Katie Mitchell, Headlong and the Barbican collaborate on the UK premiere of a new version of Miranda Rose Hall’s A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction. This innovative production, a bold experiment in eco theatre, is powered entirely by bicycles, and provides a blueprint for how we could sustainably tour theatre in a climate crisis.
US choreographer Trajal Harrell blends voguing, Japanese butoh, performance art and contemporary dance in the UK premiere of trilogy Porca Miseria, co-commissioned by the Barbican, Manchester International Festival and Dance Umbrella.
Simon McBurney directs a major new Complicité production based on Olga Tokarczuk’s novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, a Barbican co-commission
Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black returns to the Barbican with a new double bill Pioneers, featuring Will Tuckett’s Then Or Now with the poetry of Adrienne Rich, and the world premiere of Mthuthuzeli November’s By Whatever Means, a love letter to Nina Simone, combining ballet, jazz and the blues – both Barbican co-commissions.
Barbican Artistic Associate Cheek by Jowl take on Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s classic Life is a Dream as their first Spanish-language production, a UK premiere.
Rachel Mars welds a replica of the stolen gate to Dachau concentration camp in FORGE, a four-day durational performance installation about memorials and human behaviour at spaces with difficult histories.
Kakilang (formerly Chinese Arts Now) presents HOME X, a live show that mixes dance, music, gaming and deep-sensing cameras that capture 3D video. It connects performers in Hong Kong and London in real time, and audiences have the option of experiencing the production either in person from The Pit or can join online and take on a more interactive role in the metaverse.
CN Lester’s Transpose returns to The Pit, showcasing some of the UK’s most exciting trans artists, this time curated and directed by performer, activist, and musician Dani Dinger.
As previously announced, work from Belgium, the US and Canada as part of the London International Mime Festival 2023: Peeping Tom and Still Life present new work on the main stage in Triptych and FLESH, while Dorothy James & Andy Manjuck and The Old Trouts Puppet Workshop make their debuts in The Pit with Bill’s 44th and Famous Puppet Death Scenes.
Toni Racklin, Head of Theatre and Dance at the Barbican said:
“We’re really pleased to be able to share our spring 2023 programme with you today. Our multidisciplinary season features a wide array of brilliant and ground-breaking artists who are working in the areas of voguing, butoh, poetry, puppetry, welding, ballet, film, VR and gaming technology. There are also Golden Age classics and productions based on modern literary sensations. We’ve got radical blueprints that rethink how touring could become more sustainable, inventive ways of bringing two performers from different sides of the planet into the same room, and durational performance installations. It’s a truly international offer, with extraordinary work from Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, Poland, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There’s something for everyone and once again Young Barbican tickets are available for all our productions, and we’ve got benefits for Barbican Members across the season. We do hope you can join us in the new year.”
Tickets go on sale to Barbican Patrons today, to Barbican Members Plus on Thursday 6 October, Barbican Members on Friday 7 October and on general sale on Monday 10 October 2022.
Full programme information
London International Mime Festival 2023
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop – Famous Puppet Death Scenes
Tuesday 24–Saturday 28 January 2023, The Pit
Press performance: Tuesday 24 January 2023, 7.45pm
An unrelenting sequence of deaths of tiny little puppet people in this charming and slightly eccentric show from the celebrated Canadian puppet masters.
One by one this procession of short melodramas ends unhappily for its hero or heroine. With tongue-in-cheek references to the masterworks of theatre, Old Trout Puppet Workshop cut straight to the chase, taking out all of the boring bits. Prepare to weep.
The Old Trouts are a collective of artists who make puppet shows for adults, books for children, operas and films. Steeped in the world of Edward Gorey and Penny Dreadfuls, they bring artistry and dark humour to favourites including The Feverish Heart by Nordo Frot, I hate my Little Brother by Sally, and The Ballad of Edward Grue by Samuel Groanswallow.
London International Mime Festival 2023
Still Life – FLESH
Wednesday 25–Saturday 28 January 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Wednesday 25 January 2023, 7.45pm
This UK debut by rising stars of Belgium’s acclaimed contemporary theatre scene forces us to think about who we are and how much we need others.
Still Life’s FLESH is a wordless dark burlesque in four short acts. From the difficulty of a hospital visit, a sophisticated celebration party for two, an embarrassing Titanic movie VR experience to a bizarre, post-funeral family gathering in a pub.
FLESH was conceived and directed by Sophie Linsmaux and Aurelio Mergola. Still Life is a Brussels based company making playful, disruptive drama about our need for affection and recognition. This UK premiere follows an acclaimed run at the 2022 Avignon Festival.
