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A Rock Concert at the BAM Opera House
Loud music, water everywhere, people running, and blinding lights. The first thing that pops up into people’s minds when they hear these words is probably a rock concert. However, I am describing Georg Büchner’s 1837 play Woyzeck that was created by the Vesturport Theater of Iceland and the Reykjavik City Theater. This new adaptation of Woyzeck was directed by Gísli Örn Gardarsson, a two-time Edda Award for Best Film and Screenplay of the Year. Woyzeck was presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Art: Howard Gilman Opera House on October 15, 17, and 18. This classic play by Büchner, was his unfinished work due to his early death in 1837 at the young age of 23. No certainty can be made of what kind of ending Büchner led toward and that is the reason why there are so many variations of this play in several different countries.
Gísli Örn Gardarsson translated this play into English and produced it with the help of Ruth Little and Jón Atli Jónasson. Gardarsson, who graduated from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts in 2001, not only is a director but an actor as well. His debut as a director was with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in the Reykjavik City Theater in Iceland where he played Romeo in 2002. Like Woyzeck, he also directed this play as if it was an acrobatic show. He received great reviews for this production of Romeo and Juliet, said to be one of the most exciting theatrical event for years. Other works of his was co-directing Metamorphosis and directing Lucas Moodyson’s film Together. He is widely known throughout European countries through his new adaptations of different kinds of plays and films. Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, also a big name in the European acting industry, played the main character, Franz Woyzeck. Sigurdsson was honored by the European Film Promotion, naming him one of European film’s Shooting Stars in 1999. Since then, he has worked in many films and plays including Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet, Three Sisters, and more.
Although it is understandable that this is Gardarsson’s style and he has been doing this for years, this “circus” performance of this classical play Woyzeck left me confused. All of the actors and actresses seemed to be very athletic and was whether flying around acrobatically in ropes or swimming in the water tank that circled the stage. And especially unseen in a 19th century play, the loud rock music was as if it was the song genre of the times. Even though it seemed to fit the drum major as a sexual attraction to some women, the rock music did not seem necessary to the play as a whole. Gardarsson clearly tried to alter the play into a more modernized version, but in doing that, he also changed the dramatic tragedy into a dramatic comedy. There were scenes that drove the whole audience into laughter, but I didn’t think those parts should have been there, especially since Büchner did not write it that way. This play was not enjoyable for the most part and very confusing at times because of the way it was produced. It did not go back to the original play by Büchner in any way and it was probably not the way he wanted this play to be performed.
The Circus is in Town
If I can just be assertive for a moment, generally speaking, when theatergoers go to see a show, they compulsively research the play in fear of not understanding or heavens forbid, seeing something they do not expect. Sometimes, being an uneducated consumer has its benefits. Why can’t we just buy tickets to and attend a show we know nothing about? Couldn’t we then enjoy the performances for what they are?
In the year 2008, originality is scarce. Everything has been done before. Somewhere deep in Iceland, the Vesturport and Reykjavik City Theatres began a collaboration to take something old and make it new. Throughout their stunning rendition of Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck in the Brooklyn Academy of Music theatre, the talent and free-spiritedness of everybody involved truly shines. Even the director, Gisli Orn Gardarsson likens his extraordinarily athletic group to a band. “We love to experiment,” he comments. “There are no rules regarding what kind of music we play or who plays what…It is a question of now.”
The co-founder of Vesturport, Gardarsson made his directorial debut in Iceland with his circus themed rendition of Romeo and Juliet, where he also took up the lead role of Romeo. A revolving theme around his directorial style, he recruited fellow Icelandic actor Johannes Niels Sigurdsson as Vesturport’s circus and gymnastics coach.
Such is the foundation of Woyzeck. Audience members are guaranteed to be dazzled by impressive displays of acrobatics and cat-like nimbleness with the main attractions being a water tank weighing upwards of 10 tons, bungee jumping, and a flying trapeze.
