'People like us are unhappy in this world and in the next: if we made it to heaven, we'd have to help make it thunder.'
The multi-award-winning Jack Thorne, the playwright behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, breathes new life into Georg Buchner's existential masterpiece, Woyzeck, one of the most extraordinary plays ever written.
It's 1980s Berlin. The Cold War rages and the world sits at a crossroads between Capitalism and Communism. On the border between East and West, a young soldier and the love of his life are desperately trying to build a better future for their child.
But the cost of escaping poverty is high in this searing tale of the people society leaves behind.
Jack Thorne's version of Woyzeck premiered at the Old Vic Theatre, London, in May 2017, in a production starring John Boyega in the title role.
'This really is one not to miss' — Radio Times
'An exceptionally powerful portrait of a man at the bottom of the heap, helpless and hopeless' — Mail on Sunday
'A brutal interpretation for our times' — Observer
'Jack Thorne has sprinkled magic over Georg Buchner's elusive masterpiece... earthy, robust and admirably clear... this isn't an easy watch, but it certainly rewards audience effort' — Evening Standard
'Shattering... makes Woyzeck more accessible while preserving its unsettling spirit' — Independent
'A thrillingly powerful triumph... as a picture of working-class men, this Woyzeck is powerful and effective' — The Arts Desk
'Explosive... an emotionally challenging, deeply unsettling must-see' — TheatreCat
Industry Reviews
'This really is one not to miss'
* Radio Times *
'An exceptionally powerful portrait of a man at the bottom of the heap, helpless and hopeless'
* Mail on Sunday *
'A brutal interpretation for our times'
* Observer *
'Jack Thorne has sprinkled magic over Georg Buechner's elusive masterpiece... earthy, robust and admirably clear... this isn't an easy watch, but it certainly rewards audience effort'
* Evening Standard *
'Shattering... makes Woyzeck more accessible while preserving its unsettling spirit'
* Independent *
'A thrillingly powerful triumph... as a picture of working-class men, this Woyzeck is powerful and effective'
* The Arts Desk *
'Explosive... an emotionally challenging, deeply unsettling must-see'
* TheatreCat *
'A delirious Freudian dream, a parable of toxic masculinity'
* Time Out *
'Thorne introduces shafts of humour amidst the gloom... [this] descent into darkness is completely absorbing'
* WhatsOnStage *
'A ferocious play that grows exponentially in power as it progresses. It's the play that Woyzeck would have been, needs to be, if written in 2017... Thorne brings his pitch-perfect naturalistic dialogue to bear on a work that becomes about class, masculinity and mental health... though it's almost 200 years old, this feels like a new play, savagely laying bare an unequal world'
* The Stage *