London International Mime Festival 2023
Dorothy James & Andy Manjuck – Bill’s 44th
Tuesday 31 January–Saturday 4 February 2023, The Pit
Press performance: Tuesday 31 January 2023, 7.45pm
This poignant, puppet tragicomedy for grown-ups is a wordless spectacle about the ingenuity of the mind and having to make do for so long without the people we wished would surround us.
The streamers are hung, the punch has been poured and the cake is just begging to be eaten. Our anxious host Bill has planned his party to the last detail - choosing the perfect music and dreamy lighting and he’s worked tirelessly on his disco moves. Now all that remains is for guests to arrive. Desperate to fill his apartment with camaraderie and celebration, Bill’s imagination runs riot.
Bill's 44th was originally conceived in 2016 by Brooklyn-based puppeteer Dorothy James and artist Andy Manjuck. It features an original, recorded score and this UK premiere follows acclaimed performances across the United States.
London International Mime Festival 2023
Peeping Tom – Triptych: The missing door, The lost room and The hidden floor
Thursday 2–Sunday 5 February 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Thursday 2 February 2023, 7.45pm
Belgium’s Olivier Award-winning dance-theatre innovators return with the UK premiere of their new and most ambitious production.
Three enigmatic and seductive stories come together in a trilogy of shifting time, memory and premonition, played out in cinematic scope and atmosphere. The Missing Room brings us to a place where doors will not open; mysteries deepen further onboard a ship in The Lost Room before culminating in the watery, abandoned restaurant setting of The Hidden Floor.
Following its Mother/Father/Child series and 32 rue Vandenbranden, Peeping Tom reach new heights of imagination and physical dexterity in this work. A hit at the 2022 Venice Biennale, Triptych plunges audiences into the lives of others with extraordinary dynamism, surprising at every twist and turn.
Kakilang – HOME X
Tuesday 21–Saturday 25 February 2023, The Pit
Press performance: Wednesday 22 February 2023, 7.30pm
Dance performance meets cutting edge technology in this live show that combines theatre, music, gaming and VR technology created with artists in London and Hong Kong.
Mythological and yet futuristic, HOME X is a visually stunning virtual world that connects performers in Hong Kong and London in real-time using depth-sensing cameras that capture 3D video.
Exploring themes of roots and belonging, destruction and renewal, this ground-breaking experimental show features live music, dance and moving real-life experiences of home and migration. Audiences can discover a virtual land inhabited by magical creatures through an impressive 270-degree projection.
With an original score of live electronic music by An-Ting 安婷 in the UK and opera singer Colette Lam performing soprano in Hong Kong; live break dance by choreographers Si Rawlinson in the UK and Suen Nam in Hong Kong.
Kakilang (formerly Chinese Arts Now) are an award-winning organisation who produce work pioneering multi-disciplinary artforms from a wide spectrum of Southeast and East Asian voices.
HOME X will be performed in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin with English surtitles.
Editors please note: there is an opportunity to see Home X on tour before its Barbican run. Please contact the Barbican’s Communications team for more information.
Kakilang – HOME X: Digital Experience
Tuesday 21–Saturday 25 February 2023, Online
Lovers of digital gaming can explore the visually stunning metaverse of HOME X in the online experience that will run in parallel to live performances in the Pit theatre. Audiences can take the ultimate side quest and delve deeper into the magical environment from the comfort of their homes.
HOME X Digital is an interactive online performance that explores the meaning of home using moving real-life experiences from migrant communities. Audiences will be an integral part of the live show, contributing to the story by planting seeds, cutting trees and interacting with the live performers.
Ballet Black – Pioneers
Wednesday 8–Sunday 12 March 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Thursday 9 March 2023, 7.45pm
Now in their 21st year, Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black presents award-winning choreographers Will Tuckett and Mthuthuzeli November in Pioneers, a captivating double bill of new and original work.
Following regular sold-out runs, the acclaimed ballet company returns to our stage with this thrilling and imaginative double bill. Will Tuckett's Then Or Now, originally created in 2020, blends classical ballet, music and the poetry of Adrienne Rich to ask the question: in times like these, where do we belong?
Mthuthuzeli November’s By Whatever Means, is a love letter to musician, performer and activist, Nina Simone that combines ballet, jazz and the blues in a moving and inspiring piece of dance theatre.
Ballet Black is transforming the dance landscape by giving a platform to artists of Black and Asian descent as well as to new and established choreographic voices whose unexpected stories and themes come from the heart to resonate with modern audiences.
Complicité/Simon McBurney – Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Wednesday 15 March–Saturday 1 April 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Monday 20 March 2023, 7.45pm
World-renowned company Complicité return to the Barbican stage with a brand-new production based on Nobel prize-winning writer Olga Tokarczuk’s stunning novel, directed by Simon McBurney.
