Georg Büchner is third in the triumvirate of German literary greats after Goethe and Schiller. That he died of typhus in Zürich, aged 23, is why he’s not seen in quite the same way as the other two. Had he lived a little longer he almost certainly would be. At the time of his death Woyzeck was incomplete and it’s because of this incomplete state that it has perennially lent itself to directors who like to leave their mark. A creative blank canvas of a play that has come to be the most performed play in German theatre.
The story is simple enough and revolves around Franz Woyzeck, wonderfully played by Jerome Quiles. Woyzech works for a man named the Captain, played by David Dawkins, who bullies and humiliates him whilst employing him to do menial jobs. To make ends meet he offers his body to the Doctor who conducts experiments on him. The Doctor is played by Daniel Sawicki and is a masterful piece of casting by director Shaban Arifi. Sawicki plays the role perfectly although I suspect he’s just as annoying and smug in real life. Not so much acting as just playing himself. I digress. Woyzeck, in a bid to make ends meet, submits himself to the doctor who uses him for scientific research. One such experiment involves him eating nothing but peas. This is why we ought to see Georg Büchner as the visionary he clearly was. In 2002 Morgan Spurlock produced the documentary where he ate nothing but McDonalds; Büchner was writing about similar in 1836.
As Woyzech eats the peas his mental health starts to take a turn for the worse and he starts to see a series of apocalyptic visions. As all this is going on the raven-haired Marie, the unmarried love of his life and mother of his child, turns her attention to a handsome drum major who in one rather graphic scene sleeps with her. Woyzech becomes suspicious, confronting the drum major, who beats him up and humiliates him. Finally, Woyzeck stabs Marie to death by a pond and the inevitable tragedy is complete.
This version here at the Lord Stanley is brilliant. Quick at around 65 minutes, what makes this production special is the intimacy of the theatre. It has been staged perfectly within the confines of this intimate theatre above a pub in Kentish Town. Using light to split the stage and keep the pace of the production up it’s gripping, enthralling and fun. Perhaps taking itself too seriously at times but ultimately watching this play is an enjoyable way to spend an evening. Catch it now on this all too short run.
