In November 2013, Omnibus launched its inaugural artistic season with Woyzeck, an original centenary production of Georg Büchner’s seminal play that embodied Omnibus’ ethos for in-house work: classics re-imagined for contemporary audiences.

This production was supported with funding from Arts Council England, Lambeth NHS, Lambeth & Southwark Public Health Team, Maudsley Charity, and Royal Victoria Hall Foundation.

 

Show description

100 years since its first performance, Omnibus presents Büchner’s unique and timeless masterpiece, in this the bicentennial year of his birth.

Hailed as the forerunner of modern drama, this play celebrates Woyzeck as a proletarian hero, and steals a nightmarish glimpse at the futility of man’s battle against his baser, more animal instincts.

For three months, Woyzeck has been forced to eat nothing but peas, as part of a sadistic military experiment by his self-interested superiors. Now, he suspects the Drum Major of sleeping with his common-law wife. As Woyzeck struggles to understand his lot in life, suddenly an unexpected voice of reason offers him a way out…

Production dates: 19 November – 7 December 2013

Cast

Woyzeck: Liam Smith
Marie: Victoria Ross
The Captain: Kieron Jecchinis
The Doctor: Nigel Hastings
The Drum Major: Nicholas Keith
The Showman: David Rubin
Andres: Royce Cronin
The Grandmother: Judy Norman
Margret: Ruth Rogers
Puppeteer: Tom Kirk
Christian: Callum McPhee, Louis Mogford, Theo Reeves
Accordionists: Ellie Westbrook, Jaz Delorean

Creative Team

Director: Robyn Winfield-Smith
Adaptation: Robyn Winfield-Smith
Producer: Joanna Nutall
Assistant Producer: Tom Miller
Design: Fly Davis
Composer:
Gregory Batlseer
Sound Designer:
Mark Cunningham
Lighting Designer:
Oliver Fenwick
Movement Director:
Lawrence Carmichael
Stage Manager: Alison Best
Deputy Stage Manager: Bella Burton
Assistant Stage Manager: Niall O’Mara
Props: Sabia Smith
Translator: Michael Ewans
UK-based Dramaturg: Johanne Hauge
Design Consultant: Duncal Russell
Outreach Coordinator: Lauren Wilson-Maile
Puppetry Director: Jimmy Grimes
Assistant Director: Menelaos Karantzas
Casting Director: Ruth O’Dowd

Critical reception and reviews

Off-West End nominations for Best Lighting Designer and Best Sound Designer

‘This is a remarkably well-executed, polished production with many elements that show off how powerful good theatre can be.’
★★★★ The Upcoming

‘A stunning and first-class beginning to the newest arts venue in London. Robyn Winfield-Smith is to be applauded for taking one of the most complex and important texts of the past 100 years; delivering a high-octane, visually arresting and fully accessible piece of theatre for a 21st Century audience. A class act. Very highly recommended.’
★★★★ UK Theatre Web

‘…puppetry that astonishes even those who have seen its wonders before’
Broadway World

‘The Omnibus Clapham is a gorgeous building in itself, but walking into the auditorium felt like walking into a different world, completely foreign to the Victorian exterior.’
Everything Theatre