Irish National Opera presents Faust as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2023

Irish National Opera’s new production of Charles Gounod’s Faust will take place for four performances at the Gaiety Theatre between Sunday 1 and Saturday 7 October 2023. The world renowned opera features a stellar cast of international performers, bringing an exciting, no cuts edition of the show.

The new production sees the Irish and European debut of rapidly-rising US tenor Duke Kim, “of the most exciting young tenors,” according to the Washington Post.

Also in the exceptional cast is soprano Jennifer Davis, the Irish singer who rocketed to fame at The Royal Opera, London in 2018 and returns to INO as Marguerite.

At the time of her performance in The Royal Opera, The Telegraph wrote: “Few things in theatre are more exciting than watching a star being born, and the big-bang roar that greeted Jennifer Davis’s curtain call after her debut as Lohengrin’s beloved Elsa was one such magic moment.”

Jennifer Davis as Elsa in Lohengrin. Photo by: Catherine Ashmore.

Cahir-born soprano, Davis, has gone on to claim success on many of the world’s greatest stages.

Award-winning US baritone, Nicholas Brownlee, also joins the cast, making his INO debut as Méphistophélès. Brownlee has been praised by The New Yorker for his “handsome mahogany tone” and by The New York Times as “charismatic and charming”.

Wicklow-resident, Hungarian baritone Gyula Nagy, joins the cast as Marguerite’s brother Valentin, English baritone Mark Nathan as his friend Wagner, with two Irish mezzo-sopranos, Colette McGahon from Dundalk and Gemma Ní Bhriain from Dublin, take the roles of Marguerite’s guardian Marthe Schwerlein and her admirer Siébel, a young man whose genuine love contrasts sharply with the warped wishes of Faust and Méphistophélès.

Faust at the Gaiety Theatre is part of Dublin Theatre Festival, and opens on Sunday, October 1, at 5pm, with three further performances at 7pm on Tuesday 3, Thursday 5 and Saturday 7.

The Irish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by INO’s resident conductor Elaine Kelly, from Cork. “Elaine Kelly is a discovery, tracing the musical lines with exactitude,” wrote the Los Angeles Times about her West Coast debut earlier this year.

The exceptional Irish female talent involved in the production are a force to be reckoned with, and make up a huge part of the team involved.

Speaking about the production, INO’s artistic director, Fergus Sheil, said: “Gounod’s Faust, a leading classic from the 19th-century French repertoire, is a moral tale about the struggle between good and evil. Jack Furness and Francis O’Connor have come up with a powerful vision to convey the chasm between forceful male powerbrokers and the unfortunate woman they have in their sights. We’ve assembled a great team of singers. And the musical power of Gounod’s touching vision is fresh and engaging, with the wonderful Jewel Song and Soldiers’ Chorus having remained audience favourites for over 160 years.”

"We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Irish National Opera and to have their new production of Gounod’s Faust, one of the most popular and enduring operas in the French repertoire as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival," said Willie White, Dublin Theatre Festival artistic director. "This production showcases world-class Irish and international singers,
musicians and creatives in what is sure to be an engaging and memorable experience.”

Gounod’s Faust, presented as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, has four performances at the Gaiety Theatre between Sunday 1 and Saturday 7, October 2023. Tickets are available at www.gaietytheatre.ie

CAST

Faust - Duke Kim
Faust (old) - Nick Dunning
Méphistophélès - Nicholas Brownlee
Marguerite - Jennifer Davis
Valentin - Gyula Nagy
Wagner - Mark Nathan
Siébel - Gemma Ní Bhriain
Marthe Schwerlein - Colette McGahon

CREATIVE TEAM

Conductor - Elaine Kelly
Director - Jack Furness
Set & Costume Designer - Francis O’Connor
Lighting Designer - Sarah Jane Shiels
Choreographer - David Bolger

Irish National Opera Chorus
Irish National Opera Orchestra