Faust - - or read the small print.

Sitting in the lounge of the Edinburgh airport waiting for my plane to London. Thinking about the show I saw last night at the Festival. It was “Faust” done by a famous Polish Theatre Group. A large company, which you never see because of the cost, and it was about as theoretical as possible to get. Great-stylized make up and costumes, added to fantastic acting. One of the most interesting parts of the evening was that it was entirely in Polish. No English subtitles, no super-text over the stage, just straight Polish.

Of course, it helped that “Faust” is a well-known story. He makes a deal with the devil, gets what he bargained for, meets the girl, loves the girl, the girl dies, and then the devil collects the owed soul. Simple, clean and straightforward, sounds like a good old soap opera with moral.

I know it may be hard to think that the evening would have held any interest for you. To watch a play in a language that you don’t understand sounds like a lost deal. And, even though you might know the story, many times what you were watching on stage didn’t match up with what you thought you knew.

You may not have loved the production, I didn’t. But, you would have liked it, I did. But, best of all it would have opened up possibilities that may never have occurred to you, I know it did for me.

This is the festival and this is part of what the festival experience is all about.