Woyzeck

Synopsis

Georg Buchner died aged 26, a victim of typhoid fever. Unknown during his short lifetime he nevertheless left behind a valuable body of work, one of which is this, his only unfinished piece, but close to his Expressionistic heart. Woyzeck is the story of a troubled man in a troubled world, a hostage to fortune, class and his sadistic superiors, Woyzeck's fate is played out in a series of nightmarish encounters. He stumbles through a world of macabre carnivals, sexual betrayal and cruel oppression, pursued by the demons of his own paranoid fantasies. Pushed beyond breaking point Woyzeck's last love crazed act tragically destroys the one thing he truly cares for.

Our Review:

28 September 2012

Büchner's unfinished play has been reimagined by Sebastian Rex for the Acting Like Mad theatre company. The original complex but fragmented piece is reduced to the interplay of four archetypal characters through which Rex attempts an exploration of the torment, victimisation and exploitation of the poor.

The Woyzeck (Edward Evans) earns coins to pay for his Lover (Elisa King) and illegitimate child by offering his body for experimentation by the Oppressor (Jamie Laird). Unable to rationalise what is happening to him, and tormented by a series of hallucinations, the Woyzeck walks straight towards his ultimate downfall, a murder that is foreshadowed from the very beginning.

Laird is strong as the Machiavellian villain who purposefully humiliates his subject through meaningless experiments and the deliberate seduction of his lover, and this pointed persecution of the Woyzeck is emphasised by the dagger-like angles repeated through the set and costumes. Haunting m...

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Latest User Review

bob - 14 December 2012:

boring ...

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