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Faustus in Africa!

Royal Lyceum Theatre

Five stars 

 

Life is hell for Faustus in South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company’s revival of their mid 1990s take on Goethe’s classic tragedy. Handspring’s take on the story of the man who sold his soul and saw the world before crashing and burning is reinvigorated as a tragicomic look at how one man can become immersed in a corrupt world.

 

In William Kentridge’s production, Faustus may initially think he’s struck gold as he’s led by Mephisto on a grand tour of African states, but exploitation is everywhere. In a show led by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones’ array of puppets, Wessel Pretorius’ dicky-bow sporting Mephisto is somewhat contrarily the only human on show. Pretorius plays him as a fast talking shyster, who oversees the black economy of selling souls like a quiz show host in charge of a call centre.

 

As for the puppets, Atandwa Kani and Eben Genis bring a hang dog Faustus to life in ingenious fashion alongside what sounds like a township jazz band, a devil hound hyena who becomes Mephisto’s sidekick, and the object of Faustus’ sad overtures voiced by Jennifer Steyn. And when Mephisto speaks with God, who is clearly a woman who doesn’t take any nonsense, her disembodied voice comes down the line by way of an animated megaphone. 

 

This is drawn by Kentridge in the same evocative charcoal that illustrates Faustus’ journey on a screen at the back of the big old school office set. These stunning images show how the land is carved out, forests are felled and houses and mega shopping malls are built. As one of the first big theatre shows to come out of post apartheid South Africa, this is a stark evocation of rampant capitalism ripping up the landscape.

 

There is nothing heavy handed in Kentridge’s production, which uses Robert David MacDonald’s brisk and accessible translation in a surprisingly brisk affair, with additional text from Lesego Rampolokeng. This is brought to life by a small army of puppet builders and designers, with Mongi Mthombeni, Asanda Rilityana and Buhle Stefane also on stage operating them with the rest of the cast in a production led by a host of international partners. Faustus may have got more than he bargained for here, but as a symbol of corrupted ambition, he’s not the only one who sold his soul in this brilliant reimagining full of light and shade.


The Herald, August 22nd 2025

 

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