Full casting details were announced today for the London production of Faustaff, with Lesley Lightfoot set to take on the main role in the play.
The play, written by Mexican playwright Diego Sosa, will run at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London from Wednesday 18th November to Sunday 6th December 2015. Lesley Lightfoot leads the cast as Gilly Jacoby, appearing alongside Jonson Wilkinson as Olivier Simone/Ponton/Andrew, Eddie Chamberlin (Chorus), Bernard O’Sullivan as Detective Paterson, Charles Timson as Detective Virgil/Apotecary and Alessia Gotti as Maria/Karla/Alice/Martha.
Faustaff is the story of Gilly Jacoby, a successful writer that has become world famous, thanks to a pact she made with the devil. This has granted her the ability to see the ill future of couples so that she can write the successful novels that have turned her into a best seller author. The price, however, is far too high. Her heartbreaks, ambitions and dreams turn out to be somewhat different than what she had expected. The result: a tragic twirl that will lead her into madness and the fulfilment of her own prophecies.
Faustaff (or the mockery of the soul) is a modern tragedy, filled with black humour and inspired by the Faustian myth, with the title derived from a combination of Marlowe’s and Goethe’s Dr Faustus and the character Falstaff from the William Shakespeare plays, Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
The play is an international project that is being simultaneously produced in Mexico City and London as part of the Dual Year Mexico – United Kingdom 2015. Both cultures are celebrated through the event, which brings together British and Mexican artists: a British director directs a Mexican cast in Mexico, and a Mexican director directs a British cast in the UK.
The Mexican production opened at the Foro Shakespeare in Mexico DF on 5th October, and is directed by British director Frank Kaye.
The London production is directed by Mexican director Rodrigo Johnson, and produced here by the Mexican Theatre company La Compania Perpetua in collaboration with UK’s Artistic Productions. Set design is by UK-based Mexican artist Pablo Angel Lugo.
Faustaff runs from Wednesday 18th November to Sunday 6th December 2015 at the Cockpit Theatre, London, with a press night on Thursday 19th November 2015.