From October 10th to 15th, the teacher-created play "The Tragedy of Faust" created by the teachers of the Central Academy of Drama's major scientific research project was staged at the Experimental Theater of Dongcheng Campus. "The Tragedy of Faust" is based on the famous 19th-century German poetry drama "Faust" created by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, written by Yang Zhankun, director of the Scientific Research Office of our institute, and directed by Professor Liu Libin, former party secretary of our institute. The play is also a participating play of the 5th Lao She Drama Festival "College Theater" in 2021.
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The five-act play The Tragedy of Faust is adapted from Goethe's Faust, but it is very different from the original, that is, starting from the end of the original work, the five stages of Faust's life are presented upside down. From The Failure of Faust's desire to conquer nature to the shattering of his political ideals; from Faust's disillusionment in his quest for classical beauty, to his fiasco in search of realistic love, to the despair of knowledge in the final study, the protagonist's unsatisfied and intense desire prompts him to experience a life of ups and downs with the help of the devil Mephistopheles, and he carries the pain of failure. Willingly selling one's soul for the satisfaction of desire is both Faustian tragedy and the tragedy of humanity on the way forward. If the glorious civilization that mankind prides itself on is based on desire, then human progress and development will be meaningless and will be filled with spiritual pain. So, inspired by Gregor, Faust finally recognized his situation and fought the devil, intending to inject poison into the devil.
Regardless of whether Faust's efforts are successful or not, he still constantly examines himself, explores the meaning and value of the existence of "man", and bursts out the great brilliance of human nature. The play provokes the audience to think: what is the face of "people"?
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Liu Libin, the director of the play, said that "Faust" is a poetry drama by the German writer Goethe, the whole drama takes the development and change of Faust's thought as the clue, takes german folklore as the theme, describes the process of human beings trying to explore the meaning of life and social ideals, and is a poetic drama that combines realism and romanticism very well. Acting unceasingly was the motto of Faust's life. Faust experienced confusion and then came to know the truth—that man must not fall into the depths of desire, must not give his soul to the devil. The author of "The Tragedy of Faust" stripped away the cocoon and extracted the five paragraphs of Faust's life from the complex plot of the original poetry and drama, giving a serious and meaningful evaluation and performance of his tragic life. From this, the play will inspire the audience to think: in the face of the rich and colorful material life of the present, how should people grasp themselves? The constant pursuit will gain a new life, and without sober moderation and indulgence, the soul will be stolen unconsciously and become an object of exchange for benefits.
Yang Zhankun, the screenwriter of the play, said that people always carefully design their lives, but rarely understand its meaning.
In the face of the grand and profound theme of "Faust", the entire stage design adopts design concepts such as miniature scenes and circular layouts, inverted "reality" and "fragmented realism" to reflect the position of "grand narrative" and explain the intricate relationship between the spiritual world and the secular world. The center of the turntable is a 4-meter-diameter hollow ring device - the "crucible" in medieval alchemy as the visual center, and the edge of the turntable is a metal mesh miniature device for scenes such as the Harz Mountains, villages, and pastoral areas; directly above the turntable hangs a white "cylinder" (the "crucible with inverted buckle"), and the "crucible" hangs down the upside-down palace, Spartan temple pillars, and castles, echoing the image of the "crucible" on the ground. The "crucible" (i.e. "Baoding" in the play) is the melting instrument of medieval alchemy, the core magic instrument of witchcraft; as the main image of the stage design, it is a metaphor for the melting of various substances that Faust experienced in the high temperature, which is both a kind of Torture of the Human Soul by God and a symbol of Mephistopheles' evil magic.
The color system of the set installation is inspired by the German black, red and gold flags, black is considered to symbolize seriousness, strength and dignity, red symbolizes enthusiasm and creativity, and gold symbolizes wisdom and glory. According to research, the soldiers of the ancient Roman Empire were black, red and yellow. Since the Weimar Republic, the black, red and gold flags have been officially used as the national flag, which has been used by the Federal Republic of Germany and the present-day Federal Republic of Germany.
Show times
October 10, 2021-
October 15, 2021 19:30
Venue of the show
Experimental Theater of the Central Academy of Drama Dongcheng Campus
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This show is for internal viewing only and can be entered with a ticket
Contributed by: Teaching Practice Performance Center
Photo: Party Committee/Dean's Office
Editor-in-charge: Chen Yujing
【Source: Central Academy of Drama】
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