November 22, 2025
"Faust," a 19th century tragic play in verse written by Johannes Wolfgang von Goethe is considered the greatest work in German literature. The story was about a desperate man named Faust who made a deal with a devil figure named Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles will let Faust experience heaven here on earth. But in exchange, Faust agreed that his soul will follow Mephistopheles straight into hell later during his afterlife.
I only had a general idea of that plot, but not the details. This is the first time that I am actually watching this classic performed on a stage. However, this won't just be a regular straight play. Arete has staged this rock opera version of "Faust" as conceptualized by director Nelsito Gomez, with Basti Artadi, charismatic frontman of 1990s Filipino rock band Wolfgang (on their 30th anniversary this year), whose songs (English and Filipino) are used to tell the story.
I have to confess that I am not at all familiar with much of Wolfgang's music, so I went into this show not recognizing any of the tunes nor the lyrics. However, the live rock band and the powerful vocalists performing this metallic music created a loud, vibrant wall of sound that really enveloped every corner of the entire Doreen Black Box theater. This music was so strong it held everyone in the audience entranced and focused on the stage.
Lyrics notwithstanding, we do get the general run of the story, thanks to the context clues of Nelsito Gomez's direction, as well as clues from the acting of the cast -- Joseton Vergel de Dios as Faust, Maita Ponce as Mephistopheles, Shaira Opsimar as Marga, the country lass he fell in love with, Joshua Cabiladas as her brother Tiño, and Matel Patayon as Tiño's wife, with the ensemble MC Dela Cruz, Jam Binay, JV Fulgencio, Thor Ganchero, and Iya Villanueva.
The two leads -- Joseton Vergel de Dios and Maita Ponce -- were both new to me, but what exciting revelations they were as actors and rock singers. There may have been hints here and there that he was a stage neophyte, Vergel de Dios was naturally charismatic as the young, vital post-transformation Faust. Ponce was an electrifying stage presence with the spunk, confidence and rock-star attitude required for the deceitful Mephistopheles role.
They had quite a number of duets throughout the show, and they sure can wail them out. The most remarkable of them all was "I.O.U" in the second act, when Mephistopheles ("I own you") was collecting on Faust's debt ("I owe you"). It would not be a stretch to imagine that this was the song that gave Nelsito Gomez the idea to utilize Wolfgang songs to tell the story of Faust. The sheer coincidence of the lyrical contents was just too fortuitous to ignore.
Shaira Opsimar is the best known vocal powerhouse of the cast for me. She had recently won the Gawad Buhay award for Best Lead Actress in a musical for PETA's "Walang Aray." Here she actually went beyond the sweet and smooth musical theater belting she is known for, taking a risk to nail a grittier growling rock-style belting, especially in her deeply despondent emotional interpretation of her final climactic song "Halik ni Hudas."
I've seen Joshua Cabiladas in a number of musicals before, from "Ako si Josephine" (Cornerstone, 2016) to "Side Show" (Sandbox, 2025). The two songs here are the toughest singing vocals I've heard him do so far -- "Sandata" and "Tulisan." I first saw Matel Patayon onstage in "Grace" (Encore, 2024) in a small, non-singing role. When she started to sing "Mata ng Diyos" with Opsimar, her singing voice turned out to be so solid and rich.
Sarah Facuri's set was a huge rectangular backdrop which had various moving panels opening and closing to change the look of the stage. Jethro Nibaten opened the show with a lighting design representing Heaven, then going through various hues in between, and ending with a deep shade of red to represent Hell. Joyce Garcia's video and projection design filled up the blank slate of Facuri's wall, at times with images of the actors themselves.
Incredibly, this show was totally sung through, with no spoken dialogue. The entire story was only being told by the lyrics of the songs. If you don't know the lyrics or do not understand the words as sung live, you may not fully get how well the details were being told by the lyrics in specific parts of the show. Then again, nitpicking the lyrics isn't really the point. This immersive show is more about experiencing the hard rocking music and electric performances as a whole. Allow yourself to be absorbed in.
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"Si Faust" runs from November 14 to 23, 2025 at the Doreen Black Box Theater of the Arete in the Ateneo de Manila campus in Quezon City. Play runs about 1 hour and 40 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission. Ticket prices at 1,999 and P999 via Helixpay (LINK).
Because I arrived a little late, I was given the last seat on what seemed to be the final row of the Premium seats near the theater door. These seats seemed to be all on the same level, so the view from the back is blocked by the heads of the people seated in front. I can see actors fine when they were standing up. However, when they were crouched, sitting or lying on the floor, we could barely see any action at all, which was a pity.
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