In the bleak Polish midwinter, men in an isolated village are being murdered. The story unfolds through the eyes of local woman Janina, an ex-engineer, environmentalist, amateur astronomer and enthusiastic translator of William Blake. As she takes on the task of identifying the suspect in this deeply captivating mystery, Janina finds herself engaged in fierce resistance against the injustices around her. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is a playful and profound work that asks us to consider what it means to live in harmony with the world around us, our place in the ecosystem, and the perilous consequences we all face if our connection to the natural world is lost.
Tokarczuk’s darkly comic, anarchic whodunnit, shortlisted for the 2019 International Booker Prize, caused an uproar in its native Poland upon publication due to its defiant attack on authoritarian structures.
Cheek by Jowl – Life is a Dream (La vida es sueño)
Thursday 13–Sunday 16 April 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Thursday 13 April 2023, 7,45pm
Cheek by Jowl take on Calderón’s astonishing play about free will, fate and the mystery of life in this major new production of the Spanish classic.
A prince chained in a mountain. A young woman disguised as a man in search of vengeance. Revolution, love, murder – but is the real truly real, or is it all just a dream? As one of Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s best-known and most studied works, Life is a Dream was listed as one of the 40 greatest plays of all time in The Independent.
Created by director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod, this is Cheek by Jowl’s first Spanish-language production, performed by an ensemble of Spanish actors. This acclaimed company is an Artistic Associate of the Barbican.
Life is a Dream (La vida es sueño) is performed in Spanish with English surtitles
Editors please note: there is an opportunity to see Life is a Dream on tour in Spain before its Barbican run. Please contact the Barbican’s press team for more information.
Headlong/Katie Mitchell/Barbican – A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction
Wednesday 26–Saturday 29 April 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Thursday 27 April 2023, 7.45pm
Miranda Rose Hall’s darkly funny, life-affirming show is directed by Katie Mitchell and designed by Moi Tran in a bold experiment in eco theatre-making; created with Headlong, one of the UK’s leading touring companies.
Naomi is part of a theatre company who have made a play especially for you, those living through extinction, but the actors haven’t shown up yet. In the meantime, Naomi has a plan.
This one woman show takes us on a life-changing journey to confront the urgent ecological disaster that is unfolding around us. Part ritual, part battle cry, and powered entirely by bicycles, this fiercely feminist production is a moving exploration of what it means to be human in this era of man-made extinction.
Headlong are excited to present an innovative touring model conceived by Katie Mitchell and developed with the support of Jérôme Bel and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne. The play tours whilst the people and materials do not. Sharing learning from Europe, the Barbican hosts the beginning of this journey, the first of its kind in the UK.
In each city a blueprint of this show will be uniquely brought to life by local teams, in a daring zero travel tour. It forms part of a ground-breaking international experiment in reimagining theatre in a climate crisis.
This is Headlong’s second major touring experiment. They are also the company behind Signal Fires, a national festival during the pandemic that saw over forty touring companies come together for the first time to tour a single idea, at a time when traditional touring was not possible. Together with Katie Mitchell, they continue to rethink theatre making in a time of crisis.
Internationally renowned artist Mitchell has made six pieces about climate change. Both Director and Writer share an artistic and social awareness about the intersection between feminism and eco-activism.
Mitchell is drawing on and furthering her work on the Sustainable Theatre? project with this production and tour, which she originally conceived with the support of the French choreographer Jérôme Bel and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne. The three joined forces to imagine a theatre experiment of international scope that would be ecological both in its content and in its production process. Headlong and Barbican are thrilled to be joining this collaboration and leading in the UK. Mitchell’s previous work with the Barbican includes The Malady of Death (La Maladie de la mort) (2018), The Forbidden Zone (2016), and Fräulein Julie (2013).
Trajal Harrell – Porca Miseria
Friday 12–Sunday 14 May 2023, Barbican Theatre
Press performance: Friday 12 May 2023, 6.15pm
Voguing, Japanese butoh, ancient Greek theatre, performance art and contemporary dance – American choreographer Trajal Harrell conjures up an elegant, subtle vocabulary from a wide range of genres.
This major new trilogy is based on the stories and battles of three very different, but equally strong women: Maggie from Tennessee's Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the African-American choreographer and activist Katherine Dunham, and the Greek mythological Medea. Through them Harrell explores issues of identity, gender, sexuality and power in a compelling way, breaking down the boundaries between dance, theatre, cinema and the visual arts.
Renowned American choreographer Trajal Harrell returns to the Barbican following Hoochie Koochie in 2017. Porca Miseria premiered at Holland Festival in June 2022 where it received critical acclaim.
