Developed between South Korea and the UK and brought to London in Broderick’s memory, Franz & Marie, playing at the Charing Cross Theatre, finds its life in this shared work. Its tragedy unfolds through the voices, instruments, and movements of an ensemble that makes music central to the telling.
Franz & Marie, now playing at Charing Cross Theatre, was developed over many years between South Korea and the UK. First staged as Woyzeck at LG Arts Center in Seoul in 2014, it was produced by ACOM, led by Hojin Yun, a pioneering producer in Korean musical theatre. Yun’s choice of this dark story was personal. In his programme note, he describes Woyzeck as an innocent young man with no privilege or family support, recognising his own difficult youth in the character. He also draws a connection to South Korea’s compulsory military service and the young soldiers he met, who knew what it felt like to be powerless in an unfamiliar world governed by orders.
Yun began developing the musical in 2008 with Chris Broderick and Rob Shepherd of the Kent-based folk band The Singing Loins. Broderick shared his connection to the character. When Broderick died in 2022, Yun decided to stage a small London production in his memory.
Büchner’s Woyzeck, based on a real murder case, remained unfinished when he died at twenty-three. Its loose collection of scenes and sketches gives artists room to imagine, rearrange and rebuild the story. Although criticised for its deeply misogynistic elements, the play continues to inspire new interpretations of poverty, mental illness, abuse and power.
Franz & Marie reworks Broderick and Shepherd’s musical rather than directly adapting Büchner’s play. Teresa Howard provides the new adaptation, Michael Oakley directs, and Steven Edis adds music, arrangements and orchestrations. The new title places Franz and Marie side by side, reflecting this version’s aim to give Marie a more central role.
Franz returns from war troubled by nightmares and hallucinations, yet works hard to support Marie and their baby. Poverty, military hierarchy, the doctor’s experiments and daily insults wear down his body and mind. As his relationship with Marie falters, the harsh world around them destroys the love and everyday life they hoped to build together. The doctor’s comic manner and Captain Peccary bring brief moments of laughter into this dark story.
It is not a sung-through musical, but songs carry on the emotions expressed in dialogue, while instrumental passages lead into the next scene. Speech, song and music form a continuous flow. The simple, raw sound of folk suits the characters’ hard lives and brings their voices close to the audience. Folk music drives the story, played by fourteen actor-musicians who move between their characters and instruments. The range is remarkable: drums, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, clarinet, trumpet and other brass instruments, violin, cello, a small harp, whistles and two accordions. Together, they create a rich variety of sounds within the small theatre, carrying both Franz and Marie’s private feelings and the shared life of the soldiers.
In her programme essay, adaptor Howard explains that the actor-musician approach draws on both Broderick and Shepherd’s folk-band background and the folk songs and tales in Büchner’s play. Watching the performers make the music adds another pleasure: every sound has a visible source, whether a bow drawn across strings or breath blown into a wind instrument. Their playing becomes part of the action. The actors also shift the hanging canvas to open up or hide parts of the stage, building the spaces their characters inhabit. Acting, playing and changing the scene all happen before the audience, giving the production a sense of constant movement.
Developed between South Korea and the UK and brought to London in Broderick’s memory, Franz & Marie finds its life in this shared work. Its tragedy unfolds through the voices, instruments, and movements of an ensemble that makes music central to the telling.
Franz & Marie is playing at the Charing Cross Theatre through to November 14.
Related Posts
Follow Us