A comment on...Complicite

Written by: Nikki | 4 November, 2008 | 0 Comments | Make A Comment | Share on Facebook

In making a new piece it is always interesting to immerse yourself in others' work. This should not only help to inspire - we hope! - but also to help us think about why and how a production or piece of work is successful ... or not. The hope is to find works full of rigour and intelligence, communicated in an exquisite manner.

And A Disappearing Number, by Complicite, is exactly that.

Complicite describe the show as:
Simultaneously a narrative and an enquiry, the production crosses three continents and several histories, to weave a provocative theatrical pattern about our relentless compulsion to understand.

Sounds like fun, until you realise that the show tells its story through mathematics. Yes, you heard that correctly - mathematics. And while there are maths buffs out there, they are not often to be found in theatres, and certainly not on stage. And yet this tale of infinity, mathematics and beauty served to deliver a captivating, informative and highly professional production - another success for the company under director Simon McBurney.

And so what will I take away from the production? What will I hope to inject into our next piece of work? It would be great to deliver a slice of excellence, as Complicite has achieved, through a detailed and motivated creative process, as well as a successful collaboration process.

When describing the process of creating a work, McBurney says:

"Over the time that I have been working with Complicite, what happens in the rehearsal room has changed enormously, yet certain elements are always present. The constant fooling around; the immense amount of chaos; pleasure as well as a kind of turbulent forward momentum. Nothing is off limits apart from not turning up ..."

Click here to book for their next production Shun-kin at the Barbican in 2009 - certain to be well worth a watch!

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