MY SET DESIGN- simplistic - It is set for the scene when Woyzeck kills Marie. Instead of having 'the pond' i have chose to make a pond of peas with the leaves symbolising the forest. I have simply chose to use a pot of peas to symbolise the pond as a constant reminder of the experiment Woyzeck was used in and what he was going through.
About Woyzeck by Georg Büchner...
The story of the play Woyzeck by Georg Büchner is based on the life of Johann Christian Woyzeck, a poor soldier whose murder of his female companion in a fit of jealousy became highly publicized in 1821 in Leipzig, Germany.
MAIN THEMES OF THE PLAY 'WOYZECK'
POVERTY - Woyzeck is a poor man. He has very little in his possession and works endlessly to support himself and Marie. His impoverished state not only results in others’ maltreatment of him but also in his particularly intense jealousy and also his disturbed mental state.
Rank in the Society
As a poor soldier Woyzeck ranks near the bottom of not only the army but of the society in whole. A well-trained monkey is said to be better than such a soldie, and the others around him treat him very badly. The Captain ridicules him, and the Doctor treats him no better than he treats an animal test subject. Even his wife whom he works to support has very little respect for Woyzeck. Everyone’s mistreatment of Woyzeck would later contribute to his frustration building up intensely and eventually his decision to kill Marie.
JEALOUSY & VIOLENCE- The largest overarching theme of Woyzeck has much to do with jealousy and domestic violence resulting from it. Jealousy is the realise Woyzeck was driven to murder his wife Marie. Woyzeck is obsessed with keeping Marie to himself. His pulse becomes “short, violent, skipping irregular” as soon as he is informed that Marie has been cheating on him. Resulting from this jealousy is the violence which ends up killing Marie. When Woyzeck first confronts her about her affair she claims she does not know what he is talking about. He “makes to strike her” but she says: Don’t touch me, Franz! I’d rather have a knife in my guts than have you lay a finger on me. My own father daren’t touch me when I look at him, not since I was ten years old. Marie is therefore portrayed as someone who resists physical violence with strong words. Violence was also shown in the play when the drum major picks a fight with Woyzeck.
ANIMALS AND DEHUMANISATION - The animals used in Woyzeck are used to compare the state of Woyzecks character and the traits of an animal. The fact that he is so run down by the doctors experiment clearly has influenced his state of mind and therefore others start to see and treat Woyzeck as an animal and not a human anymore. There are primarily three live animals that play significant roles in the play. They are the monkey, the horse, and the cat.
In the fairground scene we see a well-trained monkey dressed up as a man to entertain the audience. The Barker says:
The monkey’s a soldier- not that that’s much, lowest form of animal life. Hey! Show us your bow. Now you’re a baron. Blow us a kiss. [He plays the trumpet.] The little blighter likes music (112).
There are a couple of important ideas to take from the monkey and the Barker. First, Woyzeck is a soldier, which the Barker compares the monkey to. When the Barker says it’s the “lowest form of animal life,” it is not exactly clear if he is referring to the monkey or a soldier. Either way, a soldier like Woyzeck is portrayed as being as low a human being as an animal.
A modern day production of Woyzeck. I was inspired by the way they showed Maries death.
What type of stage will you be using? For my set design for the play Woyzeck, i have decided to stage my production in a theatre of the round. How will your chosen space help communicate your intended message to the audience? I simply made this decision as i felt that using a theatre of the round is quite simplistic and an element of Brechtian theatre in the way that i want the audience to be involved, i was them to think. Using a theatre of the round reminded me of Brectian and his boxing ring technique. For example; the audience at a boxing fight are on on two sides, its an argument, two sides in one 'dialetics'. The audience are made to think and make the own opinons and decisions on what they see and support. My intention like Brecht is to make my audience think of the main themes of the play, therefore i thought a theatre in the round would be ideal for this. The reason behind my tiered seating was to suggest the different ranks and classes of society, the different levels of seats symbolise to the audience the different power people of different classes had in the 1800s. For example; with my seating design, some people will have a better view than others, and this is how society works, the rich have more opportunities than the middle class. Maybe if i also had a sign by each section of tiered seating stating different classes of people, i really think this would make the audience THINK about society and what is fair and what isn't? also what it society like today? relatable issues etc?
What location is your interpretation being based at? I would like to stage my production in a theatre in the round in Germany.
The reason for me wanting my production to be set in Germany is simply because i want to go back and show
the main route of the play. After learning that the play is actually based on a poor soldier from Germany, i thought
it would be nice to set it in Germany so that this intitial history and story of the play can be shown and the audience
can be EDUCATED about society and the story of the soldier. I feel that this would like to one of the important themes of the play such as
poverty!
Will your performance be linking to a particular practitioner or theatre company? I have chosen to link my production of Woyzeck to the practitoner Brecht. The main reason i have done this is because he is my favourite practitioner and i really wanted to encorporate more epic theatre elements into the set design and production. Another reason i chose to link it to Brecht is because i love how everything is about the message and getting it across to the audience. I personally feel that theatre is as its best when its life changing, i love how it can make a difference to peoples lives, it can educate them and make them change their opinions and challenge their views on issues in society. In my production of Woyzeck, i will use many epic theatre elements in order to make the audience THINK about the issues within the play.
What time period are you setting your play in? I wouldn't exactly say that my production is set at a particualar time period. Mainly because i have modernised the play to a certain extent by the use of comical music , sound, lighting etc however i have still stuck to the original themes of the play and i have considered them thoroughly in order to stress them to the audience.
How do you plan to use costume in your production? Costumes for my interpretation of Woyzeck will be very basic, mainly because i want the audience to focus on the acting and the real meanings/themes/issues of the play. Obviously i want the costumes to be detailed enough for the audience to understand who each character is, however i don't what the costumes to be the main focus.
How will you use lighting in your production? I feel that by having my theatre with black walls i have limited myself to what lighting i can use. I could use reds and brighter colours however like Brecht i was going to go for a basic lighting plan anyway. The actual circular floor won't be black so i suppose i could project different colours onto the floor if i needed too.
How will 2 key moments of the play be communicated in your production? The scene where Woyzeck kills Marie will be performed in the bowl of peas (acting as the pond) although this could be quite humerous (audience won't get attached) i still feel that the peas will symbolise what he has gone through and i would like to think that the audience question themselves on the themes of the play such as mental illness, jealousy, is Woyzeck a bad person?
Also the fight scene with Woyzeck and the Drum Major i feel should be portrayed in a comical way because i want to have a different take on the scene! I would have happy or funny music playing throughout the scene with red light flashing to symbolise blood. I may even set it in a boxing ring because this related to Brecht showing dialetics and agrument within the audiences opinions and views.
MY SET DESIGN FOR WOYZECK
GEORG BUCHER - WRITER OF THE PLAY WOYZECK
How do you plan to use sound in your production? In order for the audience to not get too emotionally
attached, i definately feel that i would like some comical moments. I feel that sound would be a great
way of doing this. For example funny sound effects in un-expected places could be quite humerous and
could break moments of serious-ness. When researching about productions of Woyzeck i found out
that the play was staged in New York in 2006 by the Gate theatre in London, they used modern day
music as background music in their production such as Elvis, Dolly Parton etc. This inspired me to
adding some modern day music in my production as i feel that it would help modernise the play.