FAUST & MARGUERITE POSTER

This extraordinarily rare vintage playbill advertises a production of Faust & Marguerite featuring C.W. Somerset, who also went by Charles W. Somerset.  Somerset  was an English actor and playwright.

In the famous German legend, Faust, dissatisfied with his life, makes a pact with the devil, exchanging his soul for knowledge and pleasure. Pictured in this poster is the devil, robed appropriately in red and looking like he’s up to no good. In the Faustian tale he’s known as Mephistopheles. Most likely, that is the role that Somerset had in the play, since his name headlines the playbill above Mephistopheles’ picture.

French author and librettist Michel Carre (1819-1872) wrote a romantic drama in three acts titled Faust et Marguerite based on the Faust tale.  The English version, Faust and Marguerite, was first performed in London in the 1850s at the Princess Theatre. 

This poster likely advertises a production of the English Faust and Marguerite, as Somerset was an English actor and the playbill was printed by The Dangerfield Printing Co. of London (as shown in the lower right corner).  The date of the production had to have been in the late 1800s or early 1900s, given that Somerset was born in 1851 and died in 1921.

Interestingly, there is an 1888 painting by French artist Paul Mathey titled “Portrait of An Unidentified Man As Mephistopheles” in which Mephistopheles is wearing virtually the same costume as is shown on this poster.  It is not known if the “unidentified man” is C.W. Somerset.

Just as item of interest for film enthusiasts, in 1900 an American silent film titled Faust and Marguerite and based on Carre’s work was produced and distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. It was directed by Edwin S. Porter.