Leave it to the French to portray Goethe’s dastardly King of Hell as a jaunty 16th-century boulevardier, a bon vivant in red leggings, tight-fitting doublet, pointy shoes, and a pheasant feather in his cap. That’s how this anti-hero has been depicted on stage ever since Charles Gounod’s masterpiece Faust debuted in 1859 (revised with ballet […]
