10 SHOWS FOR FEBRUARY 2012
Improbable
2 - 25 February 2012
The Pit, Barbican, London
Improbable latest and much anticipated work. Advertised as ‘Featuring a lush score of bass fiddle, gin parlour piano, metronome and bells, this dark but hilarious show is performed on a gloriously theatrical wood-panelled set’ – hard not to think of ‘Shockheaded Peter’.
Heiner Goebbels
14 – 19 Feb
Theatre Bouffes du Nord, Paris
A chance to see Heiner Goebbels magnificent Max Black in the elegantly crumbling surrounds of the Bouffes du Nord. The show should look amazing in this theatre.
25 – 27 Feb,
Bethnal Green,
Not a show as such, but a lively and increasingly important forum for theatre in the UK and beyond.
“BIOPHILLIA” NEW YORK RESIDENCY & EDUCATION SERIES
Björk
Björk and The Creators Project stage a 10-night New York residency split between the New York Hall of Science in Queens and Roseland Ballroom this February. The series of live performances will mark the Stateside-debut of her critically acclaimed Biophilia live show, an intense and intricately crafted spectacle that explores the inherent link between humans and living systems, nature and technology.
February 3 New York Hall of Science Queens, NY
February 6 New York Hall of Science Queens, NY
February 9 New York Hall of Science Queens, NY
February 12 New York Hall of Science Queens, NY
February 15 New York Hall of Science Queens, NY
February 18 New York Hall of Science Queens, NY
February 22 Roseland Ballroom New York, NY
February 25 Roseland Ballroom New York, NY
February 28 Roseland Ballroom New York, NY
March 2 Roseland Ballroom New York, NY
By Sarah Kane
TR Warszawa
22 – 25 Feb
Drama Theatre, HK Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong
Grzegorz Jarzyna’s striking production of Sarah Kane’s harrowing meditation on the darkest minute of the night visits the Hong Kong Festival
LA NUIT JUSTE AVANT LES FORETS
by Bernard-Marie Koltes
Directed by Patrice Chereau Thierry Theiu Niang
Centre Dramatique National, Orleans, France
15 – 16 Feb
The remarkable Romain Duris stars in Patrice Chereau’s stripped back staging of Koltes’ bleak monologue.
MAU
29 Feb – 1 March
St. James Theatre, Wellington, New Zealand
Lemi Ponifasio’s provocative dance work finally returns home for its New Zealand premiere at the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
Teatro de los Sentidos
Directed by Enrique Vargas
10 Feb – 3 March
Enrique Vargas’ laberinths pre-dated the Punchdrunks of this world by over a decade. Interesting chance to see how this early work is holding up. A ‘one person at a time’ navigation through sound, smell, taste, touch and feel.
Camille Boitel Companie Si par hazard
Scene Nationale d’Orleans, France
9 February 2012
The hit of the London Mime Festival moves onto a French tour.
by Simon Stephen’s
directed by Katie Mitchell
Hampstead Theatre, London
18 Jan – 25 Feb
Far from perfect but a lot to admire in Katie Mitchell’s slick production of Simon Stephen’s riff on Jarry’s Ubu Roi and the tribunal on crimes against humanity.
10 SHOWS FOR JANUARY 2012
Surprisingly busy January around the traps. As well as the handful of suggestions this is the month of Under the Radar and Coil in New York and Sydney Festival in Australia.
As always roll over the titles for the links.
12 – 14 Jan
Hofesh Schechter & Antony Gormley
The Barbican Theatre, London
Hofesch Schechter composes a musical work for thirty musicians set in a world created by sculptor Antony Gormley.
18 Jan
Akram Khan
Grand Theatre Arriere Scene, Luxemburg
Akram Khan’s 2011 solo work, DESH, inspired by his parents’ homeland of Bangladesh plays a single Luxembourg date. It plays at Saddlers Wells from mid February. DUE TO AN INJURY AKRAM KHAN HAS CANCELLED ALL PERFORMANCES OF DESH UNTIL OCTOBER.
15 Jan
Popular Music from the 1770’s
Joe’s Pub, New York
Bit of a ‘wait and see’ but it’s hard not to be intrigued by this project - Taylor Mac and band are working on a 24-hour concert called “The History of Popular Music” to be performed in the spring of 2013, which will consist of over three hundred songs from the last twenty- four decades. He’s using Joe’s Pub gigs to learn and perform some of the material for the first time (he premiered the 1970’s, 1930’s and 1880’s in Oct/Nov).
31 Jan – 10 Feb
Russell Maliphant
Theatre National de Chaillot
As well at these Paris dates there is a one off Sadlers Wells matinee (5 Feb) for Maliphant’s new work inspired by the sculptor Auguste Rodin. For The Rodin Project, Maliphant has collaborated with a group of performers who specialise in forms of popping, breaking and contemporary dance.
19 – 21 Jan
BAM Opera House, New York
Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum continues his extraordinary emergence from self imposed professional exile with three sold out shows in the BAM Opera House. Songs sound better than ever.
17 – 21 Jan
Cheek by Jowl
Sydney Theatre (Sydney Festival)
After a very successful run in Paris, Cheek by Jowl take their new production to Sydney followed by an extensive UK tour.
16 – 17 Jan
Hiroaki Umeada/ S20
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, London
Umeada combines radical minimalism with elegant digital visuals in his 21st century solos. The movement is as frenetically charged as the light pixels that surround him.
26 – 28 Jan
Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner & The Farewell Speech
chelfitsch
Goldcorp Centre (Push Festival)
The pick of this year’s Push should be the darlings of Japanese progressive theatre, Toshiki Okada’s chelfitsch and their highly choreographed nightmarish portrayal of modern life. Also at the Japan Society in New York from 5 – 14 Jan.
until 7 Jan
Hampstead Theatre
Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Tim Supple and Melly Still stage classic stories including Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast and The Emperor’s New Clothes in this sharp revival.
until 5 Feb
Jeu de Paume
The first major retrospective in France with a selection of two hundred photographs by the Amercian photographer.