Rachel Mars – FORGE
Wednesday 17–Saturday 20 May 2023, The Pit
Press performance: Times vary, please contact the Barbican Communications team to book your timeslot
A powerful durational installation with on stage metal work exploring who memorials are for and what happens to places where traumatic events take place. In 2014 the 100kg iron 'welcome' gate was stolen from Dachau concentration camp. A local blacksmith forged a replica. It was exactly like the original. Almost.
Over four days artist Rachel Mars invites you to bear witness as she welds together another copy of the gate. This impactful durational performance installation asks questions about memorials and tackles what it is to preserve a site of collective trauma.
Sound Designer Dinah Mullen creates a live soundtrack, orchestrating an atmospheric sound-world that includes previously recorded metal work, bespoke compositions and a library of Memorial Silences.
Rachel Mars is a performance maker whose smart-witted, intricate work - rooted in Queerness and complex Jewishness - interweaves personal reflection with universal questions. FORGE was developed as part of the Barbican Open Lab programme.
FORGE also features three associated public conversations focussing on personal, local and national/international issues of memorial. Full details will be released soon.
CN Lester – Transpose BURN: Pit Party
Thursday 16–Saturday 17 June 2023, The Pit
Press performance: Thursday 16 June 2023, 7.45pm
Acclaimed performer and musician Dani Dinger curates the latest edition of this evening of performance and live music from some of the UK’s most exciting trans artists.
Taking place in Pride month, this year’s Pit Party line-up features explosive performances from artists including activist Erkan Affan’s MOU716 collective, composer and sound manipulator Nneka Cummins, anarchist poet Kell Farshéa and subversive drag artist i-Gemini.
Transpose was founded by artistic director CN Lester in 2011 and has spent over a decade celebrating, promoting, and platforming the wide-ranging talents of the UK trans community. This edition is curated and directed by performer, activist, and musician Dani Dinger and will explore the building blocks of a shared culture, trans identities and offers a direct challenge to the status quo. In the words of CN, it’s a space in which ‘we can show you our vulnerabilities, our strengths and – most of all – our authenticity’.
Notes to Editors
Kakilang, formerly known as Chinese Arts Now (CAN) rebranded in September 2022. Kakilang produces and presents world-class art, and pioneers multi-disciplinary artforms from a wide spectrum of Southeast and East Asian voices. Kakilang translates as ‘one of us’ in Hokkien. Used in many places across East and Southeast Asia, it evokes kinship and affinity. Hokkien is a group of Minnanhua 閩南語 / Ban5-lam5-oe7 dialects, “the speech south of the Min river”, and is spoken by slightly over 46 million people.
Fluid in its format, the Barbican’s Pit Parties invite a guest artist, producer or organisation to curate a programme of work by multiple artists that interest them, and offers time for audiences and artists to socially interact in a relaxed environment. The inaugural Pit Party took place in 2016, curated by nitroBEAT. Since then the Barbican has presented Pit Parties in collaboration with Touretteshero, Studio 3 Arts, Transform Festival, Inua Ellams, Jamie Hale, Transpose and The PappyShow.
ENDS
Press information
For more information, please contact:
Freddie Todd Fordham, Acting Communications Manager for Theatre and Dance, freddie.todd-fordham@barbican.org.uk / 020 7382 7399
Sumayyah Sheikh, Communications Intern for Theatre and Dance & Cinema, sumayyah.sheikh@barbican.org.uk
From Wednesday 12 October: Anna Arthur, PR Consultant: anna@annaarthurpr.com / 07973 264 373
For enquiries relating to Kakilang: Diana Whitehead, diana@fourthwallpr.com / 07939 149 887
For enquiries relating to Ballet Black: John Cotton, john.cotton@jcapr.co.uk
For enquiries relating to Complicité and Headlong: Kate Hassell, kate@breadandbutterpr.uk / 07921 264 564
For enquiries relating to Cheek by Jowl, Kate Morley PR, kate@katemorleypr.com or 0207 299 4300 or georgie@katemorleypr.com
