The Prisoner

Peter Brook, the international theatre’s revolutionary maestro who has already been a guest in Solomeo, returns with the new show he’s created with Marie-Hélène Estienne.

“It’s not necessary to put characters on stage – explains Peter Brook in an interview with the Corriere della Sera –, at the heart of my theatre there has to be a story to tell, that is transmitted directly to the spectator’s imagination. Doing theatre is like talking to children, it’s about creating empathy between the narrator and the listener. And with this particular story, I’d like to transmit the theme of redemption to the audience”. A man sits alone in front of an enormous prison in a desert. Who is he? Why is he there? Is it his deliberate choice or a punishment? And as for those inside the prison, what crimes have they committed? How do they perceive this man who is observing them? Is he crazy, or perhaps a god? Or a criminal, just like them?

C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in co-production with the National Theatre London, the Grotowski Institute, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, the Yale Repertory Theatre, and the Theatre for a New Audience – New York