Photo Courtesy of Hofstra News
This spring, the opening play to the Hofstra drama department’s 2023 season will be “Woyzeck.” “Woyzeck” is written by Georg Büchner and directed by Royston Coppenger. The show is a classic tale of a young soldier who is sacrificed to powers larger than himself.
Taking place in the Joan and Donald Schaeffer Black Box Theatre in Joseph G. Shapiro Family Hall, the show will have seven performances. Starting on Feb. 24, and ending on Sunday, March 5, the show runs for 90 minutes with no intermission.
Starring senior Damien Moore as Woyzeck, we watch his character’s journey as he suffers through being a young soldier in a corrupt system.
Something that stands out in this show is the set. As the audience enters the theater, they are tasked with deciding which side they want to sit on, because the set was built through the middle of the Black Box. Characters are seen running up and down the stairs next to the audience and having tear-jerking conversations on the higher levels of the theater.
We as an audience can be immediately drawn into the story of Woyzeck just because of the 360-degree performance viewers experience. Sophomore BFA production major Courtney Thomas says that the set is “a good physical representation of the play. The fracturing look of the set connects to the fracturing of [Woyzeck’s] mind.”
Besides the set, another huge element to the play would be the acting. Junior Patrick Kraft portrays the captain, and from the moment when he enters the stage, he is able to grab the audience’s attention. His portrayal of the character creates amazing tension with Moore, who plays Woyzeck. Both of them make the audience feel uncomfortable and nervous as Woyzeck shaves the captain.
Another shoutout would be to senior Katherine Choma, who played Marie. Marie is the mother of Woyzeck’s child, and throughout the play, we wonder more and more who she truly is on the inside.
The last shoutout goes to sophomore Allen Raja, who played the doctor. Throughout the show, we as the audience wonder why the doctor is even here, and that would be because Raja does such an amazing job at making the doctor strange and spontaneous.
Overall, the first show of the season for Hofstra’s drama department was able to go off without a hitch. Next up for the season is “State Fair,” a musical directed by Meredith Van Scoy. Following “State Fair” is “Dike,” directed by Emily Hartford and last but not least is the spring faculty dance concert.
This season will also include four student rep productions, with three plays and one dance number.
