Complicite

Complicite
Name	Complicite
Founded	1983
Location	London, England
Artistic director	Simon McBurney
Genre	Theatre, physical theatre, devised theatre

Complicite

Complicite is a London-based theatre company known for inventive devised performances blending physical theatre, multimedia, and narrative storytelling. Founded by a group of theatre-makers in 1983, the company developed an international reputation through collaborations with directors, actors, designers, composers and writers, mounting productions that toured to venues such as the National Theatre, Royal National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Broadway, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, and festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Avignon Festival, Vienna Festival and Spoleto Festival USA. Over decades Complicite has engaged with adaptations of works by authors like Gogol, Mikhail Bulgakov, Italo Calvino, Mark Ravenhill, Amitav Ghosh, and Geoffrey Householder while collaborating with ensembles and institutions such as Cheek by Jowl, Young Vic, The Old Vic, Gate Theatre, and university drama departments including Royal Holloway, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Central School of Speech and Drama.

History

Complicite was formed by a cohort including Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, Marcello Magni, and colleagues who had trained or worked with companies like Dario Fo's troupes, Jacques Lecoq's school, and practitioners influenced by Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski. Early tours visited venues such as BAC (Battersea Arts Centre), Tricycle Theatre, and participated in international circuits that included Biennale di Venezia presentations and appearances at the Festival d'Avignon. Key early works engaged with writers and adaptors connected to theatre movements around Commedia dell'arte, Surrealism-influenced dramatists like André Breton and modernist authors such as Franz Kafka and Federico García Lorca.

During the 1990s and 2000s Complicite expanded its profile with large-scale collaborations and co-productions involving institutions like the Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Centre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and producers connected to Arts Council England funding streams and European cultural programmes including Creative Europe. Touring extended to Asia and the Americas with seasons at venues such as Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, National Arts Centre (Canada), Teatro alla Scala, and presenting work in partnership with cultural bodies like British Council and festivals including Perth International Arts Festival.

Artistic Style and Methods

Complicite's methods foreground devised theatre practice, physical theatrics, cinematic staging, and precise movement influenced by traditions from Jacques Lecoq and practitioners such as Adam Darius and Olivier Py. Productions integrate live sound and original music composed in collaboration with artists who have worked with ensembles like BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, and composers associated with Philips Classics recordings. Visual design elements often stem from collaborations with stage designers who have credits at Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, and Sadler's Wells, drawing on filmic montage techniques seen in cinema by directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Chris Marker.

Rehearsal processes emphasize improvisation, ensemble devising, text adaptation, and dramaturgy that weds literary sources to movement vocabularies akin to work by Pina Bausch and physical theatre companies like DV8 Physical Theatre. The company has also incorporated digital projection technology, live camera feeds, and interactive lighting systems developed with technicians who have worked on productions at National Theatre Live broadcasts and installations at Tate Modern and V&A Museum.

Notable Productions

Complicite's repertoire includes acclaimed shows adapted from literary and original sources such as an adaptation of Seymour Hersh-era investigative narratives, reworkings influenced by Gogol and Bulgakov, and original pieces responding to geopolitics and migration narratives akin to works by Amitav Ghosh and Arundhati Roy. Signature productions toured to St. Ann's Warehouse, Playhouse Theatre, Ambassador Theatre Group venues, and repertory seasons at Citigroup Theatres and the Royal Exchange Theatre.

High-profile seasons included collaborations with figures familiar to international theatre circuits such as directors and writers who have worked with Julie Taymor, Tom Stoppard, Edward Bond, Caryl Churchill, and actors associated with Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre of Great Britain ensembles. Productions were presented at venues including The Shed (New York), Sydney Theatre Company, Teatr Powszechny, and curated festivals such as Lincoln Center Festival and Brooklyn Academy of Music seasons.

Key Collaborators and Personnel

Core founders and long-term personnel include Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, Marcello Magni, and ensemble members who have professional histories connected to Jacques Lecoq, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, and training institutions such as RADA and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Collaborators have included directors, dramaturgs, designers, composers and actors drawn from networks involving Richard Eyre, Nicholas Hytner, Peter Sellars, Compagnie Philippe Genty, and musicians who have worked with London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Frequent design and creative collaborators hail from art and theatre circles linked to Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, and independent companies such as Punchdrunk and The Wooster Group, with technicians and visual artists who have exhibited at Serpentine Galleries and worked on operatic productions at Metropolitan Opera.

Awards and Recognition

The company and its productions have received awards and nominations from institutions including the Laurence Olivier Awards, Tony Awards, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, Evening Standard Theatre Awards, and international prizes presented at festivals such as Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Festival d'Avignon. Individual members have been honored with appointments and distinctions such as fellowships from Royal Society of Literature, awards linked to Arts Council England, and honours in lists published by bodies like British Council cultural recognitions and civic awards including Order of the British Empire listings for contributions to theatre.

Category:Theatre companies in London