ENTER ACHILLES

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.

The Main Stage of Onassis Stegi transforms into a pub and presents Enter Achilles, from 19 until 25 February on a world premiere. A performance, which wrestles with the notion of masculinity, through the funny, provocative and disturbing actions of eight men during an evening in a British pub.

As pertinent now as it was when first staged in 1995, “Enter Achilles” 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.

Credits

A work by Lloyd Newson (DV8 Physical Theatre)
Choreography: Lloyd Newson with the performers (past and present)

Original Set Design: Ian MacNeil

Original Music: Adrian Johnston

Original Lighting Design: Jack Thompson

Creative Associate & Tour Director: Hannes Langolf

Performed by: Rambert

Lighting realised by: Richard Godin

Associate Sound Designer: Amir Sherhan

Design Assistant: Loren Elstein

Costume Design: Kinnetia Isidore, Richard Gellar

Rehearsal Director: Paul White

Performers: Richard Cilli, Tom Davis Dunn, Nelson Earl, Miguel Fiol Duran, Ian Garside, Eddie Hookham, Scott Jennings, Georgios Kotsifakis, Jag Popham, John Ross

A Rambert & Sadler’s Wells co-production in association with Onassis Stegi, Athens / Co-produced with Festspielhaus St Pölten, Grec Festival de Barcelona i Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Théâtre de la Ville - Paris / Chaillot - Théâtre national de la danse

Re-creation Premiere Festspielhaus, St Pölten (Austria) / Premiere International Run Onassis Stegi Athens

Age 15+ / No latecomers / No filming or photography

What the British press said about the original production of Enter Achilles:

“A rare, rich, devastating, triumphant work of art … dramatic coherence, human integrity, irresistible visual power, were all there in the most outstanding work I have seen all year.”

– “The Daily Telegraph”

“Lloyd Newson's powerful and spectacular new work, Enter Achilles, is about violence and vulnerability of manliness - funny, moving, disturbing”.

– “The Sunday Times”

“Remarkably clever and disturbing … It is excellently danced, imaginatively conceived…”

–“The Sunday Telegraph”

Lloyd Newson

Lloyd Newson has led DV8 Physical Theatre since its inception in 1986. His work straddles dance, text, theatre and film, focusing on social, psychological and political issues.

Born in Australia, Newson graduated from Melbourne University having studied psychology and social work. During that time, he developed an interest in dance, a fascination that brought him to the UK where he gained a full scholarship to study at London Contemporary

Dance School. Before forming his own company (DV8) he danced and/or choreographed with many companies including the Modern Dance Ensemble (Melbourne), Impulse Dance Theatre/New Zealand Ballet Company, One Extra Dance Theatre (Sydney) and Extemporary Dance Theatre (London).

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. Newson was awarded an honorary degree from Roehampton University and in 2013 received an OBE from Her Majesty the Queen for services to contemporary dance.