop crying?! She stands up, walks with the baby as some of the spirits begin some singing of their own, a more sinister sounding version of Gretchen's lullaby as she walks along the stage. Once again, they build up to a frantic, manic crescendo as Gretchen slowly and calmly opens up one of the hatches in the walls and then *SLAM*
Silence as the cloth baby is thrown into the hatch.
And then came some of the most amazing insane acting I have ever seen. Gretchen looked at her hand and swatted at it, as if there was something on it she needed to get off. Again and again, she starts laughing, swatting at both of her hands. Then her arms. Laughing maniacally the starts swatting all over her body, trying to cleanse herself of all the nothing. My guess is she was seeing the blood on her hands. But again, the way the girl moved was just terrifying. If an actor laughs maniacally as they go insane and overdo it, people will start laughing as well, it's hard not to.
But there was nothing to laugh at with this. Gretchen was half-laughing, half-screaming as she swatted at herself and then at the walls, her movements reminded me more of some kind of insect that a human, such quick, tight movements.
Sweet mother of mercy, I loved that scene.
The following scene was the nightmare orgy, as I like to call it. (Well, I don't particularly LIKE to call it that, but it seems fairly fitting.)
Faust and Mephistopheles are getting deep into their dabbling in the magic world, and before he knows it, evil spirits are everywhere, seducing Faust and just plain jumping on him when they get the chance. The stage was used well, the harsh mutterings and stomping and music rose the tension and the strobe lighting showed the intensity of the scene. No dialogue was needed.
Eventually things calm down and Faust hears about Gretchen. He starts yelling at Mephistopheles, who remained sat, calmly, in his chair and told Faust...Something. I couldn't tell what they were saying, and the scene ran on for a lot longer than I remember being in the original play, but I know that Faust was really not a happy bunny.
The ending was quite surreal, as a THIRD girl was brought in to be Gretchen, post-insanity. The scene was partially as I was expecting, until the walls opened and the other 2 Gretchens and Gretchen's Lust woman were standing there. As far as I recall they were chastising Faust, saying "Don't say you were ever there for Gretchen!"
Eventually Faust gives up on his attempts to take Gretchen with him and as she is executed for infanticide, she finds her salvation.
So, overall I really enjoyed the performance. I was interested to see how they would do certain scenes, such as Mephistopheles' transformation from dog to human (which was simple enough: Mephistopheles' actor just pretended to be a dog. He also danced for a bit while he pretended to be a dog, which didn't make much sense, but was entertaining nonetheless), but I was overall a big fan of some of the director's takes on certain scenes. I wish I had understood more of what the actors had said, I may well have felt less confused at the time of watching it, but I'm still so glad I was able to see it.
I hear it'll be around again in November, and if it is, I heartily recommend anybody currently in Tver' to get a ticket.
Just make sure you know the plot before you go, though.
Have a good night, everybody.
Joe
P.S. If a dog on fire starts following you around the streets, don't let it into your house, it'll just end in tears.
