- 1983
- Great Britain
"Complicité started out as a collective, united by the spirit of exploration and collaborative curiosity which has always been the company’s hallmark. The company has earned a reputation for the long gestation periods of its creations, spells of research and development bringing together artists, designers, writers and specialists from any number of fields. These numerous partnerships have enabled the company to develop its own distinctive, shared creative language, guiding the sense of exploration which has become Complicité’s calling card. The company’s unique, visually dense scenic vocabulary combines bravura physical performance with striking aesthetics, choreography and innovative lighting, sound design and video. The company’s repertoire comprises original creations and adaptations of classic texts. Complicité has also worked in opera and various other fields, including radio productions Mnemonic and To The Wedding with John Berger, a collaboration with The Pet Shop Boys in London’s Trafalgar Square, and The Vertical Line, a multi-disciplinary art installation created inside a disused underground station.
Complicité is constantly forming connections with new collaborative partners, since the company’s work is forever evolving – from the first comic pieces, directed by the actors themselves, to more recent, high-profile collaborations directed by McBurney, combining experimental materials with cutting-edge technologies.
In 2015 the company launched a new annual programme entitled Complicité Associates. Every year, Complicité joins forces with an emerging or established artist, providing artistic support with the production of a new performance piece. These collaborations push the boundaries of the guest artist’s working methods and style, as well as challenging the limits of theatrical form.
Learning and activism are central pillars of Complicité’s creative vision, and the company’s award-winning Creative Learning programme includes professional development initiatives, work with schools and collaborative projects with other groups."
