WOYZECK by Georg Buchner, directed by Roger C. Benington; Babcock Theatre, lower level of Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1340 East (Broadway and University); continues Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through May 18; matinee 2 p.m. May 17. Tickets $8 to $9 for adults (half-price for all students). Box office: 581-6961. Running time: One hour and 15 minutes, with no intermission. Free panel discussion following the May 17 matinee.
The air is gray and thick. The choir sings a song to thank God for pain. The monkey walks upright, like a man.Welcome to Woyzeck's world. If Kafka had written a play based loosely on "The Tell-Tale Heart," this would be it.
As performed at the Babcock Theatre, "Woyzeck" is a bleak and odd story of one man's descent into madness and murder. T. Edward Webster is Woyzeck. This senior in the University of Utah's actor training program does a fine job in the role of the tormented soldier. He hears voices. He is, by turns, meek then frustrated and tortured.
"Is `no' to blame for `yes' or `yes' for `no'?" he asks. But who will answer him? The monkey is a soldier. A soldier is a dog and the dog smells blood.
Robyn Bringhurst is Marie, Woyzeck's former lover and the mother of his child. Bringhurst seemed the slightest bit self-conscious on opening night. Oh, but who wouldn't be? We see her sin - with the muscular drum major (played by William Bennett Tally). She can't even stand to have her own child (played by Gabriel Greenwood) look her in the eyes.
What has Marie done to Woy-zeck? What will he do to her? How do humans become beasts?
A brief digression here to say that the set and lights - designed by Abigail Kinney - fit perfectly with the mood of the play. A curtain on a wire is the main device. As it moves across the stage, over and back, it becomes progressively louder. Sometimes it sounds almost like a train, bearing down, making the action on the smoky stage seem even more ominous.
Mark Gladue is the captain. He is crazy. You can tell by the way he he lets someone as scary as Woyzeck shave him with a straight razor. He is also the horse in the carnival and the carnival is also life itself, if you get the drift.
Guillermo Rodriguez is Andres, Woyzeck's friend. He might be the only sane character, a simple man. Margaret is played by Liz Simmons. She has a pretty singing voice. They all do, actually. And Mathew Morgan is the doctor. He is mad, too, and kind of humorous. He is experimenting on Woyzeck, something to do with eating green peas and nothing else.
The costume designer is Victoria Goro-Rapoport. Lots of black. Raincoats. Very now. Roger Ben-ing-ton is the director. He is to be complimented for attempting this play and making it so mysterious.
Woyzeck was written by a young man named Georg Buchner who was enrolled in medical school at the University of Strasbourg in 1831, was writing radical political pamphlets in 1834, wrote a comedy (as well as a dissertation on the nervous system of fish) in 1835, and died of typhus in 1837 before he could publish "Woyzeck" and before he was even 23 years old.
He based his play on an actual historical event. In 1821 a barber/ex-soldier named Woyzeck murdered his mistress. His defense of insanity was rejected by the court and he was executed.
Here is a line from a letter Buchner wrote, a line that will give you a glimpse into his young mind: "The individual is only foam on the wave; greatness is simply chance; the rule of genius is a puppet play, a ridiculous struggle against a pitiless law; to recognize it is the ultimate; to control it is impossible."
On opening night the Babcock audience was full of college students and they loved this play. It is a fascinating work, a perfect play for collegiates and philosophers and anyone else not offended by crudities and not worried about not knowing exactly what is going on.