Remarkably, there is even a storyline derived from Buchner’s nineteenth century masterpiece that is backed up with world-class acting. Ingvar E. Sigurdsson is captivating in his emotional portrayal of Woyzeck, an abused man who eventually drowns in his insanity. Sigurdsson is a virtuoso at drawing empathy from the audience as gasps are heard throughout the audience whenever he is tortured, both physically by the Drum Major (beautifully rendered by Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson), and mentally by the betrayal of his love, Marie (Nina Dogg Filippusdottir in a Snow White outfit).
That is not to say that the play is overly serious. Woyzeck also resembles a rock musical and is packed with just the right amount of comic relief to keep the audience from despair. The collaboration between professional composers Nick Cave and Warren Ellis served as the pulse of the production, drawing the audience in at times and purposefully away when necessary.
The major criticism of the production is that it only scarcely resembles the original story. That may be a problem for the compulsive shopper types, but I say that you should enjoy the rendition for what it is. “Rather than finding the perfect melody within the text,” asserts director Gardarsson. It is “our choice.”
Vesturport and Reykjavik City Theatre’s originality and penchant for self-expression came out quite magnificently. Maybe we all should exercise our right of choice. If you could think outside of the box, you will love Woyzeck. One word of advice, bring a dark pair of sunglasses. It can get a little bright in there.
Brought from Iceland in a ship, Woyzeck was unveiled as almost a theatrical invention at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) on Thursday. Textually based on George Buchner’s play bearing the same name, and philosophically based on existentialism, the Vesturport Theatre streamlined so many ideas that one can feel a tripping sensation overcome them while completely being knocked out intellectually.
Woyzeck is a play of simple nature. A passive-insane protagonist Woyzeck, played here by Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, is battered through many different external encounters. He was ridiculed, pushed around, and treated like an insensitive animal. He is further traumatized by his love’s (Nina Dogg Filippusdotti) predictable traditional affair with an alpha-male type drum major who was adequately done by Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson. Woyzeck then continued to self-destruct exponentially. Ultimately Woyzeck killed Marie. The stage is thus set for a mesmerizing lights and music show. Did I mention Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre?
May I ask where Marie and Woyzeck’s child went? Or is he symbolized somewhere along the way? This brings us to an important point. Is it ok to disregard a play’s parameters for the indulging of intellectual and audience curiosities? The audience was certainly amused.
Ingvar Sigurdsson was exceptional at throwing fits and swimming but truth of character was non-existent, then again he didn’t have much support other than Elvis (who was very enjoyable). Mr. Sigurdsson had strange character choices; Woyzeck’s true sensitive personality was overshadowed by a choppy presentation of a short temper.
In the beginning we are met with water being poured on Woyzeck. And in the end Woyzeck was floating in a large tank of water. Obviously this was to show that man cultivated water, and other natural primitive possessions, but ultimately ruined himself and was again enveloped by the basic things. Woyzeck was a man of many fields, yet in the end he couldn’t walk and could only feel love and hate, life and death. This was an example of the few glimmers of Buchner’s bleak philosophies.
This play is credited for being the first modern tragedy, but what does that mean for us simpletons? Does modern mean complete elasticity? Are there tragedies being discussed in this play that did not exist in Antigone? Such openness and abstractness yield such a performance, which does not really pay homage to Buchner, but instead contributes phenomenal original work. The problem with this is, we are not coming to see an unknown acting troupe just to see because we want to, that is just a byproduct of wanting to see Buchner. If someone advertises Woyzeck by Buchner we should expect some authenticity.
Woyzeck was perfect for BAM and is probably on the money for 90% of New York’s intellectuals reading Mein Kampf (which has quite the story of human degradation and eternal struggle) but for the more learned experienced theatre goers the Blue Man Group may seem just as appealing not to mention more accessible.
