About the Play:

Woyzeck has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues.

One of the most performed and influential plays in German theatre, Woyzeck is a modern classic that remains frighteningly relevant today. Based on a real-life murder trial that took place in Germany in the 1820s, this full-length drama was written by Georg Büchner in 1837, but not staged until 1913. This brilliant translation by renowned scholar Nicholas Rudall is made with a direct eye on the stage. It aims at clarity and simplicity and captures the power of the play for contemporary audiences.

Sacrificed to powers larger than himself, Woyzeck is one of drama's first antiheroes. He serves a German captain and makes money by allowing a doctor to experiment on him, but his deeper morality leads him to a tragic end. One of Western drama's most profound explorations into the human spirit, this play inspired the famed opera by Alban Berg, and the classic film by Werner Herzog.

Cast: 4 female, 13 male, plus extras

About the Playwright:

Georg Büchner (1813-1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He died at a tragically early age, and his three works for the stage remained virtually unknown for half a century. Today all three, especially Danton's Death, his great play about the French Revolution are performed regularly.

D. Nicholas Rudall (1940-2018) was a renowned Classics professor at the University of Chicago, as well as a translator, actor, and founding director of the Court Theatre, the professional theatre of the University of Chicago. For 40 years, he taught the classic plays to students while also directing many classical works at the the Court Theatre for 22 years. His teaching is focused on tragedy and the ancient theater, Aristophanes, and Propertius.