Original Woyzeck Performance Conditions

Where was Woyzeck first performed?

The Munich Residenz theatre in 1913.

It was a place of luxury and opulence with the most expensive seats in boxes.

Class Divide 1913

Germany was a rising industrial and military power, industrialisation had given Germany strong steel and electrical industry. There was still a wide gap between the classes.

Expressionist Set

Expressionist stages were bare with few props

- sets were deliberately distorted, shapes and lines were unusual, sharp and angular

- the scenery did not define a location (abstract)

Expressionist Acting style

The actying style consisted of using over-acting.

It was intense, violent, expressing tormented emotions and was a mixture of presentational and representational.

Albert Steinruck first played Woyzeck, a German silent film actor so acting style would have been exaggerated, but also expressionist - 'a visual pleasure'

Expressionist Costume

- Dramatic elements

- Bright colours

- Oversized

- Geographic patterns

Intense makeup was used to present a facial expression. Anti-naturalistic, overly theatrical, heavy.

The goal was to express inner turmoil in the most direct and extreme way.

What is Expressionism?

Expressionism is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.

Expressionist Lighting

The Art Deco years saw the birth of the modern lighting industry we know today with architectural lighting, lighting engineers and designers becoming big business. Electricity was now widely available and this allowed flexibility as light fittings could now be put where they were needed.

Expressionist Sound

- Sounds were divided into the categories of "roars, hissing, murmuring, screeching, noises obtained by beating a surface and noises of animals and people"

-The Cabinet of Dr Caligari: the dissonance and uncomfortable clashing in the music, and the use of staccato and crescendo and the difference it makes when there are many instruments playing at the same time and then where they play individually.