Anthropos presents Beat the Devil! Faust, the Whole Story told by Glen Williamson, Nov. 6/12, Toronto Waldorf School; and Intensify your STORYTELLING SKILLS with Dramatic Arts, Nov.5/12 workshop with Glen Williamson at the Wychwood Barns Community Gallery

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe worked on the great poetic drama Faust for most of his life. Actor and storyteller Glen Williamson has been working with his production of the story for much of his life. The combined depth of this experience and insight was a gift to all who attended Beat the Devil! Faust, the Whole Story on November 6/12 at the Toronto Waldorf School. One audience member described Glen as “one of our greatest living artists.” For me, “living” is the key word. Glen “lives” into his performance of the story, inhabiting the characters and breathing contemporary meaning into this timeless story of innocence and experience. The litmus test of the success of his performance was exposed on the faces of the audience. From high school students to Hesperus (senior) residents, we were swept into the age-old trials of being human and the compassion that springs forth from open hearts.

Those of us who attended Glen’s storytelling workshops at Wychwood Barns and Hesperus were all the more prepared to appreciate his art and craft. During these workshops Glen invited us to embody the elements of earth, water, air, and fire. We began by imagining we were moving through thick gooey clay, and ended by radiating the very warmth of the sun. Then we took a gesture and put words to it. Different gestures, same words. Working in pairs, we were astonished to see how diverse the conversations could be, using the same words with different gestures. So during the performance when Glen embodied Helen of Troy, “the face that launched a thousand ships,” emerging from the water as a watery apparition speaking in a watery way, we experienced it more profoundly for our own exploration of water.

Glen has been working with Goethe’s Faust since 1981, and began developing his story version (condensing 24 hours of playing time to an hour and a half) “at the request of the New York Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in 1999 in honor of the 250th anniversary of Goethe’s birth.” I have spent 10 years or so crafting the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros into an hour and a half storytelling performance, exploring in depth the resonance of the story and how to share this with an audience, and it is Glen’s creative process of working with this play in such a unique way that is inspiring to me.

Missed it? You’ll get another chance! You almost always do. Glen will be back with a different production- Sunday Jan.20/13 he will perform “Kaspar Hauser” in Richmond Hill. In the meantime, check out AnthroposTheater.com and google Glen Williamson to visit his website.