Full listings information
Famous Puppet Death Scenes
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
London International Mime Fest 2023
Canada
Co-Artistic Directors: Pete Balkwill, Pityu Kenderes, Judd Palmer
Creative Facilitator: Amelia Marie Newbert
General Manager: Bob Davis
Associate Producer: Grant Burns
Sound Design by Mike Rinaldi
Costume Design by Jen Gareau
Lighting Design by Amelia Marie Newbert
Stage Management by Mitchell Craib
Set Build by Riley Miljan and Tech Art Custom Creations
Performed by Louisa Ashton, Teele Ustaani, Aya Nakamura
Tue 24–Sat 28 Jan 2023 (6 performances)
The Pit
7.45pm; 2.30pm on Sat 28 Jan 2023
1 hour 10 mins/no interval
Age guidance: 14+ (contains scenes of violence, suicide, flashing lights and puppet nudity)
£18 plus booking fee; £5 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Tue 24 Jan 2023, 7.45pm
Post-show talk hosted by Sue Buckmaster: (BSL-interpreted by Jacqui Beckford): Wed 25 Jan 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Presented by the Barbican in association with the London International Mime Festival
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop is supported by Canada Council for the Arts; Alberta Foundation for the Arts; Calgary Arts Development; The Calgary Foundation
FLESH
Still Life
London International Mime Festival 2023
Belgium
With Muriel Legrand, Sophie Linsmaux, Aurelio Mergola & Jonas Wertz
Conceived and Directed by Sophie Linsmaux and Aurelio Mergola
Scenario: Sophie Linsmaux, Aurelio Mergola, Thomas van Zuylen
Spatial installation: Sophie Leso
Set Design by Aurélie Deloche assisted by Rudi Bovy, Sophie Hazebrouck
Accessories by Noémie Vanheste
Costumes by Camille Collin
Lighting by Guillaume Toussaint Fromentin
Sound by Eric Ronsse
Voice-over by Stéphane Pirard
Masks and puppets by Joachim Jannin
Set design trainee: Farouk Abdoulaye
Seamstress: Cinzia Derom
Technical Direction by Nicolas Olivier
General assistant: Sophie Jallet
International Development and Management by Aurora Nova - Wolfgang Hoffmann
Stage management: Rudi Bovy & Charlotte Persoons
Wed 25–Sat 28 Jan 2023 (4 performances)
Barbican Theatre
7.45pm
1 hour 20 minutes/no interval
Age guidance: 14+ (with adult themes, including death and surgery)
From £16 plus booking fee; £10 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Wed 25 Jan 2023, 7.45pm
BSL-interpreted performance (Martin Fox Roberts): Thu 26 Jan 2023, 7.45pm
Post-show talk (BSL-interpreted by Martin Fox Roberts): Thu 26 Jan 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Presented by the Barbican in association with the London International Mime Festival
Executive producer: Théâtre Les Tanneurs (Brussels)
Co-produced by Centre culturel de Huy (Belgium); Kinneksbond Centre culturel Mamer (Luxembourg); La Coop asbl & Shelter Prod (Brussels)
With the support of the Ministry of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Theatre Department, Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, taxshelter.be, ING tax-shelter of the Belgian federal government, Wallonia Brussels Cultural Centre
Created with the help of the Centre des Arts scéniques (Mons), Bloom Project (Brussels), Festival de Liège, du 140 (Brussels)
Bill’s 44th
Dorothy James & Andy Manjuck
London International Mime Festival 2023
USA
Co-creator & Puppeteer: Andy Manjuck
Co-creator & Puppeteer: Dorothy James
Creative Collaborator & Puppeteer: Jon Riddleberger
Composed by Eamon Fogarty
Tue 31 Jan–Sat 4 Feb 2023 (6 performances)
The Pit
7.45pm; also 2.30pm on Sat 4 Feb 2023
55 mins/no interval
Age guidance: 14+ (involves direct audience contact with latex balloons and use of water-based haze. References to alcohol consumption and marijuana smoking)
£18 plus booking fee; £5 Young Barbican
Press performance: Tue 31 Jan 2023, 7.45pm
Post show talk (BSL-interpreted by Martin Fox Roberts): Wed 1 Feb 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Presented by the Barbican in association with London International Mime Festival
This engagement is supported in part by Mid Atlantic Arts through USArtists International, a program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding
Made possible through the support from Cheryl Henson and The Jim Henson Foundation.
