Theatre de Complicite

Theatre de Complicite
Name	Theatre de Complicite
Formed	1983
Location	London
Genre	Physical theatre
Artistic director	Simon McBurney

Theatre de Complicite is a London-based theatre company founded in 1983 by a collective of actors and directors that gained international renown for inventive physical theatre, interdisciplinary collaboration, and adaptations of literature. The company became associated with a series of landmark productions that toured globally, received major awards, and influenced contemporary performing arts practice across Europe, North America, and Asia.

History

The company was established in the early 1980s alongside the rise of experimental ensembles in London such as Royal Court Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre, National Theatre, Bush Theatre, and Globe Theatre and emerged from networks including Royal Shakespeare Company, Cirque du Soleil-inspired practitioners, and ensemble founders linked to institutions like Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and Central School of Speech and Drama. Early development intersected with festivals and venues including Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Battersea Arts Centre, Old Vic Theatre, Manchester International Festival, and collaborations with companies such as Complicité-adjacent peers and international troupes appearing at Avignon Festival and Festival d'Automne à Paris. During the 1990s the company consolidated a reputation through productions staged at Royal Court Theatre, Young Vic, and international presenters including Brooklyn Academy of Music, Schubert Theatre, Sydney Opera House, and Tokyo International Arts Festival. Institutional recognition included awards from bodies like Laurence Olivier Awards, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, and invitations to cultural programs by ministries and arts councils in countries such as France, Germany, United States, Australia, Japan, and Canada.

Artistic Approach and Methods

The ensemble developed techniques resonant with practitioners including Jerzy Grotowski, Antonin Artaud, Judith Malina, The Living Theatre, Peter Brook, Giles Havergal, and Ellen Stewart while integrating influences from choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, and Martha Graham. Their method emphasizes physical storytelling, devised theatre, and interdisciplinary design, drawing on collaborators from mime-related schools, clowning traditions, and devising practices prominent at institutions like La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Process often involved adaptations of literary works by authors such as Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino, Vladimir Nabokov, David Grossman, Michael Ondaatje, and José Saramago, and employed dramaturgs and directors trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Visual and sound design approaches referenced innovators like Robert Wilson, John Cage, Brian Eno, and designers associated with National Theatre Live broadcasts and installations at venues such as Barbican Centre.

Major Productions

Notable stagings included adaptations and original works that toured to festivals and theatres like Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Avignon Festival, Lincoln Center, Sadler's Wells, Teatro alla Scala, Le Théâtre du Châtelet, The Public Theater, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Key productions often referenced literary source texts by Ismail Kadare, Charles Dickens, Daniel Defoe, Haruki Murakami, Salman Rushdie, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov, Samuel Beckett, and William Shakespeare in devised frameworks presented at venues such as Globe Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company spaces. Productions received critical attention in newspapers and journals like The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Die Zeit, The Daily Telegraph, and The Washington Post and were profiled on cultural programs including BBC Four and Arte.

Key Collaborators and Personnel

Founders and long-term leaders worked with a wide network of artists including directors and actors trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Central School of Speech and Drama, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and collaborated with designers and composers associated with Royal Opera House, English National Opera, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and avant-garde labels. Collaborators included stage directors and practitioners linked to Simon McBurney-led projects, associate artists from Young Vic, guest directors from Comédie-Française, and movement coaches with pedigree from Sheffield Theatres and École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. The company’s ensembles featured actors who later worked with National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Manchester International Festival, Donmar Warehouse, and Almeida Theatre, and designers who contributed to film and television projects for Working Title Films, BBC Television, Channel 4, and streaming series produced by Netflix and HBO.

Reception and Impact

Critical reception spanned prestigious awards and commentary in outlets like The New Yorker, The Times, Spectator, Time Out London, Variety, and specialist journals such as Theatre Journal and Performance Research. Scholars at universities including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Goldsmiths, University of London, University of California, Berkeley, New York University, and University of Warwick have analyzed the company’s methods alongside contemporaries such as Forced Entertainment, Frantic Assembly, and Compagnie Philippe Genty, while cultural policymakers from bodies like Arts Council England and British Council cited the ensemble in international cultural diplomacy initiatives with partners in France, India, China, and Brazil. The company’s influence is visible in contemporary devising ensembles at institutions such as Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and in curricula at Central School of Speech and Drama.

International Tours and Residencies

Tours and residencies brought the company to presenters and festivals including Lincoln Center Festival, Sydney Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, BAM Next Wave Festival, Avignon Festival, Festival d'Automne à Paris, Vienna Festival, Seoul Performing Arts Festival, São Paulo International Theatre Festival, and venues like Sadler's Wells, Barbican Centre, National Theatre, Kennedy Center, Hong Kong Arts Centre, and Shanghai Grand Theatre. Residencies occurred at institutions such as Harvard University, Yale School of Drama, Royal Holloway, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics-adjacent programs, and research partnerships with centers like Wellcome Trust and creative labs funded by European Commission cultural programs. The ensemble’s international footprint included collaborations with national companies such as Compañía Nacional de Teatro, State Theatre of Singapore, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science-linked arts initiatives, and co-productions with Teatro Nacional, Deutsche Schauspielhaus, and regional festivals across Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania.

Category:Theatre companies in London