Isolation is something we have all felt at one time or another in our lives. Whether it be from friends, family, society, self or everything, isolation is a force that affects us all. Wozzeck is the story of one man experiencing this extreme force from all fronts. His place in society has excluded him from power and the riches needed to be able to not even succeed in life but just to live. This cold and fickle world forever moving around him. Using and abusing him, Wozzeck cannot keep up. He is lost within it all. Throughout his descent Wozzeck pushes his family away. Marie left hallow and alone from Wozzeck, explores what someone else might be able to give her. Much like Wozzeck, Marie is searching for some feeling of being whole. Through the rage and jealousy Wozzeck destroys the family he once had and the future he may have been able to achieve, Wozzeck tares himself apart.

These ideas of the narrative are explored throughout the set design. The downstage tracking panels carve out a slice of the world Wozzeck is forced to reside within. Not being able to move through the space as he wishes but being stuck within this place that the world has decided upon. The various landings and flown staircases create a brutalist inspired labyrinth that reflect how Wozzeck sees and experiences the world around him. Flown elevators are used throughout this piece to show the agency and power that some like the Doctor and the Captain have in this world. Being able to move how they want throughout the space reflects and reinforces Wozzeck being trapped within this world. Marie is also granted a moment of agency through her choice of seeking comfort from the Drum Major. A hidden panel slides open to reveal a bed. She is seeking shelter from the world around her. The concrete wold is cold, dark and hollow. It is harsh to everyone in it some less than others. The winding and turning nature points all paths in one direction. There is only one way for Wozzeck. Down.