FAUSTUS IN AFRICA!

WILLIAM KENTRIDGE AND HANDSPRING PUPPET COMPANY'S FAUSTUS IN AFRICA!

Faustus in Africa! is a collaboration between William Kentridge and Handspring Puppet Company and a re-working of their multi-award-winning 1995 production of the same name.

This is an ageless tale. Its themes of compromise are universal. They make urgent sense to each successive generation. The betrayal of one’s better judgment for short term gain tempts us all and is the burning question behind our climate emergency, and the trade-offs and expediency that underly the desperate problems our world is facing. Faustus in Africa! is a harmonious blend of theatre, and puppetry, with music by Warrick Sony and the late and much revered James Phillips underscoring Kentridge’s glorious animations. The text is based mainly on Goethe’s classic play Faust – a Tragedy, interspersed with elements of Bulgakov’s satiric novel The Master and Margarita and incorporates the brittle irony of South African poet Lesego Rampolokeng. Faustus goes on a safari to enjoy all that Africa has to offer. But it becomes a rampaging journey of greed and passion. Directed by Kentridge, with design and puppet-mastery by Handspring, this irreverent encounter with the ‘Faustian Pact’ remains a powerful metaphor for our times.

Creative Team
Director: William Kentridge
Associate Director: Lara Foot
Puppetry Directors: Adrian Kohler & Basil Jones (Handspring Puppet Company)
Associate Puppetry Director: Enrico Dau Yang Wey
Design: Adrian Kohler & William Kentridge
Animation: William Kentridge
Puppet Construction: Adrian Kohler & Tau Qwelane
Puppet Costumes: Hazel Maree, Hiltrud von Seidlitz & Phyllis Midlane
Special Effects: Simon Dunckley
Set Design: Adrian Kohler
Set Construction: Dean Pitman
Set Painting & Dressing: Nadine Minnaar for Scene Visual Productions
Translation: Robert David MacDonald
Additional text: Lesego Rampolokeng
Music: James Phillips & Warrick Sony
Lighting Design & Production Management: Wesley France

Cast
Atandwa Kani, Jennifer Steyn, Wessel Pretorius

Puppeteers
Asanda Rilityana, Buhle Thembisile, Eben Genis, Mongi Mthombeni

Co-Producers
The 2025 version is produced by Quaternaire/Paris and restaged with co-production support of The Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town (Cape Town), Centre d'art Battat (Montreal), Kunstfest (Weimar), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Théâtre de la Ville/Festival d'Automne (Paris).

The 1995 version was produced Handspring Puppet Company in association with The Market Theatre, Art Bureau (Munich), Kunstfest (Weimar), Standard Bank National Arts Festival, The Foundation for the Creative Arts, Sharp Electronics and Mannie Manim Productions.

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