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:

12 November 2004

German dramatist Georg Büchner was only 23 when he wrote Woyzeck, a surprisingly tender age for such a mature perspective on social inequality, the baseness of human nature and obsessive love. Had typhoid fever not killed him the same year, one can only imagine the epic impact he might have had on world theatre. Still, as legacies go, the masterpiece he left behind takes some beating.

Whether or not you accept the opinion, put forth by many experts, that Woyzeck was the first truly ‘modern’ play, there’s no quibbling with the fact that it was well ahead of its time. (It wasn’t performed until the 20th century when it also provided the basis for Alban Berg’s opera.) Uncompleted at the time of Büchner’s death, the tragedy consists of a series of short, disjointed scenes, the intended order of which remains unclear.

It’s understandable then why theatre practitioners are so entranced by Büchner’s brave and ever-malleable script which...

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Latest User Review

81.153.42.39) - 19 November 2004:

An ambitious and brave production, given the lack of resources available to The Gate, the production values put the "Islington Man" demographic obsssion of the RSC and the National Theatre to shame. ...

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