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A Whimsical Woyzeck
By: Jasper Cunneen
A production of a play normally has a few differences from the actual written piece. This comes from the director’s own beliefs and taste and how the actors portray their characters. However, when faced with the challenge of producing an incomplete play, the differences can be limitless. An unfinished play gives the director a certain freedom that can turn out some very interesting entertainment. This was the case with the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) presentation of Woyzeck, a 19th century play left unfinished due to the untimely death of its author Georg Büchner. The play is adapted and directed by the Icelandic mind of Gísli Örn Gardarsson. The rest of the cast is also from Iceland. Gardarsson’s modern day take on the 19th century play was mildly exciting, visually pleasing, and bordered on whimsical.
Börkur Jónsson’s eye-catching stage was completely covered with grass and boasted a tank of water that encompassed a large portion it. Probably the most spectacular part of the set was a catwalk that spanned the length of the theatre’s wide ceiling. It would be used to support a trapeze, some ropes and a bungee cord. Credit goes to stage manager Kristinn Karlsson for the elaborate stage work that went on during play. The many different elements were used as a torture device for Woyzeck, both mentally and physically. He is hung upside down and his wife falls for a man who comes down from the catwalk like some sort of heavenly being.
The production of Woyzeck focuses around its main character, Woyzeck. Ingvar E. Sigurdsson was spot on as a man struggling to keep his job and support his wife, Marie. All he really wants it to please her. He doesn’t make much money and his job is physically demanding. His boss, a convincing Víkingur Kristjánsson as the Captain, is an extremely self-conscience man that constantly needs to be reassured of his own greatness and social status. He uses Woyzeck in this fashion, always putting Woyzeck down and trying to give him advice as a rich upperclassman would to his personal servant. A mentally unstable character called the Doctor furthers Woyzeck’s journey into oblivion. The Doctor, played by Harpa Arnarsdóttir, has absolutely no sympathy for Woyzeck and has no quarrels about playing with his physical and mental health by routinely conducting experiments on him. But even with the pressures of the Captain and the Doctor, Woyzeck seemed to be scraping by and keeping Marie happy.
Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir gives a sincere performance as Woyzeck’s wife. Nina shows Marie’s emotional transition from love to lust. Marie has a clear sympathy for Woyzeck up until the arrival of the play’s most flamboyant character. The Drum Major, played by Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, is essentially a corporate executive, mafia boss and rock star all rolled into one. He depicted a man that thought he had everything and showed it through his confidence and cockiness. The Drum Major captures Marie’s heart in his almost ridiculous entrance that includes an entourage of suited men that serve as both back up dancers and enforcers.
It is seeing Marie with the Drum Major that finally caused Woyzeck to crack. He could no longer hold back his emotions and the compounding affect of the Captain, the Doctor, and the Drum Major lead to his dramatic murder of Marie. Ironically, the sound of a police car’s sirens could be heard outside the theatre as the murder scene was taking place. The production revolved around documenting Woyzeck’s slow and deliberate breakdown. Woyzeck represented the average man that has to deal with being looked down upon and having everything seemingly stripped away from him.
Woyzeck is playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for only three days from the 16th-18th. Being an international production, the play will undoubtedly move out of the U.S after its showing at BAM. Georg Buchner’s written play Woyzeck is a quick read and gives you a nice perspective on the production of Woyzeck. However, seeing the play alone is a wonderful experience. The acting is excellent and there are many clever instances that manage draw laughs from the audience even in the middle of the tragic plot.
Georg Buchner’s unfinished 1837 play, Woyzeck, is prone to different interpretations and revisions. Icelandic director Gísli Örn Gardarsson’s adaptation completely destroyed this classic. His over-the-top antics, including deafening rock music and acrobatics, distorted the original plot. Performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during October 15, 17, and 18, Gardarsson’s modernized version crossed the line into the realm of the ludicrous. Reading Woyzeck beforehand helped me follow the embellished plotline to a degree, but looking for meaning within the convoluted mess was tedious.
