As told by Goethe and Marlowe, the story of Faust is of one man’s journey into temptation. Having explored the outer limits of human knowledge, this renaissance man can go no further. Unless, that is, he signs a pact with the devil. In exchange for his soul, Mephistopheles gives him all the earthly pleasure and intellectual satisfaction he desires.
But sins have consequences and in this ambitious show by William Kentridge for South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, a reworking of a 1995 production, Faustus does not take this journey towards damnation alone: the world comes with him. Now, his list of job titles extends to missionary and enslaver, and his travels across the African continent lead to war, exploitation and environmental catastrophe. If there were an eighth deadly sin, it would be that of colonialism.
