Faust at VAT Teater

At the recommendation of another of Sour Cream & Dill’s reviewers, Shannon, I booked a ticket to the recent matinee performance of Faust by VAT Teater. The Sakala 3 theatre is a gorgeous space to wander through, with details both extravagant and subtle – the ceilings in particular captured my interest and imagination, with insets, crown molding, and murals amongst the varied chandeliers. I arrived about twenty minutes before the show was set to begin, nervous about arriving too early but finding the coffee shop inside filled with young folks – apparently a school trip that justified the matinee performance. 

The Suur Hall, despite its name and venue layout image when booking tickets, is almost black-box in nature, with stadium-style seating for just over 160 people in clearly-numbered chairs. On this occasion, the stage was simply set: a four-panel screen placed about half-depth and, off to the audience’s right, an illuminated red keyboard and gong. The show’s description points out that it’s not a direct-from-script production, but instead an expressionistic interpretation of the age-old tale, with influences ranging from Christopher Marlowe to the 1926 German silent film directed by F.W. Murnau. 

This production begins with the projection of the beginning of that film onto the mid-stage screen (video design by Peeter Ritso), with live voices provided by as-yet-unseen actors and musical accompaniment by Madis Muul, the keyboardist and one of six performers in the piece. As the forces of heaven and hell debate over the soul of Faust, we’re slowly and then suddenly brought into live action performance, with a crank-spun tumbler providing the sound effects of a windstorm blowing into the doctor’s hometown during carnival. In moments, the screen tilts back and transitions into a stark-white raised stage, where the five actors collapse, entwined, and awaken, working together to give shape to the protagonist Faust, played by Ago Soots.

The key interactions throughout the performance happen on the stage, though some characters – particularly Tanel Saar’s Mephistopheles – will step off to break the fourth wall and address the audience directly. However, the core of the performance emulates the screen-to-stage transformation, with actors performing their scenes silently as other cast members, off-stage, provide the voices. The expressiveness and timing of the troupe is impeccable, with Soots’ Faust the only one who remains a single character throughout – Saar does minor turns in the “chorus” before he takes on his demonic role, and Margo Teder and Meelis Põdersoo hand off countless characters and voices amongst them. Katariina Libe likewise plays sundry others, though she gets a named turn as the doomed Margaret of Faust’s obsession. 

The five performers populate the stage with everything from students to townspeople to strangers in exotic lands, all with Muul’s exquisite accompaniment. Garbed only in simple black clothing, the performance is impressively expressionist, scenes overlapping and elaborating on the film and the tale. Sander Põllu’s lighting design and Ritso’s video design combined with clever stage design project movement and travel through time and space, conjuring dark rituals and devilish miracles. Incredible sound and visual effects were also provided by the actors when off-stage or not in-character, such as the “statues” establishing the church setting through embodying The Creation of Adam, or the clashing sounds of swordfights enacted on a darkened metal frame.

On the whole, Faust was an incredibly constructed production, with fantastic scene setting and direction from Aare Toikka that transcended physical and verbal language, enabling an elevated interpretation of a classic story. VAT Teater’s January performances are already completely booked, but tickets are still available for 4-5 March, 2026. Several other productions will be staged in the meantime, from documentary theatre to Japanese-Estonian epic tales.

Author: Laurie

Laurie likes alliteration, ambiance, and lists with three things.