Throughout the production, Woyzeck (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson), an impoverished soldier, was tortured physically and psychologically by his employers, the Captain (Vikingur Kristjansson) and the Doctor (Harpa Arnarsdottir). He participated in the Doctor’s medical experiments for money to support Marie (Nina Dogg Filippusdpttir), his beloved. Woyzeck’s endearing attempt at serenading Marie was overshadowed by the Drum Major’s startling grand entrance. Suspending suddenly from midair, performing acrobatic stunts and belting rock melodies with his eight-member choir, the Drum Major (Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson) captured Marie’s affections. Haunted by Marie’s betrayal and victimized by society, Woyzeck neared complete mental breakdown.
Sigurdsson’a portrayal of Woyzeck was convincing and stirred sympathy from me. Haraldsson captured the Drum Major’s villainous quality, and Kristjansson and Arnarsdottir truly embodied their characters. Although the performers were undoubtedly talented and experienced, Woyzeck’s flawed adaptation prevented them from reaching their full potential. The production’s less-than-remarkable stage direction and over-dramatic dialogue caused the actors to overact. This was especially true of Sigurdsson as Woyzeck, whose suffering and sorrow would be misinterpreted as whining and complaining. Filippusdpttir lacked a strong, commanding stage presence and portrayed Marie imperfectly. Her voice was high-pitched and annoying, and I literally dreaded her emtries. Rather than pitying Marie’s tragic end, I felt relieved that Filippsudpttir’s part finally finished.
During several moments, the Captain, Drum Major and Doctor’s abuse of Woyzeck became too overbearing and I turned away feeling uneasy. He was forcefully stripped, beaten brutally by the Drum Major, held underwater, and publicly described as the lowest form of humanity. Another reason I looked away was because the lighting design (Larus Bjornsson) needed improvement. My partial view from the balcony combined with dim lighting resulted in a headache. Whoever controlled the fog machine had too much fun; the stage resembles a hookah lounge throughout the production. Furthermore, the only bright light pointed straight toward the audience and being blinded was not enjoyable. Neither was dissecting a plot jammed with irrelevant new characters (such as Cupid and Elvis). Gardarsson also changed or eliminated Buchner’s original characters. The Doctor was female, and Marie and Woyzeck’s child was completely. Several minor characters appeared randomly and unless Gardarsson intended to confuse the viewers, their exact purpose remained unclear.
Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and Petur or Benediktsson produced interesting, original music for Woyzeck. Although the rock and roll ensembles created distance from the actual storyline, they were the highlight of this play. An especially memorable scene involved the Drum Major seducing Marie and showering her with flowers. Literally. As he serenaded her, flowers randomly dropped down onstage, forcing Marie to stop gawking and start ducking. If the music were different, the ending of this otherwise-awful production would have been the highlight. The rock and roll captured the audience’s attention and snapped me awake after listening to endless, senseless dialogue.
In this adaptation, Gardarsson changed the setting to a water factory, which Borkur Jonsson designed with a gigantic water tank and an elaborate collection of pipes. Gardarsson’s significant use of water emphasized its importance in maintaining or destroying human life. The water tank served the director’s intentions perfectly and became the location for several key events, including the Drum Major and Marie’s infidelity. The tank changed colors multiple times and was a visually interesting prop. On the contrary, several of Gardarsson’s scenery changes should never have been adapted. For instance, the pipe structure was too complicated and it sometimes became difficult to spot the characters. The addition of ropes- which characters climbed or swung from- was unnecessary and made a mockery of Buchner’s masterpiece. Furthermore, Gardarsson attempted to create excitement by using a trapeze. Although the Drum Major’s acrobatic performance was captivating, the trapeze distracted and distanced the audience from the plotline. The routine was lengthy and flamboyant, and after it finished, I forgot what was happening onstage.
