A pub, eight blokes, a stacked jukebox and a load of pints. It was always going to kick off. A revival of a highly acclaimed production twenty-five years after its première in Barcelona.
Twenty-five years after legendary dance iconoclast Lloyd Newson (DV8) first dragged British pub culture kicking and yelling onto the stage, Rambert and Sadler’s Wells present Newson’s reworking of this landmark physical-theatre production. As pertinent now as it was when first staged in 1995, the production lifts the lid on “the straitjacket of what’s deemed to be masculine” (The Observer), examining the terrors and tenderness of beer-soaked testosterone.
“Violent, ugly, politically incorrect and hilarious” (The Australian) Enter Achilles toured 18 countries and was made into a TV film winning many accolades including an International Emmy and Prix Italia. It now returns to the stage with a new cast, selected by Newson, in his first-ever collaboration with another company, the world-renowned Rambert.
The Australian director and choreographer Lloyd Newson has led the DV8 Physical Theatre since its inception in 1985. Newson's work, be it for stage or film, has won 55 national and international awards. He has been cited by the Critics’ Circle as being one of the hundred most influential artists working in Britain during the last hundred years. This version of Enter Achilles is his first collaboration with Ballet Rambert, one of the world’s most important contemporary dance companies. Offering a diverse programme and international outlook, it is a British national institution with a loyal audience throughout the United Kingdom.
A Rambert and Sadler’s Wells Theatre co-production in association with Onassis Stegi (Athens).
Co-produced with Grec 2020 Festival de Barcelona and Teatre Nacional de Catalunya; Festspielhaus St. Pölten; Théâtre de la Ville – Paris / Chaillot – Théâtre national de la danse; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Adelaide Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival; Romaeuropa Festival and Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino – Teatro Nazionale.
Première: Performed for the first time on 7 June 1995 at the Wiener Festwochen in Vienna.
Recreation of the première at the Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
International première at the Onassis Stegi (Athens).
Show for people over the age of 15.
The theatre hall may not be entered once the performances have begun.
Photographs or films of the show are strictly forbidden.
CREATIVE TEAM: Created and directed by: Lloyd Newson (DV8 Physical Theatre) Choreography: Lloyd Newson with the (past and present) performers Original stage production: Ian MacNeil Original music: Adrian Johnston Original lighting design: Jack Thompson Associate creator and tour director: Hannes Langolf
Lighting: Richard Godin Associate sound and video designer: Amir Sherhan Assistant designer: Loren Elstein Costume designer: Kinnetia Isidore and Richard Gellar Assistant costume designer: Eleanor Coole-Green and Hannah Hayward Rehearsal director: Paul White (autumn 2019)
Rambert dancers: Richard Cilli, Tom Davis Dunn, Nelson Earl , Miguel Fiol Duran, Ian Garside, Eddie Hookham, Scott Jennings, Georgios Kotsifakis, Jag Popham and John Ross
Lloyd Newson would like to acknowledge and express his gratitude to the original cast (1995 and 1997/98) of Enter Achilles: Robert Tannion, Ross Hounslow, Gabriel Castillo, Jordi Cortés Molina, Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola, John-Paul Zaccarini, Mike Ashcroft, Liam Steel, Jeremy James, David Emanuel, Paul Clayden, David McCormick and Chris Haring.
TECHNICAL TEAM: Production manager: Tom Pattullo Company stage manager: Joanne Woolley Technical stage manager: Robin Turley Smith Carpentry production: Jake Channon Sound supervision: Amir Sherhan Lighting operator: Tom Pritchard Electricity production: James Bentley Decoration building: Simon York, Miraculous Engineering Production consultancy: Steve Wald
PRODUCTION TEAM: Produced by: Alex Darbyshire Manager: Grace Hopkins Production assistant: Gráinne Pollak Administrative assistant: Sophie Knowles
TEACHERS: Company's teachers: Olivia Ancona, Louise Bennett, Baptiste Bourgougnon, Olivia Bowman-Jackson, Navala Chaudhari, Pippa Duke, Bruno Guillore, Phil Hulford, Jovair Longo, Katie Lusby, Stephen Pelton, Sonia Rafferty and Lewis Wilkins Company’s trapeze teachers: Leo Hedman and Will Davis Irish dancing teacher: James Greenan Company’s voice trainers: Kate Marlais and Melanie Pappenheim Company’s performance workshop: Juliet Knight
BALLET RAMBERT: Executive head and executive producer: Helen Shute Artistic director: Benoit Swan Pouffer Programme director and managing director: Tim Wood Development director: Helen Searl Head of the Finance Office: Edward Halshaw Senior producer: Francesca Moseley Music production: Charlotte Sandford Production assistant: Louise Farnall Public relations and contents: Alexandra Desvignes Marketing coordination: Rebecca Horrell Physiotherapy: Stephanie O’Neill Osteopathy and massages: Andrew Creevy
SADLER’S WELLS: Artistic director and managing director: Alistair Spalding CBE Executive producer: Suzanne Walker Production and tour manager: Bia Oliveira Tour producer: Aristea Charalampidou Technical production manager: Adam Carrée Marketing manager: Daniel King Marketing assistant: Laura-Inès Wilson
Space
Plaça les Arts, 08013 Barcelona, Barcelona, Espanya
