Playing with the Devil
Nov. 1st, 2006 12:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Good luck to everyone participating in NaNoWriMo, or similar-related events.
If you live in London, you must go see Faust. I saw it yesterday and it's hands down the best play/art project in London at the moment. I'm not even sure you can call it a play since it takes place inside a 5-floor warehouse, with audience members wearing masks, dark corridors barely lit by candles on the floors, a vast number of rooms to explore (many of which I never found), and all kinds of weird and wonderful events which leave you, after nearly 3 hours, wanting to come back for more.
After drinking a few pints at a nearby pub, Kevin and I headed for 21 Wapping Lane, the large wharehouse (soon to be demolished) where Faust takes place. It was a freezing night - our first proper Winter evening. We walked past a security guard who told us to go through the car park and enter the building from the back. At the door, we ran into Silke and her friends. An usher handed us a cryptic piece of paper before we entered a 40s style saloon, where a band played hillbilly blues on stage and girls with American accents served drinks. We talked to them in fake American accents, even after being handed black masks and guided into a giant elevator (where more flirting took place between some of the girls and the conductor.)
We were dropped off at the 1st floor and began exploring dark rooms and corridors. We walked past a preacher proclaiming the end of the world; explored empty rooms that simulated tawdry motel rooms, beauty saloons, bars, diners, chapels, as well as large spaces filled with pine trees (and smelling of forests) and corn fields. Statues of the Virgin lay everywhere, usually surrounded by burning candles, and sometimes broken into pieces. In the diner's bathroom, a pile of chewed green apples lay by the sinks. I soon got tired of following around my friends, hurdling over characters that appeared on that floor, so I struck off by myself. I found a study room with an old man, a pentagram drawn on the floor, notes on magic and various vials. He seemed to be studying something, making a potion; soon, a young man in a fur coat appeared (followed by the ghostly audience) and we watched him give a contract to the old man. This was Mephistopheles, getting old Faust to sign away his soul.
In the corn field, I ran into Silke's friend Helen. She was by herself and wasn't enjoying the show (I think she didn't like the pressure it put on the audience to investigate and interact - to lose their passivity.) We wandered around for a bit until we crossed the pine forest and found a bar, where an asian girl (Martha) sang like Portishead, and a man sat at a table, playing cards and crying. The man suddenly took off his wig and left the bar; Martha climbed on the bar's counter and danced to us, the floating ghosts (floating Greek chorus). I ran into the bald guy in the pine forest just as the sound of a large group of people singing gospel approached us. I chased him up floors all the way to the diner's bathroom (where I caught Mark and Natalia having a smoke). After some shenanigans in the diner, the bald guy bought a drink in a nearby bar and arm wrestled the waiter. By this time, a girl with curly hair had joined me in following these characters. Martha appeared, crying a storm, and we followed her into a bedroom (together with a third girl), which she then closed the door and locked us in. The three of us were then the only audience to her dance moves across the bedroom's beds and walls; she then made curly-haired girl lie on the bed and, as she lay on top of her chest, curly-haired girl stroked her head.
More chasing around occured and everyone ended up in the basement, for the final scene: Gretchen imprisomned; old Faust losing her love; Mephistopheles' dance and battles; the young man completely naked, sitting on a chair, and Mephistopheles jumping on him till he fell on the floor. Mephistopheles, tired and sweaty, then grabbed me by the neck (which he began to massage) and walked with me, in an embrace, to the exit leading back into the saloon.
You can imagine the energy and spirit of the audience after the show was finished. As the band continued to play hillbilly music, we drank and exchanged our experiences. I found out there was a cinema that I never got to visit, as well as many characters (Gretchen's father and mother) which I never bumped into. We laughed at some of the things that happened to us - like me sitting on a setee in a living room at one point when Natalia and Mark burst in, or Joel's girlfriend Judith being made to roll around the floor with one of the characters. We returned to the pub near the site and had more drinks before catching a taxi home (Natalia and Mark crashed at ours.)

Faust
I must go back. I hear the run is being extended until March and I would like to know who in London wishes to come with me. Good walking/running shoes recommended, as well as stamina to survive 3 hours on your feet.