Adding to the production’s modifications were the costumes, which were upgraded from Buchner’s 19th century attire to 21st century designs. The costume design (Filoppia Elisdottir) was somewhat bizarre; the choir, dressed in black and white suits, resembled the Mafia while Marie, wearing a colorful frock, resembled Snow White. In contrast, the Drum Major’s flashy plum suit completed his superstar vibe. Throughout the beginning, Woyzeck wore a jumpsuit resembling a janitor’s uniform. Somehow, by the end, he had stripped into his underwear, and from my balcony seat, it resembled a diaper.
In Woyzeck, Gardarsson mixed eye-catching concepts and comedy with some of Buchner’s original dialogue. Although the stunts and humor were crowd-pleasers, the actual plotline became too convoluted and lost. When the dialogue had substance, it was endless and the performers overacted. The production ended similarly, with a horrible interpretation of the original conclusion. Seeing Woyzeck wail and complain for about five minutes was irritating. Gardarsson’s Woyzeck was tormenting to watch and completely different from my expectations. He could definitely have benefited from using Buchner’s draft.
-Ramandeep Singh
Woyzeck: Genius Interpretation or Wayward Farce?
What are the limits, if any, in the interpretation of a play? If we use Gísli Örn Gardarsson’s adaptation of Woyzeck as the basis for our response, the answer would simply be none. Woyzeck, a play originally written by Georg Büchner in 1836, is centered on an ordinary man subjected to humiliation by the outside forces that surround him. Woyzeck, the protagonist, is not only tortured physically, but also mentally by the thought of his wife’s possible infidelity. The result of Woyzeck’s jealousy is his murder of Marie, his wife, at the end of the play. If Büchner had any intentions of emitting sympathy through his tragedy, Gardasson has certainly destroyed them. Gísli Örn Gardasson’s Woyzeck, currently showing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, has turned Georg Büchner’s tragedy into a farce. With flying trapezes, and heavy rock music prevalent throughout the production, Woyzeck was just short of being categorized as a circus.
If all productions consisted of pointless characters and outlandish props, the theatre world as we know it would crumble. Fortunately, Woyzeck is but one play in a plethora of others. Even though I tried with great effort to imagine the possible role Cupid could pose within the production, I was left confused. Instead, I had to accept that Gardarsson is just too diligent in his efforts to create a laughing stock of Georg Büchner. The acting of Woyzeck was an extremely low point in the play; it was tremendously exaggerated and became exhausting as the play went on. Though there were times when the professionalism of the actors shone through, no amount of skill could surpass the dullness of the script. Despite attempts by Gardasson to create a script that was exciting, the play resulted in a jumbled mess with no chronological order. A scene of Woyzeck being tortured by scientific experiments was followed immediately by one of him serenading Marie. Dancing secret agent men preceded the violent aggressions aimed at Woyzeck and the death of Marie. In the midst of all this madness there is a party in which Marie and the Drum Major do the twist together with Elvis singing from a higher platform. I am sure that Gardasson had fantastic and innovative ideas for the production of this play; however, he should have learned the importance of simplicity.
I walked into this production believing that I would witness a drama reminiscent of Büchner’s play but was surprised to find myself desperately searching for common characteristics within it. Lines were inserted at random times in various parts of the performance that held no standing in the overall message of the play (which, as expected was unclear). Important aspects of the original play, such as Woyzeck and Marie’s baby, were left out in exchange for Elvis. Often times, I sat in the audience utterly confused at what was happening. On top of it all, I am left wondering why Filippia Elisdottir, the play’s costume designer, chose to clad the cheating Marie as Snow White, and the Drum Major in a bright, red leather suit.
