#in the hypothetical gounod staging meph's affect and costume is obviously 'friendly neighborhood priest' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shredsandpatches · 10 months

Text

Really want to see the church scene in Gounod Faust staged with Marguerite and Mephistopheles on opposite sides of a confessional screen (I would not be surprised if this is common but I haven't seen that many productions). I think it'd really underscore the psychological/spiritual horror and violation going on in that scene.

#hot faust summer #mephistopheles monday #you could do the sort of stage set version where the screen is there but the sides are open #she could step out to the altar for her big moment at the end #this is of course also me having a lot of lapsed-catholic issues #but (this opera being french) the church scene is just absolute pure distilled catholic nightmare fuel #...goethe actually also sort of low-key writes gretchen as catholic #she goes to confession (with meph listening in!) and prays to the Virgin Mary #which is a sign of goethe not being interested in religion except as a social and psychological force #but catholic culture is especially good at scenarios that are tailored to mindfuck young women #so it does fit #in the hypothetical gounod staging meph's affect and costume is obviously 'friendly neighborhood priest'#before it escalates quickly

16 notes · View notes