Drama

Woyzeck

Name: Woyzeck
Author: Georg Buchner
ISBN: 9781840026412

by Georg Buchner, Gisli orn Gardarsson (Translator), Gisli Orn Gardarsson

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Overview

"For decades profound importance has been attached to Buchner's Woyzeck. It is played again and again in Germany, has been translated into many foreign languages, and is played on many stages throughout the world. Given its significance and popularity, it is quite extraordinary how little understanding has been shown of the true nature of the text." "Generations of students of modern drama have been taught to view Woyzeck as an important forerunner of open theatre, leading from Lenz to Brecht, where the assumption has been that fragmentary structure signifies and effects a breakaway from classical, so-called Aristotelian theatre in favour of a more modern structure better able to represent the fragmentation of modern experience." With Walther Lehmann's Woyzeck edition in 1967 the foundations were laid for overthrowing this 'doctrine' about Woyzeck. Lehmann's edition established a strict sequence of scenes which showed the play to be anything but an example of open theatre. Further scholarly editions, while differing among themselves in some respects, have shown that a consensus has been reached among modern editors about what is the correct sequence of scenes.

Synopsis

Written shortly before his death at the age of twenty three, Georg Büchner's Woyzeck is often described as the first 'modern' play. It tells the story of a poor soldier manipulated and abused by his 'superiors', turned into a specimen for cruel experimentation at the hands of the medical establishment, and finally betrayed by the woman he loves, with devastating consequences.

In this new adaptation of Büchner's fragmented and visceral text, with original lyrics by Nick Cave, Icelandic director Gisli örn Gardarsson transposes the story to an inhuman industrial landscape, and fiercely reimagines the play's potent fusion of naturalism and expressionism.

About the Author, Georg Buchner

The Plays for Performance series is edited by Nicholas Rudall, former artistic director of the Court Theatre at the University of Chicago where he is professor of classics, and Bernard Sahlins, founder and director of the Second City. They both live in Chicago, Illinois.

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Editorials

Stage Directions

In a new translation and adaptation by Nicholas Rudall, the play is available in an edition that should encourage it to be performed more frequently. Rudall's excellent adaptation underscores the play's power.
— Stephen Peithman