With thanks to The Jim Henson Foundation, Cheryl Henson, St. Ann's Warehouse, the New York State Puppet Festival, and Dixon Place
Triptych: The missing door, The lost room and The hidden floor
Peeping Tom
London International Mime Festival 2023
Belgium
Concept and Direction by Gabriela Carrizo and Franck Chartier
Performed by Konan Dayot, Fons Dhossche, Lauren Langlois, Panos Malactos, Alejandro Moya, Fanny Sage, Eliana Stragapede, Wan-Lun Yu
Artistic Assistance by Thomas Michaux
Sound Dramaturgy by Raphaëlle Latini
Sound Composition and arrangements by Raphaëlle Latini, Ismaël Colombani, Annalena Fröhlich, Louis-Clément Da Costa, Eurudike De Beul
Lighting Design by Tom Visser
Set Design by Gabriela Carrizo, Justine Bougerol
Costume Design by Seoljin Kim, Yichun Liu, Louis-Clément Da Costa
Confection Costumes by Sara van Meer, Lulu Tikovsky, Wu Bingyan (internship)
Technical Coordination by Giuliana Rienzi
Technical Engineers Bram Geldhof, Ilias Johri (lights), Jonas Castelijns (sound)
Stage Management Thomas Dobuszkes (stage manager), Clement Michaux, Kato Stevens (stage assistants)
Production Interns Lisa Gunstone, Robin Appels
Tour manager Amaury Vanderborght
Production Manager Helena Casas
Communication Manager Sébastien Parizel
Company Manager Veerle Mans
Thu 2–Sun 5 Feb 2023 (4 performances)
Barbican Theatre
7.45pm; 3pm on Sun 5 Feb
2 hours and 5 minutes/including a pause and an interval
Age guidance: 14+ (contains nudity, blood, and flashing lights)
From £16 plus booking fee; £10 Young Barbican
Press performance: Thu 2 Feb 2023, 7.45pm
Post show talk hosted by Sanjoy Roy (BSL-interpreted by Jacqui Beckford): Fri 3 Feb 2023, 7.45pm
Presented by the Barbican in association with the London International Mime Festival
Produced by Peeping Tom
Co-produced by Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Lille, Tanz Köln, Göteborg Dance and Theatre Festival, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, deSingel Antwerp, GREC Festival de Barcelona, Festival Aperto / Fondazione I Teatri (Reggio Emilia), Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino – _Teatro Nazionale (Turin), Dampfzentrale Bern, Oriente Occidente Dance Festival (Rovereto)
Triptych: The missing door, The lost room and The hidden floor, was created with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government
HOME X
Kakilang
UK/Hong Kong
Conceived by An-Ting Chang, Ian Gallagher and Donald Shek
Directed and Composed by An-Ting Chang
Creative Technologist: Ian Gallagher
3D Design by Donald Shek
Experience Design by Henry Lam
Costume Design by Christine Ting - Huan 挺歡 Urquhart
Choreographers/Dancers: Si Rawlinson (UK), Suen Nam (HK)
Soprano: Colette Wing Wing Lam
Hong Kong Director: Dino Fung
Hong Kong Producers: Henry Lam, Fo Liu
Game Developers: Ian Gallagher (lead), Toshi Wong, Logan Lee
Dramaturg: Daniel York Loh
Actor Consultant: Mia Foo
Tue 21–Sat 25 Feb 2023 (7 performances)
The Pit
7.30pm, 2pm on Thu 23 Feb and Sat 25 Feb 2023
45 minutes/no interval
Age guidance: 10+
£16 plus booking fee; £5 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Wed 22 Feb 2023, 7.30pm
BSL-interpreted performance: Thu 23 Feb 2023, 7.30pm
HOME X: digital experience
This online experience runs in parallel to live in-person performances of HOME X. This is an interactive experience rather than a streamed performance. Access to the HOME X digital world is via a laptop or desktop with a pre-installed app. Mobile phone access is not available
£6, no booking fee; £3 Young Barbican tickets available
Please contact the Barbican Communications department to book a ticket to the digital experience
Presented by the Barbican
HOME X is co-produced by Kakilang (formerly Chinese Arts Now) and their Hong Kong partner, Don't Believe in Style and co-commissioned by Cambridge Junction, Oxford Contemporary Music and York Theatre Royal. The work is supported by StoryFutures and The Space, originally commissioned by British Council Hong Kong
Pioneers
Ballet Black
UK
Then Or Now:
Choreographed by William Tuckett
Lighting by David Plater
Costume Design by Yukiko Tsukamoto
Poetry by Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)
Music: Then Or Now - Variations on a theme by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Music performed by Daniel Pioro
Poetry recordings: Hafsah Bashir, Natasha Gordon & Michael Shaeffer
Dancers: José Alves, Isabela Coracy, Alexander Fadayiro, Taraja Hudson, Sayaka Ichikawa, Rosanna Lindsey, Mthuthuzeli November, Helga Paris-Morales, Ebony Thomas
By Whatever Means:
Choreographed by Mthuthuzeli November
Lighting by David Plater
Costume Design by Jessica Cabassa
Composers: Mandisi Dyantyis, Mthuthuzeli November, Nina Simone (1954-2002)
Featuring the voices of the Zolani Youth Choir
Dancers: José Alves, Isabela Coracy, Alexander Fadayiro, Taraja Hudson, Sayaka Ichikawa, Rosanna Lindsey, Helga Paris-Morales, Ebony Thomas
Wed 8–Sun 12 Mar 2023 (5 performances)
Barbican Theatre
