Faust: Eurythmy shows what lies in between
The new production of Goethe‘s ‘Faust 1 & 2’ at the Goetheanum is scheduled for 20 and 21 June (director: Andrea Pfaehler). Both the performance tradition and the fact that all productions combine acting with eurythmy are unique in the world.
Tremendous things happen in Faust: Faust, the scholar, calls on beings that he turns out not to be equal to, he grows younger after drinking a magic potion, and he gets to know worlds whose inhabitants are sometimes caught in permanence and sometimes in constant change. In the ‘Faust’ productions at the Goetheanum these aspects are also made visible. “Eurythmy shows the in-between and takes us to a place where we can sense what lives behind the things, waiting to be discovered”, says Eduardo Torres, who is responsible for the eurythmy in this new production of ‘Faust 1 & 2’. “It touches on the mystery of life.”
Andrea Pfaehler, the director of this production, adds that in her view “our way of life is more like that of Faust‘s assistant Wagner than that of Faust. We take our cue from the past, prefer to follow examples, hardly think for ourselves and are reluctant to embark on something new.” The latter was particularly important, however, especially when traditional ways and views can no longer carry us. “In ‘Faust’, Goethe shows me where I myself can really become creator”, says Eduardo Torres.
Not everything is smooth and pleasant on this path. “Wagner does science without the spirit – his creation needs Mephisto‘s help. Wagner, moreover, stays behind in the laboratory while the Homunculus is keen to evolve”, Andrea Pfaehler points out. Eurythmy offers a director more than the possibility to “present metaphysical beings”. It allows the distinction between how an angel moves or an archangel, an earth spirit or a devil. “Eurythmy touches something in us that we would otherwise not experience: the question as to the source from which a being draws.”
Premiere Goethe‘s ‘Faust 1 & 2’ in nine hours, 20 to 21 June 2020, Goetheanum
More performances to follow (as part of special Faust weekends) www.faust.jetzt/zeitplan (in German)
Contact person Katrin Oesteroth, buehne@goetheanum.ch
Translation by Margot M. Saar