Complicite, Theatre and Aesthetics

From Scraps of Leather

This book presents a pioneering critical study of Complicite’s work throughout the years. Drawing on an extensive overview of the available research material – including interviews, manuscripts and the company’s own archive – the book is framed within a clearly defined research perspective and explores the singularity of theatre communication. The book results from an encounter between the London-based – but cosmopolitan in scope – company, and a fresh application of the form-oriented scholarship of Eastern Europe, Yuri Lotman’s semiosphere in particular. Focused on the aesthetics of Complicite, this study achieves a critical distance and undertakes multidimensional scrutiny of the available research material. By identifying  the  principles of Complicite’s aesthetics, the book attempts to grasp the company’s  artistic paradigm. It focuses on ways of creating, preserving, and decoding meanings, rather than on the nuances of performance or contextual issues.