The reviews are in for Franz & Marie, the folk musical reworking of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck that had its press night at the Charing Cross Theatre on Monday 5 October. Brenock O’Connor plays the soldier Franz, worn down by war and a doctor’s experiments, with Jade Oswald as Marie, in Michael Oakley’s production for a company of 14 actor-musicians. Few openings this autumn have split the critics so sharply. Nearly all of them admire the musicianship and many single out O’Connor or Oswald, but the book, the lyrics and the broad comedy divide them, and the verdicts run all the way from five stars to one.
The verdict: twelve reviews in, and the spread is as wide as it gets: one five-star notice, four four-star, one three-and-a-half, three three-star, one two-star and one single star, plus one outlet that publishes no rating. Among those that score it, the average is 3.3 out of 5. Almost all of them praise the 14 actor-musicians and the folk score; where they divide is over the book, the lyrics and the comedy.
What are critics saying about FRANZ & MARIE?
North West End
Reviewer: Zain Russell
Zain Russell is the production’s warmest champion, calling Brenock O’Connor exceptional as a soldier whose mind gives way under war and the doctors’ experiments.
"It cleverly weaves together folklore, war, music and madness to create something haunting and distinctive."
He finds the folk score a major highlight and the humour well balanced against the tragedy, while warning that some scenes of male violence are hard to watch.
London Box Office
Reviewer: Shehrazade Zafar-Arif
Shehrazade Zafar-Arif finds a fragmented production that is not always sure what it wants to be, but credits the 14 actor-musicians with making it work.
"the overall effect is hauntingly beautiful to behold"
She praises O’Connor’s heartbreaking Franz and Eve Polycarpou’s cackling Vashti, enjoys the indie folk score, and wishes for a stronger sense of place and a less predictable story.
Read Shehrazade Zafar-Arif’s full review at London Box Office
Read About Stuff
Read About Stuff warns that the show will polarise, and that it rewards some homework on the German expressionist theatre it draws on.
"a clever and distinctly unique new musical that, despite the source’s age, feels relevant today"
The review admires O’Connor’s frantic, anguished Franz and Christopher Nairne’s murky green lighting, finds Marie a little too rough and ready at times, and notes that the production takes a while to settle.
Stage to Page
Reviewer: Vickie
Vickie finds O’Connor’s portrayal remarkable for how long he sustains such dark material with almost no respite, and Jade Oswald’s Marie both gritty and sweet.
"this powerful portrayal of intense themes is well worth a watch"
She is less sure about the crude comic scenes, which pull against the intensity, but enjoys Bretta Gerecke’s curtained set and the large ensemble numbers.
The Reviews Hub
Reviewer: Richard Maguire
Richard Maguire likes the bleakness of the story and the cast’s skill on a long list of instruments, but finds some of the accents and comic types distracting.
"the comedy is just too flimsy and gets in the way of the dark story"
He thinks the show is on firmer ground when Michael Oakley leans into the tragedy, singles out Dr Simian’s cabaret number and Polycarpou’s songs, and finds too much raising and lowering of the curtains.
WhatsOnStage
Reviewer: Miriam Sallon
Miriam Sallon is impressed by the 14-strong actor-musician company, and by the range Rob Shepherd and Chris Broderick find in the score, from ballads to nightmarish circus numbers.
"There’s a lot to like in this new musical adaptation of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck."
Her reservations are a handful of songs that stall the plot and an eerie clownish streak that sometimes tips into the unhinged, though she grows fond of the anachronistic electric guitar.
The Spy in the Stalls
Reviewer: Jonathan Evans
Jonathan Evans finds the script and lyrics a let-down, with dialogue that sounds lifted from a soap opera and characters who never quite connect.
"…the musical numbers – delivered with passion – manage to lift it back up again"
He picks out Oswald’s solo moments, Paula James’s “Inconsolable Boy” and Polycarpou’s powerful vocals, and admires the sound design.
Musical Theatre Review
Reviewer: Effie Gray
Effie Gray enjoys the raw energy of the multi-instrumentalist cast and the ominous design, but finds the leads’ musical-theatre singing sometimes at odds with the folk accompaniment.
"Although it needs some tightening, this folk musical is a disturbing yet toe-stomping night at the theatre."
She finds some of the rhymes daft and the first act slow, but credits Oakley’s direction with a strong narrative arc.
A Young(ish) Perspective
"A folk-musical Woyzeck that stumbles through its first act before finding its voice in the second"
Reviewer: Lauren Aitken
Lauren Aitken finds the first act’s book unclear about why anything happens, and the tone caught between black comedy and political commentary.
"There’s a decent tune in there – it just takes until the second act to find it."
She calls Oswald a standout who finds defiance and pain in a thinly written Marie, rates O’Connor convincing, and thinks the whole company grows stronger as the evening goes on.
Read Lauren Aitken’s full review at A Young(ish) Perspective
First Night Magazine
"Tuneless musical misses the key in every aspect"
Reviewer: Guillermo Názara
Guillermo Názara is the fiercest dissenter by a distance. He describes an act one after which, by his account, nobody applauded the numbers, and finds the writing, the lyrics and much of the singing poor.
"There are no redeeming features in Franz & Marie other than the company members are also multi-instrumentalists."
He makes exceptions for Matthew Heywood, Paula James and Elaine Hua Jones, and suggests it could be the worst show of the year.
Rhombus Rota
Reviewer: Gonzalo
Gonzalo finds O’Connor and Oswald convey the affection and desperation at the heart of the story, with Oswald shining throughout.
"The music is one of the production’s strongest elements."
He admires Gerecke’s design and Nairne’s lighting and the use of fog, and thinks the pace could be tightened, although the songs almost always make up for it.
Production photographs by Danny Kaan.
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Neil Norman, four stars, “Mash-up of humour, horror and primitive political satire”), whose review sits behind a registration wall.
For more on the production, see our first production photographs and our guide to everything you need to know about Franz & Marie.
Franz & Marie is booking at the Charing Cross Theatre until 14 November 2026.
