Project Faust

THE BEYOND – PROJECT FAUST
A world premiere opera/ballet work by Sally Blackwood.
A Louisville Ballet & Kentucky Opera Co-Production.
Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville Kentucky USA.
Premiere Season: March 2018

“(Project) Faust, an ambitious and compelling hybrid…Auteur director Sally Blackwood brings a strong concept to this revisioning of Charles Gounod’s opera ‘Faust’.” – Louisville Ballet’s The Sacred and the Profane – Louisville Arts & Culture, Kentucky USA

Louisville insider
Leo Weekly
Leo Weekly #2
Louisville Arts & Culture
Louisville Public Radio

DIRECTOR/CREATOR: SALLY BLACKWOOD
Conductor: Tara Simoncic
Choreographer: Adam Hougland
Set & Lighting Designer: Trad A Burns
Sound Designer: Tim Barnes
Costume Designer: Zhanna Goldentul
Ballet Mistress: Mikelle Bruniza
French dialogue, translation & surtitling: SALLY BLACKWOOD

Project Faust is a new opera/ballet work conceptualised and created by Sally Blackwood for Louisville Ballet and Kentucky Opera. Project Faust is the story of Marguerite and Faust bound together in one cyclical moment in time in which heaven and hell become one. In an instant of choice Faust succumbs to his ego and conjures up his inner darkness unleashing his internal demons. Only their moral compass, and the innocence of a child, may guide them through the maze of inferno. Project Faust takes Goethe’s twisted tale and Charles Gounod’s opera and reimagines the legend of Faust in the twenty-first century. Within the framework of this timeless classic, we examine the universal question of the Faustian bargain in our contemporary world in which one’s moral compass is at risk of constant corruption by those in power. Project Faust is the story of Marguerite and her resilience despite all odds. The story is guided by a young girl, a child, Marguerite’s child or perhaps a younger version of herself. This young girl is our key into the surreal world of Project Faust as she guides us through the abstracted story like Virgil guiding Dante through the layers of hell. Through the innocent eye of a child we experience the truth of The Beyond.

Project Faust is a world premiere production which has been created over two years by an ensemble of extraordinary opera and ballet artists, led by Sally Blackwood and a creative team from across the US, UK and Australia. The ensemble has developed a performance language and storytelling aesthetic that aims to step outside the bounds of both opera and ballet for the creation of a new and innovative hybrid art form. This new dance-driven story is an hour-long marriage of opera and ballet as never experienced. Project Faust is a feast for the senses.

Project Faust asks: What’s your price? What would you sell your soul for?

Dancers – Louisville Ballet
Louisville Ballet company including: Leigh Anne Albrechta, Roger Creel, Kateryna Sellers, Justin Michael Hogan, Ryan Stokes, Helen Daigle; and Louisville Ballet Trainees.

Child Maya O’Dell dancer/ actor

Singers – Kentucky Opera
Emily Albrink Marguerite Soprano
Garrett Sorenson Faust Tenor
Jorge Andrès Camargo The Devil Bass Baritone
Chorus of the Kentucky Opera (24 voices) under Chorus Master Lisa Hasson

Orchestra – Louisville Orchestra
Music preparation and repetiteur Jason Wirth.

Production – Louisville Ballet
Technical Director: Brian Sherman
Stage Manager: Victoria Frank

THE BEYOND features PROJECT FAUST by Sally Blackwood, and Gabriel Faure’s REQUIEM by Stephen Baynes for the Australian Ballet.

Photo credit: ©Sam English for Louisville Ballet