Drama on 3 - Faust

By Johann Wolfgang Goethe, translated by John R. Williams, with Samuel West as Faust, Toby Jones as Mephistopheles, Anna Maxwell Martin as Gretchen and Derek Jacobi as The Lord. Adapted and directed by David Timson, with music composed by Roger Marsh. Goethe's Faust, one of the pillars of Western literature, is presented in a dramatisation by David Timson. In Part 1, following an agreement between Mephistopheles and The Lord, the scholar Faust is tempted into a contract with the Devil. His life is changed and he plunges into the enjoyment of sensuality until his emotions are stirred by a meeting with Gretchen, leading to a tragic outcome. Part 2, written much later in Goethe's life, presents a series of episodic scenes in which the poet places his eponymous hero in a variety of surprising circumstances reflecting the predicament of humanity. Funny, reflective and moving, this dramatisation shows why Goethe's Faust had such a massive influence on Western culture. Faust ..... Samuel West Mephistopheles ..... Toby Jones Gretchen ..... Anna Maxwell Martin The Lord ..... Derek Jacobi Wagner (Faust's assistant) ..... Stephen Critchlow Martha ..... Joannah Tincey Valentin (Gretchen's brother) ..... Peter Kenny Helen ..... Emily Raymond The Emperor ..... Gunnar Cauthery The Earth Spirit and Thales ..... Sean Barrett Lord Chancellor and Anaxagoras ..... Hugh Dickson Homunculus ..... Anne-Marie Piazza Nereus ..... Gerard Horan Chiron and Proteus ..... Gunnar Cauthery Manto and Panthalis ..... Auriol Smith Lynceus ..... Peter Kenny Care ..... Emily Raymond Euphorion ..... Daniel Mair Music by Roger Marsh Musicians: The 24, directed by the composer with Peyee Chen (soprano) Georgina Wells (harp) and Mark Hutchinson (oboe) Sound Design and Additional Music by Norman Goodman. Adapted and Directed by David Timson. Producer: Nicolas Soames. An Ukemi Production for Radio 3.