2014 TIFA 台灣國際藝術節 Taiwan International Festival of Arts

A frantic combination of black humor and tragic life

Josef Nadj screams humble desires from deep down

Woyzeck is a stage play written by German playwright Georg Büchner based on a true murder case in 1821. Although it is an unfinished work, it became the first expressionist play in history: a story made up of pieces where scattered fragments are deconstructed and each piece is centered on individuality to tell the life of a low-rank soldier. The story delivers a long-lasting tragic element which is constantly deconstructed and reassembled by writers, screenwriters and playwrights. Each interpretation of the work leaves ineradicable impressions on the viewers.

Josef Nadj’s Woyzeck, ou l'ébauche du vertige premiered in Théâtre National de Bretagne– Rennes (France) in March, 1994. It was coproduced by Théâtre National de Bretagne– Rennes and Centre Chorégraphique National d’Orléans. This performance was awarded the first prize of the audience the 32nd Festival BITEF in Belgrade (1998) and “Masque d'or (Golden mask)” for the best foreign performance presented in Russia (2002).

Nadj resorts to black humor and playful music to describe the nervousness and agitation of the characters; he makes use of the illusionary intertwisting of the dancers’ bodies to mimic the quasi-craziness of the characters.