Faustus in Africa! William Kentridge revisits Faust as a colonial fable at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris

From September 11 to 19, 2025, Faustus in Africa! takes up residence at the Théâtre de la Ville - Sarah Bernhardt, combining puppetry, theater and visual arts in a satire of the Faust myth revisited on the scale of the African continent. The play can be seen in English with French subtitles.

Presented from September 11 to 19, 2025 at the Grande Salle of Théâtre de la Ville - Sarah Bernhardt, Faustus in Africa! is an emblematic creation by the Handspring Puppet Company, conceived and directed by William Kentridge. This visual fable, originally created in 1995 and recreated for today, turns the Faust myth into a powerful colonial metaphor, carried by a total theater combining puppets, music, video, drawing and performance.

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Faustus, figure of the Faustian pact, becomes an explorer and colonizer on a frenzied safari, guided by Mephisto. By signing a blood pact, he embarks on a journey of conquest, a critical mirror of the predatory ambitions of colonial history. The play relocates the European legend to the African continent, the better to question the logics of appropriation, exploitation and erasure.

The Handspring Puppet Company, renowned for its creations combining life-size puppets and engaged storytelling(War Horse, Ubu and the Truth Commission), finds here a striking political and artistic playground. Driven by the visual and narrative vision of William Kentridge, a South African artist renowned for his multidisciplinary work, Faustus in Africa! brings to the stage a hybridization of forms: live cartoons, shadow theater, projected videos, musical scores and, of course, puppets, animated by the visible bodies of the actor-manipulators.

This show is aimed at audiences sensitive to post-colonial issues, experimental scenic forms and critical accounts of power. The visual power, dark humor and formal richness of the ensemble promise a dense and singular experience. On the other hand, spectators in search of classical or linear theater may find this deliberately fragmented proposal, at the crossroads of disciplines, disconcerting.

Faustus in Africa! is to be discovered at the Théâtre de la Ville - Sarah Bernhardt, in a series of exceptional performances from September 11 to 19, 2025.

Transparency note: this article is based on sources available online and the show has not been viewed.

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