FAUST Pt1 Trailer (2009)

FAUST Pt1
Adapted from Goethe by Mark Jackson.
Directed by Kevin Clarke and Mark Jackson.
Performed by Zehra Berkman, Blythe Foster, Mark Jackson, Phil Lowery, Peter Ruocco. and Dara Yazdani.
Scenery Nina Ball. Costumes Kevin Clarke. Lights Joan Arhelger. Sound Matt Stines.
Produced by Shotgun Players, May 2009.

I wrote the first draft of this adaptation in 2007. Goethe’s theme of the struggle between desire and responsibility, and his important question as to how deeply we are willing to consider the ways in which our personal actions impact the world outside ourselves, seemed absolutely present in the world. Though not at all true to the letter of Goethe, I was keen to remain faithful to his impulse. Goethe created a brilliant conundrum of a play, full of contradictions and tantalizingly loose threads, as well as a brash mix of theatrical styles. It really is the sort of thing that requires an audience to complete it. So, when after one early performance a group of four who had remained in their seats discussing the work flagged me down wanting to talk more about it, I suspected we’d done right by ol’ Goethe and our audience, both. That this sort of thing continued throughout the run seemed to suggest that indeed we had.

PRESS:

“This Shotgun Players world premiere showcases Jackson's breathtaking range of gifts. One of the Bay Area's most consistently inventive stage auteurs, Jackson is often hailed for his highly stylized fusion of expressionist techniques with balletic movement as well as his boundless sense of ambition. Here he co-directs, writes and stars… It’s a two-hour theatrical adventure that's as intellectually rigorous as it is bold and hot-blooded... Jackson is riveting.” – San Jose Mercury News

“An exhilarating experience… This is a funny FAUST, but an intellectually stimulating, startlingly bloody and emotionally gripping one as well… Jackson pulls us in with his rigorously stylized focus, using exaggerated gestures and pauses to layer Goethe's satire on philosophy, politics and religion with the comedy of Faust's intellectual arrogance… Stark, funny, sobering and provocative, this is a FAUST for our times.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“Tightly written and beautifully constructed… There are moments of stark beauty and incomparable emotion… Huge praise must go to Jackson… His performance as Faust is breathtaking… He shows a tremendous range in his character development, eliciting both revulsion and empathy throughout... Jackson's adaptation leaves many of the story's conclusions to the audience. And that may be what works best of all in this story – it plays across the mind for quite awhile after the final blackout.” – Contra Costa Times