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Mark Jackson based his new
production of Georg Buchner’s 1836 play, Woyzeck,
on Robert Wilson's concept (with music and lyrics by Tom Waits
and Kathleen Brennan). The protagonist is the type of unfortunate
Everyman whose body and soul are crushed by the military, and
abused by so-called medical authorities. Cursed with poverty,
betrayed by his common-law wife's infidelity, consumed with jealousy,
and lacking any chance of social mobility, Woyzeck ends up murdering
the mother of his child. Jackson’s direction veers between
vaudeville and a Brechtian grittiness. Nina Ball's crude set (which
features one of the niftiest pools of blood you'll ever see on
a stage) helps to keep the action down and dirty. As the Drum
Major who seduces Marie, Joe Estlack performs "Another Man's
Vine" with the gleeful lust of a military stud who takes
great joy in his sexual prowess. Kevin Clarke nearly steals the
show as a buffoonish doctor. At the center of this bold Shotgun
Players production are two beautifully restrained performances
by Alexander Crowther (Woyzeck) and Madeline H.D. Brown (Marie),
whose exhausted duet ("Coney Island Baby") captures
their shattered dream of a post-war life with a rare sadness and
resignation. In supporting roles, Anthony Nemirovsky (The Captain),
Kenny Toll (Andres), Andy Alabran (Karl, an Idiot), and Beth Wilmurt
(Margaret) add grit and humor to the proceedings. Performances
of Woyzeck continue at Berkeley’s Ashby Stage through January
20.
