Damiano Michieletto's Faust as Contemporary Art Collage

In his production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, director Damiano Michieletto draws heavily on contemporary art. The 42-year-old opera director, with set designer Paolo Fantin and costume designer Carla Teti, transforms Berlioz's 1846 work into a sterile scientific laboratory. The production references Anne Imhof's Golden Lion-winning German Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale, particularly in a bullying scene. Michieletto's use of a Steadicam projecting onto a central screen echoes Matthew Barney's Cremaster cycle, specifically The Loughton Candidate in Cremaster 4. Gym equipment references Barney's Drawing Restraint series. Marguerite's red dress and gestures evoke Marina Abramović, with Mephistopheles tracing her silhouette in red chalk, recalling Abramović's Anima Mundi (1983) with Ulay. Faust's rhythmic gait is inspired by Bill Viola. Mephistopheles pouring black paint over himself is taken from Viola's Inverted Birth (2014). A giant rat references Katharina Fritsch's Rat King (1993). A blue platform surrounded by light bulbs resembles Félix González-Torres's Untitled (Go-Go Dancing platform) (1991). A blond singer resembles Trump and recalls Ragnar Kjartansson's videos. An upside-down tree in Paradise references Henrik Håkansson. The final scene with a choir on steps echoes Adrian Paci's Turn On (2013). Michieletto uses contemporary art as a visual vocabulary to update opera, breaking from traditional crinolines and brocades.