Winter is Coming
28 August 2017
The Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival co-production Woyzeck in Winter has wowed critics in London during its Barbican run.
After a critically-acclaimed run at the Galway International Arts Festival last July, the Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival co-production Woyzeck in Winter has wowed critics in London.
The production, which fuses Buchner’s Woyzeck and Schubert’s Winterreise, received rave reviews when it had its world premiere in Galway, Ireland in July, with The Guardian calling it “brilliant” and “a pioneering piece of music-theatre”, and The Sunday Independent calling it “triumphant ... sweepingly harnessed and adapted into a searing whole by director Conall Morrison”.
And now the production, which was co-commissioned by the Barbican, has been equally lauded by UK critics following its UK premiere at the prestigious venue in London last week (13-16 September).
Woyzeck in Winter Barbican Reviews
In his four-star review of Woyzeck in Winter in the Financial Times, reviewer Ian Shuttleworth said: “Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck is a play that has fascinated many… I have seen a number of powerful productions, but none that has married that power to a sense of coherence. Until now.”
He said the play, which features as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival in early October, “deserves to be more widely seen still”.
Rupert Christiansen in The Telegraph also gave the production four stars, calling it “richly impressive” and “an absorbing hundred minutes of theatre, beautifully staged and performed”.
What’s On Stage’s Sarah Cromptom, meanwhile, lauded the “top-notch” cast in her review, calling Patrick O’Kane “hypnotic as Woyzeck” and Camille O’Sullivan “charismatic” as Marie.
Classical Source’s Peter Reed gave the production five stars in his review, saying there was “a very Irish, very poetic sensibility at work” and that it made for “a memorable evening”. He said Rosaleen Linehan’s contribution was “magnificent”, with her “ultra-Beckettian” Hurdy-Gurdy-Man adding to the “extraordinary pathos”.
Australian Book Review’s Michael Halliwell also gave the production five stars, calling it “unforgettably moving”, with the singing of all the characters possessing its own “powerful beauty”.
Woyzeck in Winter was the opening show of the Barbican’s new theatre season, which also includes the Royal Shakespeare Company and acclaimed director Ivo Van Hove and his company Toneelgroep Amsterdam.
Woyzeck in Winter goes on to play Dublin Theatre Festival from 3-8 October. See the trailer for Woyzeck in Winter here or view audience reaction to its Galway International Arts Festival premiere here. Tickets are still available from www.dublintheatrefestival.com.
