Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, written in 1836-37 and published posthumously in 1879, is acknowledged to be a series of fragments rather than a fully developed work. The challenge for any adaptor is to transform this political parable into a coherent and moving drama with psychologically complex characters. Woyzeck is the embodiment of the proletariat, exploited by those above him and subjected to a cruel scientific experiment. Given today’s political climate, with the power of oligarchs no longer concealed and the increasingly unsettling presence of AI, there would seem to be plenty here for an adaptor to explore. Unfortunately, this production fails to rise to the occasion. The characters remain largely one-dimensional and the story veers towards melodrama rather than tragedy. The decision to introduce Gaelic music and to create an almost céilí-like atmosphere is particularly unsuccessful. Some of the ballads are suitably plaintive, but their melancholy never deepens our understanding of the people singing them. Instead, we remain at a distance from these shallow figures, unable to engage with the brutality of their circumstances. There are also choices that make the production difficult to take seriously: a soldier with shoulder-length hair, a sergeant sporting a pigtail, and lyrics that rhyme “machete” and “yeti” and “stiletto” with “falsetto”. But these are symptoms rather than the central problem. Franz & Marie never generates the emotional force needed to make its themes resonate. The cast go through the motions, but often seem as untouched by the events as the audience. Richard Emerson Gould’s Dr Simian is a cartoonish villain, while Mark Meadows’s Captain Peccary, preoccupied with his “inhabited” boots and a “frozen ding-a-ling”, seems more a pantomime figure than a self-absorbed oppressor of his troupe. Matthew Heywood’s Drum Major Varg is an equally cardboard character, his bullying masculinity and predatory pursuit of Marie being more bluster than menace. The passion between Brenock O’Connor’s Woyzeck and Jade Oswald’s Marie also remains unconvincing. Their relationship, which should be the emotional core of the drama, feels thinly drawn and we never become invested in either their love or their fate. Eve Polycarpou perhaps comes closest to creating a fully realised human being as Vashti, the gypsy fortune teller. Her performance has a warmth, melancholy and authority missing elsewhere, giving the character a sense of mystery and lived experience. Woyzeck is a work about poverty, exploitation, power and the dehumanising consequences of treating people as subjects rather than individuals. Those themes could hardly be more pertinent. Yet instead of uncovering the contemporary resonance within Büchner’s unfinished masterpiece, Franz & Marie leaves its characters and ideas stranded on the surface. What should be disturbing and tragic becomes merely theatrical, and what should linger after the final scene disappears almost as quickly as the music.
Rated: ★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Danny Kaan
When, Where, Getting there:
%20&%20Marisha%20Wallace%20(Jada)%20in%20Table%2017%20at%20Kiln%20Theatre.%20%C2%A9%20Steve%20Gregson_1114.jpg)
%20Photo%20by%20Helen%20Murray.jpg)
.jpeg)
%20and%20the%20company%20of%20Kimberly%20Akimbo_credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg)
Alex%20Brenner__11_1628_dx_s.jpg)