Something must be said of Ingvar E. Sigurdsson’s portrayal of Woyzeck. Sigurdsson’s acting was very convincing as a man distraught and full of anguish. With credit to the script, Sigurdsson was often thrown around the stage like a piece of meat, which was the only theme that reminded me of the original Woyzeck. I feel that Sigurdsson was one of the only components throughout this entire production that gave it a pessimistic undertone. Though his tantrums were a bit excessive and evocative of a young child, Sigurdsson was able to hold his own on the stage as an inferior man. Another commendable actor in the play is Bjorn Hlyner Haraldsson who played the handsome Drum Major that captures Marie’s (Nina Dogg Filippusdottir) attention. Haraldsson was commanding, as he should be, while soaring through the air attached to a bungee wire. He was extremely passionate, and was able to make me question whether or not he was to blame for Marie’s betrayal of Woyzeck. The highlight of Haraldsson’s acting came when he, as the Drum Major, beat Woyzeck to the ground. Though this scene was one of the most graphic in the entire play, Haraldsson was both dramatic and powerful.
As I delve deeper into the production, I must commend Gardasson on his attempt at a production that is both fun and light-hearted. From a beach ball, to a tiny piano, and even to Cupid’s flying arrows, I was left laughing many times throughout the play. Though I feel that Gardasson bit off more than he could chew in this production, I feel that his intentions were constructed very nicely. His idea of using water as the representation of death, aggression, and destruction throughout the play was genius. Gardasson was able to use water in every aspect of the play from torture to stage design, giving the audience the feeling of constantly being surrounded by bleakness. The original music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis with its rich, rock undertones were catchy and enjoyable. Their music made the atmosphere both powerful and evocative. It was seared into your mind through the powerful singing of many of the actors; Haraldsson, in particular. The stage design by Borkur Jonsson was stunning and innovative. Jonsson ran industrial looking pipes that intertwined with each other throughout that stage, emitting a sense of doom. In contrast, Jonsson also created a water tank that ran around the edge of the pipes in which many of the actors swam. This tank was illuminated beautifully in various colors of light, which were designed by Larus Bjornsson.
Woyzeck, by Gísli Örn Gardarsson may be a piece of modern theater genius. It incorporates heavy rock sounds with fantasy characters such as Cupid and Elvis. Fun as it may be, it does not emanate the sense of Georg Büchner’s original tragedy. If Mr. Gardarsson was attempting to accurately recreate Büchner’s play, he has much more work ahead of him. In no way does Gardarsson’s interpretation accurately represent Büchner’s work of the abysmal state of an everyday man. Woyzeck has left me with an insatiable need to experience the richness of Büchner’s original play.
-Jessica Yin
A Modern Spin on a Timeless Classic
I have a question to ask the reader of the following article: Have you ever experienced something in your life that left you completely stunned? This was my reaction after experiencing the magic of Woyzeck, a play written by the late Georg Büchner and directed by Gísli Örn Garðarsson. The show uses the script written 170 years ago. Gardarsson puts a modern spin to Woyzeck, to say the least.
Büchner’ script depicts Woyzeck, a victim of society, who is treated inhumanely throughout the play, and is eventually driven to insanity. In Gardarsson’s version of Woyzeck, our hero is also treated like a “Monkey,” and the play is very creative in expressing Woyzeck’s agony. Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, who plays Woyzeck, does a great job in depicting Woyzeck’s sorrow and eventual insanity. This abuse could be exemplified in the scene when the Captian, played by Víkingur Kristjánsson, verbally attacks Woyzeck. In this scene the viewer feels Woyzeck’s pain through Sigurdsson’s body language, and through his the tone of his voice. When Woyzeck is abused, Sigurdsson does a great job rolling to the floor, and expressing anguish and pain. Pain and anger are big themes in the production, and Sigurdsson successfully brings these emotions to life.
What makes this play so unique and so great is its spontaneity. Designed by stage designer Börkur Jónsson, the play begins in the setting of a water factory, which not the setting you would expect from a 19th century play. One minute, the Captain is pushing around Woyzeck; the next minute there is a man in a purple suit, who we later find out is the Drum Major (played by Björn Hlynur Haraldso), is hanging from a rope above the audience. Other characters randomly emerge onto the screen, such as a group of men and women in suits and sunglasses, who have very little to do with the play itself. Perhaps the epitomic example of spontaneity in the play would be when an Elvis like figure appeared on a ledge above the stage, playing a tiny piano while singing a love song during Marie’s dance with Drum Major. The actors proved to be great acrobats and swimmers when they hung from ropes while swinging around above the stage, or when they swam in the large tank directly in from of the stage.
