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29 May 2026
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4*****
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No one can accuse Exeter University Theatre Company (EUTCO) or taking the easy options when choosing their summer productions which transfer to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Having reviewed Dinner by Moira Buffini in 2024 and Constellations by Nick Payne last year, this year’s offering is Georg Büchner’s famously unfinished play Woyzeck in an adaptation by John Mackendrick.
Written in 1836 but incomplete, there have been a multitude of versions completed by others and endless discussions about the meaning of the play and the many subtext categories it can fit into, but it is almost a genre-defying work which is maybe why it still creates a huge amount of interest. With subject matters including illegitimate birth, apocalyptic visions, suicide, post-traumatic stress, murder, mental health, bullying, class systems and societal inequalities it is a play of unique depth and it offers a modern resonance on so many levels. Buchner set a tone of anti-establishment work which Bertolt Brecht would champion later in so many ways it feels so fresh.
EUTCO’s production moves the action into the 20th Century, though there isn’t a feeling that the time is particular, the play could be set in almost any era. The simple set, using just three crates, is a nod to the needs of the Edinburgh Fringe where less is usually best – but here there isn’t any requirement for more, the choices made are very effective. There is little back story as Woyzeck makes his first entrance, nervy and making strange observations. There is unease, a claustrophobia, a sense of foreboding. The perfect start which, along with an unsettling soundscape featuring, what sounds like, an aircraft in freefall, creates tension immediately.
As the story unfolds, the treatment of Woyzeck takes effect as his jealous attitude to his common law wife, Marie, and his existing war fatigue are compounded and the decline in his health becomes more obvious. As Woyzeck, Thomas Taylor has the perfect face for angst and every expression adds to the depth of the character he is portraying and his deterioration is played out with pain and emotion. Though at times his voice level dips below the audible, when required, he is full voiced and fully believable and he handles the difficult killing and final scene well. Francesca Galla-Taylor produces a statuesque Marie, with a core strength, but in a world where misogyny is rife, her vulnerability – not least as a loving mother –  is there for all to see. A poised performance of a tragic figure.
The three manipulators of Woyzeck all contribute to his downfall – he is a lowly man, a nothing, a soldier without worth and there for exploitation by others. Sam Williams is excellent as the strong-minded, confident and arrogant Captain, treating Woyzeck with scorn and distain. Dylan Williams has enormous fun as the wildly eccentric doctor who uses Woyzeck as someone to experiment on in between broadcasting his quack theories. There is great humour in this performance which offers much needed light relief. The Drum Major helps tip matters over the edge for Woyzeck and Marie and Sean Fennell manages to effectively convey the sleazy character who can just take what he wants; though also too quiet at times, this performance hits its peak with the unpleasant drunken scene. Zoë Souter just about steals the show as the incredible Show woman, with elements of the grotesque and the absurd about the performance, it is angular, sinister, funny and unsettling and dressed to impress in a great costume. The character just another to add to Woyzeck’s misery.
Strong support also comes from Arabella Yardley as Marie’s friend Margaret, Alexis Papadakis as the Sergeant and Woyzeck’s army friend Andres, played by Freddy Jones – incidentally a role I performed in 1982 in my first year at university using the same translation.
Lighting is effective without being too fussy and the music chosen is carefully done and adds to the atmosphere – the play contains quite a few short songs, all of which creates a style which many might attribute to Brecht who was yet to be born when Woyzeck was first performed.
Director Madeleine Economou has created an endlessly fascinating version of the play which zips along at a very good pace – there are no longueurs here. The building of tension, unease and impending doom are there from the outset until they reach their peak. Along with Assistant Director, Alex Webb, the production achieves what it has to set out to do, which is to showcase an extraordinary stage play and ask questions of its audience – so many discussions will have been had before the curtain was raised and when the viewers take their journey home.
An excellent production of a conundrum of a play; there has been no attempt to be revolutionary with it, there is no need, it does all the work itself. Another really tremendous piece of work from EUTCO which should be incredibly effective in Edinburgh.
Cast
Woyzeck – Thomas Taylor
Marie – Francesca Galla-Taylor
Captain – Sam Williams
Doctor – Dylan Williams
Drum Major – Sean Fennell
Andres – Freddy Jones
Margaret – Arabella Yardley
Sergeant/Journeyman – Alexis Papadakis
Show woman/Journeyman – Zoë Souter
Creatives
Writer – Georg Büchner – adaptation by John Mackendrick
Director – Madeleine Economou
Assistant Director – Alex Webb
Co-Producers – Eloise Cannan, James Padley
Stage Manager – Sophie Hill
Co- Costume Designers – Beth Williams, Tulsi Patel
Technical Manager – Max Pamplin
Company Photographer – Molly Panagi-Williams
