The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Catch Woyzeck on September 13 and 14

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Sunday, Sep 07, 2008
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Catch Woyzeck on September 13 and 14

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: The trouble with a play like Georg Buchner’s “Woyzeck” is that there is enough to fear its overawing eminence in the German theatre repertory, so it is not often that a director decides to take the plunge and stage it.

Toto Funds the Arts and Rafiki come together to produce a version of “Woyzeck”, adapted and directed by Anmol Vellani at the Ranga Shankara on September 13 and 14. The play tells the story of Franz Woyzeck, a peasant-soldier whose fate is sealed as much by his own actions as by the forces of oppression in 19th century Prussian society.

Apart from being a celebrated play, Woyzeck is described as a deeply psychological story of love, betrayal and madness, a journey into the dark heart of jealousy. It is also a nuanced exploration of the dehumanising effects of poverty and a scathing statement on hypocrisy and moral boundaries.

A new script of the play has been specially created for this production. The script underscores Woyzeck’s lack of voice and agency, his helplessness and despair, and his gradual disintegration as he is bullied and tormented by his superiors, subjected to bizarre medical experiments by the army doctor, and betrayed by his beautiful and vivacious mistress. Mr. Vellani said, “I took about three to four months to rewrite the script. I imported and altered scenes so that Woyzeck would not have to leave the stage often.”

The play will be staged on September 13 at 7.30 p.m. and on September 14 at 3.30 and 7.30 p.m. Tickets are priced at Rs.100. The play is not suitable for audiences below the age of 16. For details, call 9448279252.

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