7.45pm; 3pm only on Sun 12 Mar 2023
1 hour 30 minutes including an interval
Age guidance: 7+
From £16 plus booking fee; £10 Young Barbican tickets available
Ballet Black Open Rehearsal Members’ Event: Fri 20 Jan 2023, 6pm, The Pit
Press performance: Thu 9 Mar 2023, 7.45pm
Post-show talk: Fri 10 Mar 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Presented and co-commissioned by the Barbican
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
based on the novel by Olga Tokarczuk
Complicité
UK/Poland
Directed by Simon McBurney
Set and Costume Design by Rae Smith
Lighting Design by Paule Constable
Sound Design by Christopher Shutt
Video Design by Dick Straker
Additional Direction Kirsty Housley
Dramaturgy by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and Laurence Cook
Original novel translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Wed 15 Mar–Sat 1 Apr 2023 (22 performances)
Barbican Theatre
7.45pm; also 2.30pm on Thu 16, Sat 18, Thu 23, Sat 25, Thu 30 Mar and Sat 1 Apr 2023; no performances on Sundays
Approx 2 hours
Age guidance: 14+
From £16 plus booking fee; £15 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Mon 20 Mar 2023, 7.45pm
Post-show talk (The Limits and Ethics of Activism): Wed 22 Mar 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Post-show (matinee performance) talk: Thu 23 Mar 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Captioned performance: Sat 25 Mar 2023, 2.30pm
Polish-surtitled performance: Tue 28 Mar 2023, 7.45pm
Audio-described performance and Touch Tour: Thu 30 Mar 2023, 7.45pm
A Complicité co-production with the Barbican, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Bristol Old Vic, Comédie de Genève, Holland Festival, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, L'Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, The Lowry, The National Theatre of Iceland, Oxford Playhouse, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen and Theatre Royal Plymouth
Presented by the Barbican
Life is a Dream (La vida es sueño)
by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Cheek by Jowl
UK/Spain
Directed by Declan Donnellan
Design by Nick Ormerod
Lighting by Ganecha Gil
Sound Design and Composition by Fernando Epelde
Movement Director Amaya Galeote
Assistant Director Josete Corral
Assistant Designer Alessio Meloni
Dramaturgy Advisor Pedro Víllora
Costume Assistant Elena Colmenar
Sound Assistant Gastón Horischnik
Lighting Assistant Javier Hernandez
Interpreter Juan Ollero
Publicity Design by Javier Naval
Executive Producer (for LAZONA): Miguel Cuerdo
Company Manager (for LAZONA): Elisa Fernández
Performed by Ernesto Arias, Prince Ezeanyim, David Luque, Manuel Moya, Rebeca Matellán, Alfredo Noval, Goizalde Núñez, Antonio Prieto, and Irene Serrano
Thu 13–Sun 16 Apr 2023 (5 performances)
Barbican Theatre
7.45pm; also 2.30pm on Sat 15 Apr; 2.30pm only on Sun 16 Apr 2023
Approx 2 hours/no interval
Age guidance: 16+ (contains adult themes and nudity)
From £16 plus booking fee; £15 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Thu 13 Apr 2023, 7.45pm
Pre-show members’ talk: Fri 14 Apr 2023, 6pm; Fountain Room
Presented by the Barbican.
Co-produced by Cheek by Jowl, Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico (CNTC Madrid) and LAZONA; in collaboration with the Barbican, London and Scène Nationale d’Albi, France
Barbican presentation generously supported by The Polonsky Foundation
A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction
Headlong/Katie Mitchell/Barbican
UK
Written by Miranda Rose Hall
Directed by Katie Mitchell
Designed by Moi Tran
Wed 26–Sat 29 Apr 2023 (5 performances)
Barbican Theatre
7.45pm; also 2.30pm on Sat 29 Apr 2023
Approx. 1 hour 20 minutes/no interval
Age guidance: 14+
From £16 plus booking fee; £15 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Thu 27 Apr 2023, 7.45pm
Co-produced by Headlong and the Barbican.
The original production of “A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction” directed by Katie Mitchell was created at the Theatre Vidy-Lausanne as part of the project “Sustainable Theatre ?”, conceived by Katie Mitchell, Jérôme Bel and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, with the collaboration of the Competence Centre in Sustainability of the University of Lausanne, co-produced by STAGES - Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift (NTGent - Théâtre de Liège - National Theatre of Croatia in Zagreb - MC93, Maison de la culture de Seine-Saint-Denis - Trafo House of Contemporary Arts - Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Teatro d'Europa - Lithuanian National Drama Theatre - Teatro Nacional D. Maria II - Maribor Slovene National Theatre - The Royal Dramatic Theatre, Dramaten, Stockholm - National Theater & Concert Hall, Taipei) and co-funded by the European Union. “Sustainable Theatre ?” includes two shows and a workshop touring in the form of scripts recreated locally.
