There comes a time in every theatre-makers life where they decide to take on some existential German tragi-comedy. This takes artistic bravery on a good day, but during a global pandemic? Well, you’ve got to be bridging the gap between crazy and genius.
The show follows the descent into madness of the titular character, Woyzeck, who is based on a true to life murderer in 1800s Germany. It’s full of all of the class-wars, metaphors and military whores you’d want from a healthy dose of 19th Century expressionism, but if you don’t know what you’re in for, it’s just a bit weird. The Acting Gymnasium have decided to follow the script quite closely so it only feels apt to describe this production in the same way; a bit weird.
Gavin McAlinden’s cast did incredibly well in drawing out the subtleties of the story, as you couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Woyzeck; a victim of fate and circumstance, portrayed by a wonderfully sensitive Andreas Krügserson in the lead. His fragility was framed perfectly by his larger (and louder) than life Captain (Clayton Black) who, in the outstanding performance of the night, managed to capture all of the absurdities of the script in one character. Unfortunately, this commitment to the absurd began and ended with Black. When the show opened in a dimly lit cabaret bar with a jazz singer in full flapper get-up offering me some ‘eine kleine nachtmusik’ with a wink, I was ready for the darkly humoured, intriguing and voyeuristic Woyzeck I know and love. This atmosphere died very suddenly, however, and no-one managed to bring it back. The jazz interludes, although beautifully sung, seemed out of place, the transitions between scenes were clunky and the ensemble failed to bring the show to life. It became a collection of scenes as opposed to a unified play, a victim of the Zoom society we live in now.