If you live in London, you must go see Faust. I saw it yesterday and it's hands down the best play/art project in London at the moment. I'm not even sure you can call it a play since it takes place inside a 5-floor warehouse, with audience members wearing masks, dark corridors barely lit by candles on the floors, a vast number of rooms to explore (many of which I never found), and all kinds of weird and wonderful events which leave you, after nearly 3 hours, wanting to come back for more.
After drinking a few pints at a nearby pub, Kevin and I headed for 21 Wapping Lane, the large wharehouse (soon to be demolished) where Faust takes place. It was a freezing night - our first proper Winter evening. We walked past a security guard who told us to go through the car park and enter the building from the back. At the door, we ran into Silke and her friends. An usher handed us a cryptic piece of paper before we entered a 40s style saloon, where a band played hillbilly blues on stage and girls with American accents served drinks. We talked to them in fake American accents, even after being handed black masks and guided into a giant elevator (where more flirting took place between some of the girls and the conductor.)
We were dropped off at the 1st floor and began exploring dark rooms and corridors. We walked past a preacher proclaiming the end of the world; explored empty rooms that simulated tawdry motel rooms, beauty saloons, bars, diners, chapels, as well as large spaces filled with pine trees (and smelling of forests) and corn fields. Statues of the Virgin lay everywhere, usually surrounded by burning candles, and sometimes broken into pieces. In the diner's bathroom, a pile of chewed green apples lay by the sinks. I soon got tired of following around my friends, hurdling over characters that appeared on that floor, so I struck off by myself. I found a study room with an old man, a pentagram drawn on the floor, notes on magic and various vials. He seemed to be studying something, making a potion; soon, a young man in a fur coat appeared (followed by the ghostly audience) and we watched him give a contract to the old man. This was Mephistopheles, getting old Faust to sign away his soul.
In the corn field, I ran into Silke's friend Helen. She was by herself and wasn't enjoying the show (I think she didn't like the pressure it put on the audience to investigate and interact - to lose their passivity.) We wandered around for a bit until we crossed the pine forest and found a bar, where an asian girl (Martha) sang like Portishead, and a man sat at a table, playing cards and crying. The man suddenly took off his wig and left the bar; Martha climbed on the bar's counter and danced to us, the floating ghosts (floating Greek chorus). I ran into the bald guy in the pine forest just as the sound of a large group of people singing gospel approached us. I chased him up floors all the way to the diner's bathroom (where I caught Mark and Natalia having a smoke). After some shenanigans in the diner, the bald guy bought a drink in a nearby bar and arm wrestled the waiter. By this time, a girl with curly hair had joined me in following these characters. Martha appeared, crying a storm, and we followed her into a bedroom (together with a third girl), which she then closed the door and locked us in. The three of us were then the only audience to her dance moves across the bedroom's beds and walls; she then made curly-haired girl lie on the bed and, as she lay on top of her chest, curly-haired girl stroked her head.
More chasing around occured and everyone ended up in the basement, for the final scene: Gretchen imprisomned; old Faust losing her love; Mephistopheles' dance and battles; the young man completely naked, sitting on a chair, and Mephistopheles jumping on him till he fell on the floor. Mephistopheles, tired and sweaty, then grabbed me by the neck (which he began to massage) and walked with me, in an embrace, to the exit leading back into the saloon.
You can imagine the energy and spirit of the audience after the show was finished. As the band continued to play hillbilly music, we drank and exchanged our experiences. I found out there was a cinema that I never got to visit, as well as many characters (Gretchen's father and mother) which I never bumped into. We laughed at some of the things that happened to us - like me sitting on a setee in a living room at one point when Natalia and Mark burst in, or Joel's girlfriend Judith being made to roll around the floor with one of the characters. We returned to the pub near the site and had more drinks before catching a taxi home (Natalia and Mark crashed at ours.)

Faust
I must go back. I hear the run is being extended until March and I would like to know who in London wishes to come with me. Good walking/running shoes recommended, as well as stamina to survive 3 hours on your feet.