University of Portland Pilot Scholars Graduate Theses and Dissertations 2014 Artaudian Application in Adaptation of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck Matthew aJ red Lee Follow this and additional works at: http://pilotscholars.up.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Fine Arts Commons Recommended Citation Lee, Matthew Jared, "Artaudian Application in Adaptation of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck" (2014). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 16. http://pilotscholars.up.edu/etd/16 This Master Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Pilot Scholars. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Pilot Scholars. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS • Note to the Reader iv • Acknowledgements v • Chapter 1: Introduction 1 • Chapter 2: Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck 4 • Chapter 3: Artaud Influence 9 • Chapter 4: Conceptual Approach 19 • Chapter 5: Analysis of Production script of Woyzeck 33 o Character Analysis 44 • Chapter 6:Process 51 o Adaptation Process 51 o Design Process 55 - Costume and Make-Up Design 55 - Set Design 62 - Lighting Design 64 - Sound Design 67 o Audition and Casting Process 70 o Rehearsal Process 73 • Chapter 7: Post-Production Reflections 88 o Post-Production Responses 88 o Post-Production Self-Reflection 94 • Chapter 8: Conclusion 103 • Appendices: 108 o Appendix 1: Conceptual Photos 108 o Appendix 2: Costume and Makeup Photos 111 o Appendix 3: Set Design 119 o Appendix 4: Light Design 121 o Appendix 5: Rehearsal Items 123 o Appendix 6: Production Script 126 • Works Cited 176 • Works Consulted 178 iii Note to the Reader * Throughout the following chapters, when referring to the text, the title Woyzeck will be used, and when referring to the character of Woyzeck, his first name Franz will be used in order to avoid possible confusion. iv Acknowledgements This document is an examination of my thesis production of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, for which I wrote a new adaptation and directed on the main stage of University of Portland’s Mago Hunt Theatre in the spring of 2014. Together, the production and this document fulfill the requirements of the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Directing at the University of Portland. This document will examine my process as a director and collaborator. It will also show my process of research, analysis, and adaptation, and how these three aspects influence the final production. Then finally, I will reflect on the process altogether. I would like to thank all who collaborated with me on this final project. I am grateful for all the hard work everyone put in to bring this story to life. Without their help it would have remained only a disturbing idea. I would also like to thank the Drama Department of University of Portland for continually giving me the opportunity to explore ideas with guidance and support. Additionally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support, while they may not always understand what I do, or why I do it, they are always there to cheer me on. Without all the people mentioned above, none of this would have been possible. Thank you all. v Chapter 1 Introduction George Büchner’s Woyzeck first captured my interest when I was taking a theatre history course as an undergraduate at Missouri State University. Upon reading the play, the majority of the class was left somewhat dumbfounded as to what they had just read. They seemed to understand the plot and what had happened in the play, but overall most were somewhat confused, myself included, as to the specifics of how everything unfolded in the play. None of us had ever read a play that was so fragmented. This is what I find so intriguing about Woyzeck. On its surface it is a deceptively simple play, with a very straightforward plot: “Woyzeck is a soldier who has had a child by a girl named Marie. A drum major seduces Marie away from Woyzeck, who then buys a knife and kills the girl” (Sellin 57). On a basic level, Woyzeck is a story about cheating and revenge – but it is much more than that. The complexity comes from the way in which the story is told. The action takes place through small episodic fragments and many times it is up to us as audience members to put the pieces together. This is why I chose this play. I wanted to explore how a simple story can be told in such a unique and complex way. For me, the characters that inhabit the play have the ability to evoke strong emotions out of each other, and the tactics that they employ to achieve this are very captivating throughout the text. Another interesting aspect is that the point of view of this storyline seems to either change or be quite flexible; at times there is a question of whether or not things are real or through the perspective of the title character. Also, knowing that in order to tell this story, strong, clear, and striking visuals are required. 1 This can be attributed to the fact that there is sparse detail regarding the visuals provided in the text. These are all simple truths in many plays, but with Woyzeck it has a heightened importance because clear visuals become a great story telling tool to aid the audience, where the fragmented structure and language of the text could stand as a barrier. There were several goals that I set for myself with this production. First, I wanted to take this play and make it accessible for the audience. The structure of Woyzeck can often serve as a roadblock to many readers and audience members. The play is unconventional in several areas, but I feel that equipped with the right concept, one that puts a proper frame around the story, the story can become highly accessible to audience members. With a framing device on Woyzeck audience members are less likely to be mentally occupied with attempts to connect these fragments together. They are allowed to follow to story in a much more conventional way. While some audience members still might not enjoy the play, it should not be because they did not understand it and could not follow it. Another goal with this production was to stretch myself in creating strong, clear visuals on stage, including the use of gestural language. I wanted this story to be so crystal-clear that if the actors were told they could not speak, the story would still be completely present and easily followed. These visuals should evoke strong emotions, not only from within the cast but also within the audience members. I wanted to capitalize on how to create these visuals and explore their variety. Everything should be striking and add not only to the story, but also to the mood and atmosphere in the room. Also I wanted to create a gestural language that would also aid in creating a 2 visual story. Many characters are short on text and character description; however, by creating another way of communication with gestures, the audience will have a new and interesting way to find out more and invest in these characters. I also wanted to search for opportunities to explore Artaudian theories and concepts in the performance. Knowing that this is the play that Artaud wanted to be his first full production and included in his program to illustrate his ideas of Theatre of Cruelty, I wanted to explore why that might have been, what those concepts are, and where I could use those concepts to tell this story. And lastly, prior to the actual production I wanted to write and create a brand new adaptation of Woyzeck. I wanted to take this opportunity to explore a type of playwriting that I found very interesting. The process of taking an established text and deconstructing it in hopes of putting it back together with a fresh new take on it, while still respecting the original, is something that I have wanted to attempt. And Woyzeck, with its history of adaptation, was a fitting text to start with. I wanted to apply my concept of this play and formulate it into a brand new text that honors the original script but frames it in a new accessible and unique light. Some major questions I had going into this thesis project are: How do you tell this story in a clear way while still keeping the idea of fragmentation present? What drew Antonin Artaud to this story and how might he have approached it? What of his theories could I apply to my own production? Where is the line between manipulating the audience and guiding the audience? Where is the catharsis located and how should it be approached in this new adaptation? 3 Chapter 2 Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck In order to properly analyze the text of Büchner’s Woyzeck, it is important to know the history and backstory that led to its creation. On June 21, 1821, Johann Christian Woyzeck, a 31-year-old unemployed ex-soldier, stabbed Johanna Woost seven times to death. She was a widow in her forties who had been Johann’s mistress at one point and was, at the time, consorting with a number of other soldiers in Leipzig. Shortly after Johanna’s murder, Johann was brought to trial for his crime. Because there had been reports that he had been raving for some time, a doctor was brought in to assess his mental state. Dr. Clarus was called in to examine the defendant and assess whether he was mentally competent to stand trial.