Jean-François Peyret, Jean-Didier Vincent

Faust A Natural History

It all began in July 1995, when theatre director Jean-François Peyret met with biologist Jean-Didier Vincent, in the latter’s lab. The intellectual exchange and friendship that developed from that meeting resulted, several years later, in a theatrical production based on a free adaptation of Goethe’s Faust, until then deemed unperformable. In this book, they look back on their production of Faust, and take stock of their experience. Their book can be regarded as a novel, a dialogue, a confession, a reinterpretation of Faust, or simply a mind game. Quietly and without ostentation, Peyret offers the reader a brilliant examination of the theatre today, and Vincent upholds his views more freely and strongly than ever before.