Brooklyn-based artist collective Adult Film’s adaptation of Georg Büchner’s hard-hitting tragedy Woyzeck is the inaugural production at Modern Sweater in Ridgewood, New York.  Adult Film’s highly stylized, truly renegade interpretation of this eternal story retains all of the tragedy, pathos, and (unintentional?) black comedy that made Büchner’s original play such a persistent mainstay in literary culture for anyone unafraid to, shall we say, “take it on”. That said, Adult Film successfully makes this Woyzeck its own, largely thanks to a new translation by John Christopher Jones, direction by Seth Bockley, and a youthful, physically appealing cast.  Originally written in 1836 and first performed in 1913, Woyzeck has since become one of the most performed theater pieces in history, ostensibly due to its universal and transgenerational themes which are still VERY relevant in 2026.  It was even made into a movie in 1994 (FYI: 1994 was the year the song “Violet” by Hole came out…).  One of those aforementioned themes in Woyzeck is that of the everyday working man or woman’s struggle for survival– and, often, the overwhelming feeling of helplessness that goes along with it.  Adding to the lore of Büchner’s play is the fact that it was… well, NOT FINISHED!  Whether it is because of the play itself, its fascinating backstory, or both, Woyzeck remains a welcome but challenging work to produce, especially 190 years after being written.  Adult Film has met that challenge with flying (blood red) colors.

My first knowledge of Woyzeck the play came in junior high.  The year was 1984 (FYI: The only commonly available underwear for men and boys at the time were tighty whities…).  The play was NOT assigned reading for my class, but was rather used as a tool to teach about character development.  It raised the questions:  Who is the main character? What are his/her traits that make the story important? Is he/she a protagonist, an antagonist, or somewhere in between?  The play, even though my class and I were only exposed to it in fragments, made an impression– most specifically, with the overwhelming sense of despair of the titular “Woyzeck”.  That said, Woyzeck the play remained, appropriately enough, UNFINISHED in my mind.  This is why I was particularly eager to see how any performance troupe would adapt it.  Just as Woyzeck has an idiosyncratic history, Adult Film’s take on Büchner’s classic is anything but a night of traditional theater, right on down to the venue. Modern Sweater, as a former sweater factory, is most definitely NOT a traditional theater space– yet, interestingly, it is perfectly suited for this adaption.  

The titular character of Woyzeck is a working-class soldier (Ryan Czerwonko) who does manual labor to support his wife Marie (Hannah Hale) and his new child, and who also offers his body for bizarre medical experimentation by an ambitious doctor (Megan Metrikin) for extra money.  At the same time, he suffers emotional abuse from his manipulative Captain (Randall Jaynes).  Ostensibly feeling neglected, Marie falls in lust with a handsome and cocksure Drum Major (Taylor Petracek)– and, eventually, that lust erupts into full-blown adultery (“Bang your drum and march up and down!”, she requests from him.)  Woyzeck is brought to his tipping point by a likely combination of unrelenting abuse, jealousy, eating nothing but peas for three months, and the character’s mental illness, which is explicitly alluded to throughout the play in such moments where Woyzeck confesses to “hearing music all the time”.  Having been an unfinished play, this new interpretation creates its own conclusion, which is appropriately dark. 

Adult Film’s Woyzeck is dynamic, provocative, and at times very funny, even if some of the author’s original dialogue (“You have the hot breath of a whore!”) was meant with the utmost seriousness. This Woyzeck will occasionally veer into the proverbial Theater of the Absurd, but it’s never absurd solely for absurdity’s sake.  It always seems like there’s a method to the madness. Hey, there’s even live music (to which I can only say, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”). The characters in Woyzeck are savagely portrayed by the lively cast. Hannah Hale is excellent as the sexually restless Marie, and Taylor Petracek is equally fine as her forbidden paramour.  Often hilarious, Megan Metrikin offers a generous amount of much-needed humor to the production as the more-than-slightly kooky Doctor. As The Captain, Randall Jaynes plays a character who, shall we say, doesn’t exactly hate his mental dominance over Woyzeck. He’s the human equivalent of a cat who plays with the mouse rather than killing it immediately. Similarly, this character “plays” with Woyzeck’s oft-discussed themes of “morality”– and Jaynes “gets” the character perfectly. Playing double duty as Woyzeck’s long-suffering friend Andres and a character called “The Idiot”, Trevor Clarkson proves to be adept at physical comedy, often getting the most lively reactions from the audience.  Rounding out the supporting cast are the hardworking Stephee Bonifacio and AJ Molder. Finally, there’s “Woyzeck” himself: Even in the show’s relatively brief running time, Czerwonko’s character becomes a source of multifaceted fascination that leaves the audience thinking for a long time afterward.  While Woyzeck, the man, is bound by his economic status and the cultural norms of the time, there is also an aura of masochism for which the source isn’t exactly known. Is it his adherence to his Christian faith? His loss of that faith? Or is it just masochism for the sake of masochism? No matter what, Czerwonko is perfectly cast as a character who would always be a risky proposition for the status of “leading man-hood”: As with almost every other character in this play, it’s hard to balance the positivity and the negativity.  I can’t speak for how Büchner pictured Woyzeck visually when he wrote his play back in 1836, but I will say without a doubt that Czerwonko is EXACTLY how I pictured the titular character to look when I first read bits of Woyzeck way back in 1984. As I mentioned earlier, for 42 years the play was left “unfinished” in my head. Clearly, some things are worth waiting for!

Adult Film’s Woyzeck continues through August 15th, Wednesday to Saturday @ 7:30pm at Modern Sweater, 478 Onderdonk Avenue, Ridgewood, NY.  The run time is 70 minutes, no intermission.  For tickets and more information, visit WOYZECK Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite

Photos by Geve Penn.

Woyzeck stars Ryan Czerwonko* as Woyzeck, Madeline Bernhard* as Marie, Randall Jaynes as The Captain, Megan Metrikin* as The Doctor, Taylor Petracek* as The Drum Major, Trevor Clarkson* as Andres/The Idiot, Stephee Bonifacio* as Margaret/Katey, and AJ Molder* as The Shopkeeper. Hannah Hale* is Marie on Friday, July 24th & Saturday, July 25th. Produced by Madeline Bernhard + Ryan Czerwonko. Production Design by Josh Barilla. Lighting Design by Nick Cozzo. Assistant Director: Debbie Saivetz. Music Arranged by Stephee Bonifacio. PR by Joshua Matteo*

*denotes AF company member