Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival's production Woyzeck in Winter is an electrifying fusion of two masterpieces: Büchner's Woyzeck and Schubert's Die Winterreise.
Starring Patrick O'Kane and Camille O'Sullivan, and a cast of extraordinary Irish actors - including the legendary Rosaleen Linehan - the play will have its world premiere at GIAF 17.
A poor soldier earns extra money for his family through menial jobs and participation in bizarre medical experiments. Brutalised by society and consumed with jealousy, he is driven to the far side of alienation and despair – and finally to a desperate, violent act.
Woyzeck and Die Winterreise were written within ten years of each other - the 24 songs of Die Winterreise in 1827, the 24 scenes of the play in 1836 - by troubled geniuses, both of whom died young. Thrillingly re-imagined by Conall Morrison and a leading creative team, this daring new production will be sung in English.
Exploiting the uncanny similarities between these two dark masterworks, adaptor and director Conall Morrison draws on Schubert’s sublime music to illuminate the inner landscape of Woyzeck’s tortured mind. With the startling story set amid a terrain of broken pianos (the set design is by Jamie Vartan), vivid scenes flow seamlessly into raw, passionate songs, translated into English by Stephen Clark.
The music will be played live at each performance by musical director Conor Linehan, and the phenomenal Irish cast also includes such outstanding actor-singers as Stephen Brennan, Peter Coonan, Susannah De Wrixon, Rory Nolan, Shane O'Reilly and Barry McGovern.