WoyzeckRoyal Dramatic Theatre, Main Stage, 1969 Bergman's production of George Büchner's Woyzeck was a crucial step in his conception of the symbol relationship between stage and audience. "Everything fells polished but conventional, spotless but spineless." |
 |
At a press conference on 16 January 1969, he displayed- together with set designer Marik Vos - a stage model of a specially designed arena theatre to be built on Dramaten's Main Stage and seating 150 spectators.
After some twenty rehearsal sessions in a special studio at Dramaten, the ensemble continued rehearsing on the arena stage on 20 February 1969, at which time theatre students, critics and other professionals in the field were invited to attend.
Critics were told they could write about the production at any time and talk to the cast but had to show respect for the work rules set down. Open rehearsals continued for a month. They took place twice a day, at 11am and 1am.
Staging Woyzeck with open rehearsals might have been an attempt by Bergman to respond, in a professional rather than political way, to demands by young Swedish drama groups to make the theatre a more open democratic institution.
The overall press response to Bergman's disciplined type of direction and his formal aestheticism; to some his version of Woyzeck resulted in a beautiful performance; to others it was too controlled and right.
Birgitta Steene, Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide (Amsterdam University Press, 2005)