Written in 1836, Woyzeck is often considered to be the first truly modern play.
The story of a soldier driven mad by inhuman military discipline and acute social deprivation is told in splintered dialogue and jagged episodes, which are as shocking and telling today as they were when first performed, almost a century after the author's death, in Munich 1913.
This edition contains introductory commentary and notes by Laura Martin from the University of Glasgow.
METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. A well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains:
- A chronology of the play and the playwright's life and work
- an introductory discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created
- a succinct overview of the creation processes followed and subsequent performance history of the piece
- an analysis of, and commentary on, some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the text
- a bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study.
Büchner, Georg: - Georg Büchner (1813-1837) is widely acknowledged as the forefather of modern theatre. On his death at the age of 23, he left behind some outstanding dramatic works: his historical drama, Danton's Death, 'the most remarkable first play in European culture' (Guardian), the innovatory tragedy, Woyzeck, and the absurdist comedy, Leonce and Lena.
Martin, Laura: - Laura Martin is Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Glasgow. Her publications include Benedikte Nauberts Neue Volksmarchen der Deutschen: Strukturen des Wandels and Narrative Feminine Identity and the Appearance of Woman in Some of the Shorter Fiction of Goethe, Kleist, Hawthorne and James.
Megson, Chris: - Chris Megson is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has taught and published widely in the field of modern drama, and is editor of The Methuen Drama Book of Naturalist Plays. Other works include: Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present (with Alison Forsyth, 2011), and Modern British Playwriting: The 70s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations (2012).
Nichols, Matthew: - Matthew Nichols graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2003 and has been teaching and leading outstanding Drama and Performing Arts departments for over a decade. Matthew also has extensive experience at a senior level with several exam boards, and was responsible for writing one of the reformed GCSE qualifications in Drama. In addition, Matthew works with schools, colleges, universities and theatres across the country. Matthew is a successful and sought after Drama education consultant, and was one of the founders of Drama Defined, which specialises in delivering high quality Drama education courses to staff and students. Matthew is currently Head of Drama at Manchester Grammar School. You can reach him on Twitter @matthew_drama.
Stevens, Jenny: - Jenny Stevens was an Associate Lecturer for the Open University and currently combines educational consultancy work with teaching and writing. She is the co-author with Pamela Bickley of Essential Shakespeare: The Arden Guide to Text and Interpretation (2013) and Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama: Text and Performance (2016).