Woyzeck is incredibly entertaining, but some aspects of the play are questionable. There were audio problems on stage. Sometimes the actors’ voices could not be heard, because it was difficult to understand them while there was loud music in the background. An example of the audio problem would be when the man in the purple suit first appeared hanging from a rope. It was very difficult to understand what he was singing even though he was yelling. The production seemed to go off topic a lot, not focusing on the central theme of Woyzeck and the effect society had on him. This is apparent when the Elvis look-alike randomly appeared on stage. There were also some lines in the production that were politically incorrect, such as the Anti-Semitic comment made by the fiddler when he suggested to “Piss on the Cross so that a Jew may die.”
Although the play has much questionable material, it has a message to send to society regarding morality, faith, and trust. It is an exhilarating adventure, containing action, drama, love, hate, and everything in between. The show is airing at the BAM opera house in Brooklyn, NY.
By: Eli Mordechai
Who is Woyzeck? Director Gisli Orn Gardarsson attempts to answer this age old question with his adaptation of George Buchner’s unfinished work Woyzeck. This drama that is based on a true story recounts the life of Woyzeck and what drove him to murder his girlfriend Marie.
I have read Buchner’s work and I must say that Mr. Gardarsson did a fantastic job in “filling in the blanks.” Although I still had trouble understanding the overall storyline, the production was very entertaining. I credit Borkur Jonsson the stage designer with making the production very fun to watch. He used levels to add depth to the stage, and he used water…a lot of water to add another dynamic to the production. It was a very physical production in the sense that at many different points the actors would be climbing up ropes, swinging high above the stage, and jumping into the tank of water. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis also deserve credit for writing music that totally enhanced the life of the production. One example is when the Drum Major is first introduced, a loud rocking tune blasted through the Howard Gilman Opera House telling us what kind of character this drum major is going to be.
The two actors that truly transformed into their characters were Ingvar E. Sigurdsson as Woyzeck and Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson as the Drum Major. Both these actors owned their respective parts. When Mr. Haraldsson first walked onstage I was able to tell what kind of character he was going to be. When he is first introduced he is high above stage singing and wearing a purple suit. This wardrobe choice tells everyone that the Drum Major is a flamboyant character. The fact that he was about thirty feet up in the air also tells us he has a high status and he is a somewhat prominent figure. Haraldsson became one with his role which was displayed through his movements. The same may be said about Mr. Sigurdsson. When he is first introduced onstage with the doctor Woyzeck is in a dire situation. Woyzeck is experimented on with torturous means, and is often beaten. From this it was clear that Woyzeck would be a character that is very often taken advantage of and is vulnerable due to his low social status.
The play reaches its high point when these two characters clash over the love of the beautiful Marie, played by the beautiful Nina Dogg Filippusdottir. Initially, Woyzeck and Marie seem to be a couple. However, when the Drum Major first lays eyes on Marie he is instantly smitten by her beauty. When Woyzeck sees Marie and the Drum Major together he begins to lose whatever was left of his sanity. Marie was the only good left in Woyzeck’s life and now that she was no longer his, he basically has nothing left to live for. This realization, along with his current guinea pig position, drives him to do the unthinkable. Woyzeck confronts Marie and drowns her.
Overall, I’m not such a fan of Buchner’s Woyzeck yet Gisli Orn Gardarsson did a fantastic job in taking such an obscure plot (if one can even call it a plot) and portraying Woyzeck in a more understandable fashion. Ticket prices for the show I attended at BAM in Brooklyn NY ranged from $20-$60. Showings however only ran from October 15th through the 18th. I would definitely recommend seeing the play if one thinks they can handle the ambiguity that is Woyzeck.
~~~Morris Dabbah
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