Opera Scotland

Faust 2015Swansea City Opera

Read more about the opera Faust

Swansea City Opera, one of Britain's leading medium-scale touring companies, celebrates its tenth anniversary by making its first visit to the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr, giving a single performance of Gounod's Faust. This was once a fixture on our stages, but is rarely seen nowadays, at least in Scotland.

The dark Gothic tale follows the fortunes of Faust who, weary of life, is contemplating suicide when he is visited by Méphistophélès (the Devil). Faust agrees to exchange his soul for eternal youth and the fulfilment of his hedonistic wishes. The resulting journey balances romance and temptation. It has been widely regarded as a tuneful masterpiece, and is loosely based on Goethe's dramatic poem Faust, one of the great works of European Literature.

Historically, Faust was one of the most famous and frequently performed of all operas, and was chosen as the first work to be presented at the newly-built New York Metropolitan Opera House in 1883, whilst at Covent Garden it was heard in every season between 1863 and 1911.

This production, sung in English, is set in the Victorian Gothic era with elegant costumes designed by Gabriella Ingram, and tours to 20 theatres through the UK. Audiences can discover more about the importance of design in staging an opera with a free pre-performance talk, when Brendan Wheatley, Swansea City Opera's Artistic Director, discusses the drama of Gounod's music and the creation of this new production.