|
|
|
|
|||
|
Edinburgh Festival 2009
|
|||
|
|
Reviews from the Edinburgh International Festival 2009 (4)Faust Romanian director Silviu Purcarete's vision is awesome, far more that of a big budget movie director than the typical theatre equivalent, who spends his/her whole life watching the pennies. The amount of money spent by the director in bringing this unique version of Goethe's Faust to the stage is probably equivalent to his country's Gross National Product during some of the notoriously tough years of Communism. For visitors, the effort of getting to the Lowland, Highland Centre is the first problem and by the end of a lengthy bus ride and walk that would be quite unpleasant in Edinburgh rain or a £40 return cab journey, many would be asking whether this was really necessary. It is, as there is probably nowhere else nearer town that could accommodate this spectacular production. The bulk of the action takes place on a gratuitously large, specially made stage before several hundred spectators ranked on seats given a steep rake by scaffolding, which ensures a good view of the performers, if not necessarily the supertitles at the sides. There, Ilie Gheorge's tired old Doctor Faust lives in what looks like a washed-out, white lunatic asylum. This is peopled by ghostly presences and awash with old papers representing the dull books that are supposed to enliven his days. He is visited by a dog, which heralds its androgynous, goblin-like boss, Mephistopheles, played with utter commitment by Ofelia Popii, an actress whose voice is distorted to something cackling and horrible and whose movements are equally unnatural. Even so, the satanic representative eventually cuts a deal with Faust, offering a glimpse of Heaven on Earth, in return for the use of his soul for eternity. That Heaven is primarily represented by seven little girls playing Margareta, a beautiful (barely) teenager. With supertitles, the plotting can be a little tricky to follow but Purcarete's eye for a good effect is unerring, with his massed cast repeatedly producing surprises. The evening is transformed when a set that was already showing signs of impermanence as floor and walls gradually disintegrated, opens up to reveal another space as large again. The audience is politely herded to the far end of the hall, where they witness a stunning unholy Walpurgisnacht that seems like some gigantic circus gone mad with a fire-eater and fireworks, lively band and seemingly hundreds of performers writhing around to accompany the peak of Faust's Bacchanalian pleasures. This has to be seen to be believed. The final scenes, back in the "theatre" space, might have seemed a let-down but the director, helped by his two leading actors, ensures that when Mephistopheles looks for recompense, we are gripped. This collaboration between EIF and National Theatre 'Radu Stanca' Sibiu may not be perfect but should not be missed, as it is hard to believe that, in these cash-strapped times, anyone will have the guts to bring its like to these shores again. Philip Fisher
|
||
|
|