Pen, Paint, and Pretzels bring an eerie interpretation of a circus gone terribly wrong to life tonight in the Balch Arena Theatre through Georg Buchner's "Woyzeck."
The play, which is often hailed as the first modern tragedy, follows the soldier Woyzeck as he is abused both physically and emotionally by the people around him through everything from verbal insults to sadistic scientific experiments. His only comfort lies in his friend Andres, who, in this version, happens to be only a figment of Woyzeck's imagination. When Woyzeck finds out that Marie, his common law wife, has been having an affair with the drum major, Woyzeck begins a rapid descent into the same madness that plagues his abusers.
Written in 1836, "Woyzeck" has long been a challenge for directors due to the original state of the script, which was left incomplete when Buchner died from typhus at the age of 23. Director Brendan Shea, who has also directed such shows as "One for the Road," and "The Bald Soprano," has brought an entirely new and unconventional style to "Woyzeck" that teeters back and forth between the likes of a carnival, a cabaret lounge and a 19th century nuthouse.
The set, which Shea described as "a decrepit fair ground," is littered with bark, a single blood-red stream of fabric and various wooden levels. Above the heads of the audience, light bulbs are strung diagonally like the lights that line the canopy of a circus tent.
Shea stresses a theme of reality television in his interpretation of the script. There is something about the production that reminds its audience of "The Truman Show" in the way the ensemble uses Woyzeck like a lab rat for their own amusement. Shea described the theme in terms of exposing the use of "manipulation as entertainment."
"It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt," said Shea.
Perhaps the most striking choice in interpreting "Woyzeck" is the use of music from the poetic and melancholy Tom Waits, who collaborated with acclaimed director Robert Wilson in creating a musical version of "Woyzeck" on his 2002 album, "Blood Money." Waits' music - performed and revamped by the band Small Change and the Electric Light - is played onstage during specific interludes in the show.
The band consists of five members and uses bongos, keyboard, bass, violin, piano, and guitar to create a new twist on Tom Waits' music that the musicians described as "drunker and loungey, like it's happening out of thin air."
Shea said, "[The band] takes each scene to a more figurative and metaphoric level," and compared them to commercial breaks during the twisted reality television-like atmosphere that pervades the show.
Except for Woyzeck, Marie and Andres, the acting is purposely stylized, and the performers use unnaturalistic physical movements and jarring emotional outbursts to create an intense contrast between the best and worst aspects of human behavior. The ensemble serves to represent people who have given into the belief that humans are inherently bad, incapable of being good, and should therefore submit to their own desires. Woyzeck, on the other hand, tries to live his life contrary to this belief, but eventually fails amidst their overwhelmingly exploitative behavior.
Actor senior Chris Babayan, who plays Woyzeck, describes the experience of being in the show as "incredibly exciting" and Woyzeck as a "villain and a martyr at the same time." Empathetic towards his own character, Babayan said, "He is painted as the villain, but there are deep dimensions of morality behind him."
Junior Katie Semine, who plays the role of Woyzeck's common-law wife Marie, described her character as "pure," but easily manipulated by the assumption that humans are inherently evil. She said that once her character comes in contact with this evil, "It tastes good," which leads Marie to reason, "If I'm already bad, then I might as well do these things."
Tonight's "Woyzeck" is an artistic and carnival-like interpretation of some of the basest consequences of being human. It is reality television and human nature at its very worst. At the same time, it flows with delicate music and moments of sincerity to tell the raw and haunting story of the man and the experiment named Woyzeck.
