Sep 11Sep 19, 2025
Faustus in Africa !
William Kentridge • Handspring Puppet Company
A SATIRE OF THE MYTH OF FAUST. A POWERFUL METAPHOR FOR OUR TIMES.
Explorer, conqueror... predator? After signing a pact in blood with Mephisto, Faustus sets off on a frenetic safari across Africa. Created in 1995 and restaged for the current day, Faustus in Africa! is one of the most celebrated works from the renowned Handspring Puppet Company. Written and staged by an acclaimed, multitalented contemporary artist, it draws on theatre, puppetry, drawing, music and video. With incisive irony, this satirical fable depicts the greed of the coloniser, single-mindedly obsessed with plundering resources and exploiting populations.
Hugues Le Tanneur
Overtitled in French
Direction William Kentridge
Assistant direction Lara Foot
Puppet design and direction Adrian Kohler et Basil Jones (Handspring Puppet Company)
Assistant and rehearsal supervisor Enrico Dau Yang Wey
Scenography Adrian Kohler and William Kentridge
Animation William Kentridge
Puppet making Adrian Kohler and Tau Qwelane
Puppet costumes Hazel Maree, Hiltrud von Seidlitz and Phyllis Midlane
Special effects Simon Dunckley
Set and prop design Adrian Kohler
Set building Dean Pitman for Ukululama Projects
Set painting and dressing Nadine Minnaar for Scene Visual Productions
Traduction Robert David Macdonald
Additional text Lesego Rampolokeng
Music James Phillips et Warrick Sony
Sound design Simon Kohler
Lighting Wesley France
Cast Eben Genis, Atandwa Kani, Mongi Mthombeni, Wessel Pretorius, Asanda Rilityana, Buhle Stefane, Jennifer Steyn
Stage manager and video operator Thunyelwa Rachwene
Sound technician Tebogo Laaka
Video controller Kim Gunning
Quaternaire producers Sarah Ford, Roxani Kamperou, Emmanuelle Taccard
Production Reprise 2025 : Quaternaire/Paris en coproduction avec Théâtre de la Ville-Paris – Festival d’Automne à Paris. Coproduction The Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town (Cape Town) – Fondazione Campania des Festival, Campania Teatro Festival (Naples) – Centre d’art Battat (Montréal) – Cité européenne du théâtre - Domaine d’O - Montpellier / PCM2025 (Montpellier) – Grec Festival (Barcelone), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Bruxelles) – Thalia Theater (Hambourg).… (en cours). Production Version 1995 : Handspring Puppet Company en association avec The Market Theatre, Art Bureau (Munich), Kunstfest (Weimar), Standard Bank National Arts Festival, The Foundation for the Creative Arts, Sharp Electronics et Mannie Manim Productions. Coréalisation Théâtre de la Ville-Paris – Festival d’Automne à Paris.