Porca Miseria
Trajal Harrell
USA
Direction, Choreography, Costume Design & Sound Design by Trajal Harrell
Set Design by Erik Flatmo & Trajal Harrell
Lighting Design by Stéfane Perraud
Director’s Assistant: Lennart Boyd Schürmann
Dramaturgy by Katinka Deecke, Sara Jansen, Debra Levine
Production Manager: Steve Ward
Sound by Melvyn Coote
Production Assistant: Camille Roduit
Producer: Axel Satgé
Wardrobe by Sally Heard
Stage Manager: Zoe Hunn
Deathbed performed by Trajal Harrell, Titilayo Adebayo, Frances Chiaverini, Challenge Gumbodete, Josh Johnson, Christopher Matthews, Nasheeka Nedsreal, Perle Palombe, Dila Watten Raworth, Songhay Toldon, Ondrej Vidlar
O Medea performed by Titilayo Adebayo, Trajal Harrell, Maria Ferreira Silva, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Ondrej Vidlar
Maggie the Cat performed by Trajal Harrell, Titilayo Adebayo, Stephanie Amurao, Helan Boyd Auerbach, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Challenge Gumbodete, Christopher Matthews, Nasheeka Nedsreal, Perle Palombe, Songhay Toldon, Ondrej Vidlar
Fri 12–Sun 14 May 2023 (3 performances)
Barbican Theatre
6.15pm
Running Times: 3 hours 45 minutes/including a one-hour interval
Age guidance: 14+
£35 plus booking fee; £10 Young Barbican tickets available
Press performance: Fri 12 May 2023, 6.15pm
Presented by the Barbican
Produced by Manchester International Festival
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Schauspielhaus Zürich, ONASSIS STEGI, Kampnagel (Hamburg), Holland Festival, the Barbican and Dance Umbrella, NYU Skirball, Berliner Festspiele and The Arts Centre at NYU Abu Dhabi
FORGE
Rachel Mars
UK
Conceived and Presented by Rachel Mars
Dramaturg and Co-director: Wendy Hubbard
Sound by Dinah Mullen
Designer by Naomi Kuyck-Cohen
Metal Fabricator and Mentor Jeni Cairns
Production Manager Helen Mugridge
Produced by Claire Summerfield at Tandem Works
Rabbinical / Judaism Consultancy: Jacqueline Nicholls and Rabbi Lev Taylor
Development Mentors Karen Sherman and Helen Paris
El Malei Rachamim sung Rachel Weston
Project Photographers JMA Photography and Claire Haigh
Publication design Villalba Studio
Wed 17–Sat 20 May 2023 (25 performance slots)
The Pit
6pm, 6.45pm, 7.30pm, 8.15pm on Wed 17 May; 4pm, 4.45pm, 5.30pm. 6.15pm, 7pm, 7.45pm on Thu 18 and Fri 19 May; 12pm, 12.45pm, 1.30pm, 2.15pm, 4pm, 4.45pm, 5.30pm, 6.15pm and 7pm on Sat 20 May 2023
This is a durational performance; audiences should arrive at their booked entry time and are welcome to stay as long as they like
Age guidance: 16+ (The installation is linked to themes of genocide and the Holocaust. Any references are thematic only and the installation contains no direct imagery)
£12 plus booking fee; £5 Young Barbican tickets available
Please contact the Barbican Communications team to book press tickets
FORGE also features three associated public conversations focussing on personal, local and national/international issues of memorial. Full details will be released soon.
Commissioned by the Barbican, Transform, Cambridge Junction with support from the Stobbs New Ideas Fund.
Using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. With support from Chapter Arts Centre, Horizon: Performance Made in England, Metal Culture, MGCFutures and Asylum Arts. Originally developed through the Barbican Open Lab programme. First performed at Transform Festival, Leeds 2022
Transpose BURN: Pit Party
CN Lester
UK
Curated and Directed by Dani Dinger
Performed by Erkan Affan, Nneka Cummins, Kell Farshéa, and i-Gemini
Thu 15–Sat 18 Jun 2023 (4 performances)
The Pit
7.45pm; also 2.30pm on Sat 17 Jun 2023
1 hour 30 minutes/no interval
Age guidance: 14+
£18 plus booking fee
Press performance: Thu 15 Jun 2023, 7.45pm
All performances are Relaxed and Audio Described
BSL-interpreted and captioned performance: Fri 16 Jun 2023, 7.45pm
Post-show talk (BSL-interpreted): Fri 16 Jun 2023 (free to same-day ticket holders)
Presented by the Barbican
