Featuring some of London’s hottest musical theatre talent, Brenock O’Connor and Jade Oswald lead a 14-strong actor-muso company in this haunting new musical. Inspired by Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, this now classic fable has a feminist twist, placing Marie alongside Franz Woyzeck at the heart of the narrative.
Set in the twisted and war-torn world of late 19th Century Europe, a platoon of young soldiers have been stationed in an isolated outpost for months, awaiting further orders. Franz Woyzeck, a man haunted by nightmares since his return from the front, has agreed to medical experimentations by the army doctor in order to supplement his meagre income to support.his girlfriend Marie, and their baby, the pressures take their toll with disastrous consequences.
The full casting comprises:
Brenock O’Connor (Channel 4; Game of Thrones; Alex Rider, Amazon TV; Derry Girls,) as Woyzeck and Jade Oswald (Little Women, UK Tour and Salisbury Playhouse; Treason The Musical Concert, Theatre Royal Rury Lane, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Sondheim Theatre) as Marie are joined by Steve Simmonds (Assassins, Watermill Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse; The Secret Garden, Theatre Royal York) as ‘Sergeant Ursid’; Paula James (Equus, Menier Chocolate Factory and Theatre Royal Bath; Our Man In Havana, Watermill Theatre; The Comedy of Errors, RSC) as ‘Zella’; Richard Emerson Gould (Alternations, The National Theatre; Twelfth Night, Shakespeare in the Squares; Hamlet, Salisbury Playhouse) as ‘Doctor Simian’; Matthew Heywood (Little Shop of Horrors, UK Tour; Zorro, Charing Cross Theatre; Alice in Wonderland, Marylebone Theatre) as ‘Drum Major Varg’; Max Alexander-Taylor (Jesus Christ Superstar, Watermill Theatre; Cable Street, Marylebone Theatre, 59E59 New York and Southwark Playhouse; The Lion, Southwark Playhouse US Tour and Korea/Japan,) as ‘André Schmitt’; Mark Meadows (The Tempest, RSC; The Secret Life of Bees, Almeida Theatre; Flowers For Mrs Harris, Sheffield Theatres and Chichester Theatre) as ‘Captain Peccary’; Eve Polycarpou (From Here to Eternity, Charing Cross Theatre; Sunset at Villa Thalia, The National Theatre; In The Heights, Southwark Playhouse and Kings Cross Theatre) as ‘Vashti’; Elaine Hua Jones (Places I Never Think About, The Cockpit; Wishmas: A Fantastical Christmas Adventure, Secret Cinema) as ‘Kat’; Antony Lam (Miraculous, The King’s Head; The Smeds and the Smoos, Lyric Theatre and UK Tour), Anna-Marie Piazza (War Horse, National Theatre and UK Tour; Day of the Living, RSC; Wicker Husband, The Other Palace), Emily Panes (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ambassadors Theatre; Malory Towers, UK Tour; Mozart: Her Story, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Tom Aubrey, making his professional stage debut, completing the ensemble.
This raw, soul-rattling Indie Folk score was originally commissioned by award-winning Korean musical theatre company Acom and created by Chris Broderick and Rob Shepherd, key members of cult Medway band The Singing Loins. Their adaptation of Woyzeck was staged at the LG Arts Center in Seoul in 2014 and has now been reimagined as Franz & Marie for its 2026 production at Charing Cross Theatre.
With book and lyrics by Chris Broderick and music by Rob Shepherd and Chris Broderick, Franz & Marie is newly adapted by Teresa Howard, with additional music, arrangements and orchestrations by Steven Edis.
Franz & Marie is directed by Michael Oakley, with choreography by Ben Wright.