Woyzeck

What a deeply unhappy text this “Woyzeck” is, despairing of the world. Rarely has its hopelessness found such poignant expression as in this production, which is in fact a precisely synchronized machine, where sound, words and movement interlock like a well-greased clockwork, giving each other momentum. There are breathtaking stage situations, and what is most astonishing is that this spectacular machine (which is always visibly and audibly recognisable as a machine – and as such develops a beauty all its own) frees an unimagined level of emotionality, a directness of narration that is hard to escape – far beyond any obvious imagery implied by the machine wheel and the circular motion, although it admittedly exactly corresponds with Woyzeck’s hopeless “always”. Even images of nature, like a field or the moors, are evoked with astonishing vividness by this setting that has no a priori connotations of natural environment whatsoever. Above all else, however, it evokes the drama of Woyzeck’s hopeless run.

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