There are 74 onstage deaths in the works of William Shakespeare – 75 if you count the black ill-favoured fly killed in Titus Andronicus.
They range from the Roman suicides in Julius Caesar to the death fall of Prince Arthur in King John; from the carnage at the end of Hamlet to snakes in a basket in Antony & Cleopatra; from Pyramus and Thisbe to young Macduff. There are countless stabbings, plenty of severed heads, some poisonings, two mobbings and a smothering. Enorbarbus just sits in a ditch and dies from grief. And then there’s the pie that Titus serves the Queen of the Goths.
Spymonkey will perform them all – sometimes lingeringly, sometimes messily, sometimes movingly, sometimes musically, always hysterically. The four ‘seriously, outrageously, cleverly funny clowns’ (Time Magazine) will scale the peaks of sublime poetry, and plumb the depths of darkest depravity. It may even be the death of them.
Directed by Tim Crouch (I, Malvolio, An Oak Tree, Adler & Gibb) and designed by Spymonkey regular Lucy Bradridge, THE COMPLETE DEATHS opened in May 2016 at Brighton Festival to acclaim from audiences and critics alike, and has been delighting audiences around the world since then – a solemn, sombre, life-affirming and sublimely funny tribute to Shakespeare and death.
—
★★★★ “A fabulous bloodbath” The Observer
★★★★★ “The funniest show about slaughter you’ll ever see” Exeunt
“Extraordinary. Brilliant virtuoso physical comedy. Dark and disturbing. Hilarious” BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review
★★★★ “Inspired pairing of Spymonkey and Tim Crouch” The Stage
★★★★ “The Four Horsemen of the Ridiculypse” Libby Purves TheatreCat.com
★★★★ “Maestros – Daft, ingenious and ultimately deeply thoughtful” Financial Times
THE COMPLETE DEATHS opened at Brighton Festival on 12th May 2016.
International dates included:
Istanbul International Festival
Vicenza Festival Italy
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Hradec Kralove Festival, Czech Republic
UK tour dates included:
Shoreditch Town Hall London
Northampton Royal & Derngate
Bristol Old Vic
Oxford Playhouse
Hall For Cornwall
Nottingham Playhouse
Derby Theatre
Liverpool Playhouse
Hull Truck
Contact Manchester
Warwick Arts Centre
Nuffield Southampton
Chichester Festival Theatre
Performed by Spymonkey: Aitor Basauri, Stephan Kreiss, Petra Massey & Toby Park
Adapted and directed by Tim Crouch
Created by Tim Crouch & Spymonkey
Designed by Lucy Bradridge
Lighting design by Phil Supple
Music by Toby Park
Choreography by Theo Clinkard / Janine Fletcher
Video design Sam Bailey
Assistant Director Lucy Skilbeck
Voice Coach Nia Lynn for RSC
Production Management Mat Ort
Technical Manager Reg Scott
Stage Manager Andy McCabe
design intern Dolly Nelly Grey
lighting design associate Anna Barrett
QLab programmer Andrew Croft
Scenery, set painting and costuming by ROYAL & DERNGATE WORKSHOPS and facilitated by technical teams. Special thanks to wardrobe supervisor Rebecca Rees and assistant Tamsyn Payne
graphic design by Toby Park
Studio Photography John Hunter / RULER
Photo shoot wardrobe by Emma Wreyford
Make-up by Sharon Wilmore
Illustrations Chris Riddell
Additional Pyramus bagpipe music by Rohan Kriwaczek
Unit 7b Level 3 North, New England House,
New England St, Brighton BN1 4GH
email:
info@spymonkey.co.uk
Spymonkey is resident ensemble company at Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
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