Book and Lyrics: Chris Broderick
Music: Rob Shepherd and Chris Broderick
Adaptor: Teresa Howard
Director: Michael Oakley
Any adaptation of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck is always going to be problematic, as a good many people already know the ending. Although the German writer left only fragments of his last play before he died at the age of 23 in 1837, these fragments have led to theatrical productions and, most famously, Alban Berg’s opera and Werner Herzog’s film. Despite its more user-friendly title, Franz & Marie, reworked from a musical production by The Singing Loins first seen in South Korea in 2014, is pretty faithful to the original material.
Perhaps Büchner didn’t plan for quite as many songs as those performed at the Charing Cross Theatre, but his manuscript featured some folk songs from Hesse in Germany where he lived. The songs here, by Rob Shepherd and Chris Broderick, are occasionally inspired by German rhythms, but the most striking are the ones with an Irish feel that open Act Two, particularly the rip-roaring The Pub On The Corner, which sounds like something the Pogues would have done. The comical songs, such as Surfeit Of Joy, are less successful.
Impressively, the cast plays all the instruments, and there are a lot of them to play: drums, guitar, penny whistle, harp, clarinet, a selection of brass instruments, as well as a couple of accordions and an electric guitar. The troupe is top-notch with their playing, especially Elaine Hua Jones, who takes on the role of Kat, and who seems to appear behind every musical instrument.
The story is pleasingly bleak. Soldier Franz is taking part in a doctor’s experiment and is on a diet of peas. He eats nothing else, but he volunteers as he needs the money so that he, his girlfriend, and their newborn baby can move away and get a better life. He will “put up and shut up”. Brenock O’Connor looks convincingly dishevelled and desperate as Franz. He’s also suffering from PTSD and has hallucinations of the battlefield. These visions are referred to as ‘body memories’. His paranoia increases throughout the musical, and his superiors take advantage of his addled state.
As Marie, Jade Oswald is in good voice, but her ‘Cor Blimey’ EastEnders accent becomes distracting very quickly. Of course, Marie is lower-class, but occasionally you are waiting for her to exclaim, “Get out of my pub”. Likewise, Steve Simmonds might want to dial down the volume in his role as Sergeant Ursid, a stereotype right out of Dad’s Army and Carry On.
Indeed, Franz & Marie is on much firmer ground when director Michael Oakley leans into the tragedy of the piece; as it stands, the comedy is just too flimsy and gets in the way of the dark story. Perhaps the only comical number which works is Dr Simian’s ( Richard Emerson Gould) Symptom Symposium, as it is performed as an ironic cabaret number and fits perfectly with the tone of the musical. Naturally, Eve Polycarpou is excellent in her songs bookending the show.
Bretta Gerecke’s set of curtains made of sacking nicely conjures up a small village that survives through its link with the military, but there is rather too much raising and lowering of the curtains with little effect but to hide the musicians when really they should be on full display. The soldiers’ blue uniforms are delightful, however.
Franz & Marie is less ambiguous than the notes that Büchner left, and this seems a right move in the 21st century. Here, Varg is pure evil, manipulative and merciless. Matthew Heywood plays him to a tee, peacocking and preening for the women’s attention, telling them he’s “pumped and ready.”
Woyzeck is a classic, and if this brings new audiences to Büchner’s tragedy, then it’s ‘job done’ for this fine hardworking cast.
Runs until 14 November 2026
