Woyzeck in Winter

Büchner’s dramatic masterpiece Woyzeck is interwoven with songs from Schubert’s Winterreise to form a highly distinctive music theatre production, the central roles played by mesmerising Irish performers Patrick O’Kane and Camille O’Sullivan.

A poor soldier earns extra money for his family through menial jobs and participation in bizarre medical experiments. Brutalised by society and consumed with jealousy, he is driven to the far side of alienation and despair – and finally to a desperate, violent act.

Exploiting the uncanny similarities between these two dark masterworks, Dublin-based director Conall Morrison draws on Schubert’s extraordinary music to illuminate the inner landscape of Woyzeck’s tortured mind. With the startling story set amid a terrain of broken pianos, vivid scenes flow seamlessly into songs, now translated into English, revealing their potent passion. The cast also includes Stephen Brennan, Rosaleen Linehan and Barry McGovern, outstanding actor-singers who have appeared previously at the Barbican.