Things get hot and wet between the Drum Major and Marie as they tangle bodies at the water factory on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The Drum Major captured the attentions of not only those on stage, but everyone in the audience as well with his overemphatic entrance, and actions on stage.
Sex, drugs, and rock n roll seemed to be what director Gísli Orn Gardarsson had in mind for the Drum Major in this adaptation of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck. Gradually, he took more of his clothes off as the play progressed. This might have been an attempt to please the audience, but I didn’t find it to be that appealing.
Not all of the characters had such sexual finesse. In fact, Woyzeck, played by Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, seemed to carry the persona of a spoiled toddler, and everyone else seemed to treat him as one. The Doctor played by actress Harpa Arnarsdóttir, and the Captain played by Víkingur Kristjánsson wouldn’t seem to give Woyzeck a break throughout the entire production. Humiliation seemed to surround his every encounter with a new character.
From flying cupids, to a bungee cord entrance, this play seemed to have it all. Surprisingly enough, the director actually chose to include some of the material out of Büchner’s actual story! To be brutally honest, none of the special effects were necessary to the plot, and they just convoluted the story. By the end, I wasn’t sure whether I should applaud, or wait for another rock and roll piece to blow my eardrums out of my head.
This production hardly followed the thought process that made Woyzeck the classic that it has become today. Sure, I’m all for “free interpretation” of art, but I have to say that I’m completely against the butchering of a timeless classic. I will say this for the play though; the order in which the put the scenes made perfect sense! Other than that though, I was pretty disappointed. If you’re a person who likes to watch unedited classics in their fullest, I wouldn’t suggest spending your money on this production. But if you’re a person who is into spontaneous humor, and a strong believer of creative interpretation, you might want to check it out.
-Varun Sahadevan
Boris Kalendariov
Woyzeck At BAM
From across the Atlantic, the joint effort of Vesturport and The Reykjavik City Theatre in Iceland brought its U.S. debut of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Rising-star director Gísli Örn Gardarsson presented this adaptation of Büchner’s 1837 unfinished drama with the help of the stellar original music composed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
Woyzeck is the story of a disturbed military barber, Franz Woyzeck, played by Ingvar E. Sigurdsson. Woyzeck falls for a widow, Marie (Nina Dogg Filippusdottir), who evidently has other men in her life, particularly the Drum Major (Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson). Her infidelity along with the doctor’s experiments increases Woyzeck ever-mounting paranoia and hallucinations, which are vehemently portrayed throughout the play. (The doctor experiments on Woyzeck and treats him like a lab rat.)
By the end of the play Woyzeck was unable to deal with society’s immorality and wrong doings anymore, more specifically Marie’s infidelity. He evolves from being not only mentally imbalanced and emotionally disturbed but also a mad man and murderer. Ultimately, this mental disturbance leads to his demise.
Very noteworthy is the work of Börkur Jónsson as set designer and Gísli Örn Gardarsson directing. Both did a great job at keeping the audience at the edge of their seats. Jonsson was able to build different props, that fit perfectly with Garrdarsson interpretation. With these props, Gardarsson was able to marvelously maneuver the actors through the various thrilling stunts, allowing them to fly in and out at intervals and climb up and down the ropes.
The cast was robust with energy and paired well with the effects of the music and lights, creating many captivating scenes. They told jokes, danced frantically, and dressed in fascinating costumes. Not only were the costumes intriguing and designed brilliantly by Filippiá Elisdóttir but the set was also thought provoking. The set had a pool filled with water that enveloped part of the stage and a factory that was its foundation. This pool, more specifically the water in the pool, acted as a major theme for Gardarsson adaptation.
Although Gardarsson interpretation of Büchner’s Woyzeck was breathless and seductive it allowed for too much interpretation from the viewers part as it was a bit all over the place. Nonetheless, sometimes following a seemingly confusing make-your-own-interpretation of what is happening play can be an experience that does not come as often as one would like.
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