Customer Reviews

Woyzeck: Georg Buchner (Plays for Performance Series)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not Woyzeck by Georg Buchner. This is Nicholas Rudall's meandering version. It is simple a horrible translation of a great play. Rundall seems not to understand the root of what Buchner was trying to get at with his translation. The true essence of Woyzeck is sadly missing in this banal watered down version, and this version make little sense. Unfortunately, everyone wants to tackle this play, but few do it well, partly because Buchner had not finished a final draft of the play before his death. It was found as scenes, and therefore, people feel they have the right to rearrange the play as they feel fit. Done right, the play is very powerful. However, Rundall has muddled this translations, rendering it totally meaningless.

Having been involved in a production of a play, I was very surprised to read this edition, surprised because it seemed to lose so much of the play's poetry and excitement. By altering the text to create a rather traditional form of theater, Mr. Rudall undermines the power of the text fragments and fails to adequately provide future performers and readers with the materials to create a production. I would advise anyone interested in the play, which is at turns tragic, hysterical, and terrifying, to seek another translation.