Scenic and Lighting Design by Leigh Henderson

Pea tasting menu by Kristin Hunt and Leigh Henderson

University Theatre, University of Wisconsin - Madison (Madison, WI), March 2013

By Georg Büchner

Directed by Kristin Hunt

Inspired by circuses, sideshows, and contrasts between the organic and the mechanical, the stage space of Woyzeck brought the audience onto the stage and facilitated interactions between audience and actors. Lighting of unconventional colors and angles emphasized Woyzeck’s powerlessness and confusion.

Over the course of the play, the audience was served a tasting menu of pea-flavored items, reflecting the title character’s exclusive diet of peas. The tasting menu began with a single pea and included pea flavored gum, pea flavored soda, and pea flavored jello. At the end of the play, the corpse of Woyzeck’s murdered lover Marie was lowered from the ceiling. This corpse had been decorated using cake decorating techniques and materials and contained pea flavored cake balls in its open chest cavity. As the audience filed out of the theater, they were invited to take a cake ball from the corpse.

“The production's design elements (Christa Lewandowski's costumes and Leigh Henderson's production design) are also critical. This is a bleak, edgy story that is also quite spare in its narrative. With an aesthetic that mixes Weimar German cabaret, carnivals, steampunk and industrial elements and even a dash of bondage gear, Woyzeck leaves a memorable visual impression.” - Jennifer A. Smith, Isthmus