Arrigo Boito's Il Mefestefele, his best-known work, was first performed in 1868. Ken Russell's modern interpretation presented by the Genoese Opera has Faust as an ageing hippie, smoking marijuana and being tormented by his lost youth. Mephisto makes a bet with God that he can turn anyone to pagan life, even someone as innocent as Faust. Thus ensues a battle of good against evil in a flamboyant, surreal display of primary colours, PVC costumes, nurses with swastikas, rocket trips, love, and even characters dressed as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Ken Russell explained the contemporary setting by claiming that the devil is always with us.—Archie Moore <[email protected]>