Rory revels in challenge of Woyzeck in Winter

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Actor Rory Nolan was outstanding in Druid Theatre’s memorable production of Waiting for Godot during last year’s Arts Festival, when he played the much put-upon Pozzo. Now, he’s returning to Galway for a new Festival show.

Woyzeck in Winter will receive its world premiere on Monday, July 17 and it’s epic in its ambition.

Director Conal Morrison has taken the original play, Woyzeck, written by Georg Büchner  in the mid-1830s, but never finished because of Büchner’s untimely death, and has mixed it with the 19th century song series, Winterreise. Winterreise was written by Schubert in the 1820s, when the 31-year-old composer was dying of syphilis.

“The play, Woyzeck, was a bunch of scenes that Büchner had never put in their proper order, but it has been massively influential,” explains Rory, on a break from rehearsals. Writers from Samuel Beckett to Tom Waits have echoes of it in their work, he adds.

The play’s central character, Woyzeck is a downtrodden soldier. His mistress, Marie, the mother of his child, is having an affair with a drum major who beats him up, his doctor carries out experiments on him and his captain continually philosophises at him. As if that’s not enough, he starts hearing voices and goes over to the dark side, with disastrous consequences.

Woven through this text is Shcubert’s 24-song cycle, Winterreise, written as the composer faced his final days, physically and emotionally broken.

“It’s spine-chilling and macabre music,” observes Rory.

Conal Morrison has been working on Woyzeck in Winter for almost a decade, the actor explains. “He stitched it together and put it to music with the wildly talented Conor Linehan.

“It’s ambitious, and it’s well-conceived and thought out,” he adds.

Conor Linehan is musical director and his mother, the actress, Rosaleen Linehan, is also taking part. She’s part of an all-star cast of actor-singers that includes Patrick O’Kane as Woyzeck and Camille O’Sullivan as Marie. Barry McGovern, Susannah De Wrixon, Stephen Brennan, Shane O’Reilly and Peter Coonan (Love/Hate) are also in the mix, as is Rory who plays several characters.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.