William Kentridge on revisiting Faustus in Africa!  three decades after its debut.

Faustus in Africa!  was produced at the time of and in response to the negotiated settlement between the outgoing nationalist government South Africa and the incoming African National Congress (ANC) government. What were the ethical costs of this agreement, in which there was a clear choice of peace over justice?

We have not changed the images that are projected at all. The text remains the same. The puppets are dusted off but essentially untransformed. Over thirty years, the arms of the original performers have grown tired, and we have younger, stronger arms doing the puppeteering and acting.

Even though the production is the same, it is seen from a new angle. Things that were peripheral to the first production - the question of ownership and repatriation of African artworks, greed and corruption in the new South African state, now take a more prominent position. But the central questions of the weight of Europe on Africa has not fundamentally changed.

The work is always a combination of the piece itself, that comes towards the audience and the associations and insights that an audience brings to what they see. These associations and understandings shift over time. The words that come from the stage to the audience are heard and seen anew.

Experience Faustus in Africa!at The Lyceum from 20–23 August 2025.

Biography

William Kentridge, born 1995 in Johannesburg, South Africa, is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. His method combines drawing, writing, film, performance, music, theatre, and collaborative practices to create works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history, yet maintaining a space for contradiction and uncertainty.

Kentridge’s work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since the 1990s, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Albertina Museum in Vienna and Musée du Louvre in Paris. Opera productions include Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Shostakovich’s The Nose, and Alban Berg’s operas Lulu and Wozzeck, and have been seen at opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan and English National Opera in London.

Watch the Trailer for Faustus in Africa!