![]() The mood of the piece is oppressive, the story played out under low ‘straw and steel’ lighting, to a backdrop of monochrome film of intensely, almost angrily scratched illustrations of bleak landscapes. Where War Horse is a ‘suitable for all the family’ war drama, dealing with ‘difficult’ subject matter in a way that celebrates the human spirit, creating an emotional response in the audience without dragging them down into the depths of despair, Woyceck on the Highveld is definitely adult fare, pushing deeply into a depression that envelops all in its dark cloud exploring the murky territories of mental illness, medical abuse, sexual jealousy, misogynist murder, and the terrible way that men are used as fodder (for armies, by doctors, down mines). Georg Büchner’s unfinished drama dealing with the dehumanising effects of medical science and the military on a young man’s life is, in Woyzeck on the Highveld, transposed to South Africa in the 1950s, and specifically to the exploited and depressed mining communities of Johannesburg. Their earlier production Woyzeck on the Highveld – here restaged by director Luc de Wit, produced by a international conglomerate of festivals, and presented here under the auspices of UK Arts International, Puppet Centre Trust and Barbican’s BITE (amongst others) – is a very different kettle of fish… ![]() ![]() Handspring Puppet Company are best known in the UK for their key contribution to the multi-award-winning NT production War Horse. ![]()
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