Directors’ Statement
Engaging with the canon means engaging with the institutional powers of colonialism and White supremacy. As a group of diverse artists, it is both a privilege to come together to present this project, and also a moment to reflect on the ways in which we can use our resources and platform to inspire greater social change. As we’ve embarked on this project, we have sought to decenter the traditional structures of power that have produced Dr. Faustus as a canonical work. While this project has sought to take the first steps towards disarticulating itself from these institutions of power, these steps are by no means expansive nor complete.
Part of our efforts include collecting donations for Black Lives Matter; we acknowledge the ways in which Black people have been left out of the construct of “the canon” and how this construct has in turn been used to dehumanize and disenfranchise Black Americans in particular. Furthermore, this project has come to be during a time of mass reckoning with the institutional anti-Blackness present in all systems at work in the United States; theatre is no less exempt. As a group of artists, we have striven to center ways to create space for and aid Black voices fighting for change. Collecting donations for Black Lives Matter is a chance for us to provide monetary aid to an organization fueling a national conversation about combating anti-Blackness. Our hope is to use this platform to further encourage our audience and peers to help fight White Supremacy.
We also recognize the interconnectedness of Black and Indigenous struggles, and as such, recognize the ways in which we benefit from the violence of settler colonialism as well as acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Munsee Lenape in what is now called Staten Island; the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi First Nations, as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox First Nations, in what is now called Chicago all of which we occupy as a directing team . We also reaffirm our solidarity with local groups fighting to decolonize and restore Indigenous sovereignty. While we have been working on this project organizations across the United States, including New York City and Chicago, have fought for the removal of monuments that glorify settler colonialism and the seizure of Native lands. These organizations acted in solidarity with Black Lives Matter because they recognize the unique interconnectedness between Black and Indigenous struggles. To further honor and highlight these intertwined struggles we are donating $100 each to Chi-Nations Youth Council and the American Indian Community House.
We implore our audience to educate themselves about the Indigenous groups that have historically and currently inhabit local areas of the United States and act in solidarity, however local Indigenous organizations have asked.
- Camilla Dwyer and Alyssa Rodriguez
About the Episode
“It’s time for Faustus to decide: unfathomable earthly powers or heavenly eternity? Unfortunately, every side seems to be weighing in as loudly as they possibly can as the hour of choices draws ever-nearer. With just the toss of chance can he choose wisely.”
Cast
NARRATOR, BEEZELBUB
Cade Smith
FAUSTUS
Pablo Lopez
MEPHISTOPHELES
Kyle Stoner
WAGNER, LUCIFER, CHORUS
Ernesto Bustos
GOOD ANGEL, DICK
Amandine Edwards
EVIL ANGEL, ROBIN/CLOWN
Leah Daugherty
Sound Credits
Flame
SamuelGBorden
Birds and Bees
klankbeeld
Wind Howling
kangaroovindaloo
Clock Ticking
InspectorJ
Piano Melody
Septuniman
Bass Sound
off the sky
Bass Layer
marchon11
Faustus Rant
Septuniman
Chaos
Sllarson
Wooden Door Creak
mickfire
Meditation
“The Faerie Tree” Faerielore by James Trott