As a director, discuss how you would apply the methodologies of your chosen theatre
practitioner to support the use of design elements in your production concept.
Your answer must focus on the named section listed above for your chosen performance
text.
Your answer must make reference to:
• the overall aims of your production concept in response to the play as a whole
• how your practical ideas will work in performance
• the original performance conditions of your chosen performance text.
(24)
My performance of Woyzeck is set in 1933 Nazi Germany, during the Nazi party’s rise in
power. It takes place in a town in rural Germany where the people were categorised and
persecuted due to their race. The Nazi’s believed Aryan people were superior to all others.
Their devotion to what they believed was racial purity and their opposition to racial mixing
explains their hatred towards Jews, Roma and Sinti people and black people. People who
were thought to be a threat to the genetic makeup of Germany were used to the Nazi’s
advantage. They were ordered to carry out intense labour tasks and undergo human testing
to accommodate the bourgeoisie. In this production I want to highlight the social injustice,
and the oppression people faced due to something that was out of their control, just like
Woyzeck faces as a result of the class system. Bertolt Brecht, as my chosen practitioner,
strived to express social and political messages throughout his plays. Brecht was inspired by
Gerog Buchner, the original writer of Woyzeck in the sense that they both wanted to highlight
social and political messages to inspire individuals to evoke change. Brecht wanted the
audience to engage and evaluate what they were watching, not ‘hang their brains up with
their hats’. Buchner is known for writing a political manifesto that outlined his views on
society called the ‘Hessian Messenger’ disparaging and criticising the ‘petty bourgeoisie’
with the hopes to incite change by getting the working class to rebel against power. I will
employ Brecht’s methodologies to achieve my aim to express the oppression and social
injustice in Germany and the effects on individuals in the targeted groups.
As a director, a brechtian technique that I would use to portray a political message would be
through the use of placards. Firstly, I would inscribe the fact that during world war 2, over
15,000 people were forced to be tested on. Woyzeck would carry this in and place it on a
black wooden staircase, which is about 1 metre high. The fact that this is a staircase which
leads nowhere reflects the unfortunate situation that Woyzeck finds himself through
circumstance, his fate cannot be changed like the victims of ww1. Woyzeck represents the
working class so having him carry this piece of set acts as gestus, suggesting that the lower
class carry all of society. This is evident in scene 6 where the doctor asks Woyzeck if he ‘has
eaten his peas’ which are essential for his trial. This creates levels reminiscent of the
‘pyramid of capitalism’ in which the upper class is lifted by the exploitation of the lower class.
This is reminiscent of the producer of the original performance’s (Max Reinhardt’s)
intentions, since he wanted to capture the growing movement of expressionism and enhance
expressiveness. The themes explored through the placards are inherently Brechtian in
nature, as Brecht was a marxist which meant he sought to end the exploitation of workers by
letting workers own the means of production. Moreover, levels created highlight the power
dynamics between Woyzeck and the Doctor. This would prove important in further ridiculing
the upper class in my use of music.
practitioner to support the use of design elements in your production concept.
Your answer must focus on the named section listed above for your chosen performance
text.
Your answer must make reference to:
• the overall aims of your production concept in response to the play as a whole
• how your practical ideas will work in performance
• the original performance conditions of your chosen performance text.
(24)
My performance of Woyzeck is set in 1933 Nazi Germany, during the Nazi party’s rise in
power. It takes place in a town in rural Germany where the people were categorised and
persecuted due to their race. The Nazi’s believed Aryan people were superior to all others.
Their devotion to what they believed was racial purity and their opposition to racial mixing
explains their hatred towards Jews, Roma and Sinti people and black people. People who
were thought to be a threat to the genetic makeup of Germany were used to the Nazi’s
advantage. They were ordered to carry out intense labour tasks and undergo human testing
to accommodate the bourgeoisie. In this production I want to highlight the social injustice,
and the oppression people faced due to something that was out of their control, just like
Woyzeck faces as a result of the class system. Bertolt Brecht, as my chosen practitioner,
strived to express social and political messages throughout his plays. Brecht was inspired by
Gerog Buchner, the original writer of Woyzeck in the sense that they both wanted to highlight
social and political messages to inspire individuals to evoke change. Brecht wanted the
audience to engage and evaluate what they were watching, not ‘hang their brains up with
their hats’. Buchner is known for writing a political manifesto that outlined his views on
society called the ‘Hessian Messenger’ disparaging and criticising the ‘petty bourgeoisie’
with the hopes to incite change by getting the working class to rebel against power. I will
employ Brecht’s methodologies to achieve my aim to express the oppression and social
injustice in Germany and the effects on individuals in the targeted groups.
As a director, a brechtian technique that I would use to portray a political message would be
through the use of placards. Firstly, I would inscribe the fact that during world war 2, over
15,000 people were forced to be tested on. Woyzeck would carry this in and place it on a
black wooden staircase, which is about 1 metre high. The fact that this is a staircase which
leads nowhere reflects the unfortunate situation that Woyzeck finds himself through
circumstance, his fate cannot be changed like the victims of ww1. Woyzeck represents the
working class so having him carry this piece of set acts as gestus, suggesting that the lower
class carry all of society. This is evident in scene 6 where the doctor asks Woyzeck if he ‘has
eaten his peas’ which are essential for his trial. This creates levels reminiscent of the
‘pyramid of capitalism’ in which the upper class is lifted by the exploitation of the lower class.
This is reminiscent of the producer of the original performance’s (Max Reinhardt’s)
intentions, since he wanted to capture the growing movement of expressionism and enhance
expressiveness. The themes explored through the placards are inherently Brechtian in
nature, as Brecht was a marxist which meant he sought to end the exploitation of workers by
letting workers own the means of production. Moreover, levels created highlight the power
dynamics between Woyzeck and the Doctor. This would prove important in further ridiculing
the upper class in my use of music.
