Forced Entertainment & Complicite

These two companies are companies in the UK which are experimental artists. They are currently performing as the most diverse and exciting experimental theatre companies.

Forced entertainment seek to question theatre as an art form, inspiring audiences by making and remaking theatre to speak about the times we live in. 

         Tomorrow's parties 

The piece we went to see was on a makeshift fairground stage, wreathed in coloured lights, to which two performers from the company battled about what tomorrow might bring. Exploring utopian and dystopian visions, science fiction scenerios, political nightmares and absurd fantasises. The two sometimes were collaborative, sometimes competive, contradict and invent. I think the company wanted to take the audience into a state of imagination and dreams. For me I feel that this engaged the audience to take a journey through all different emotions. It forced you to imagine and explore but also battle with the feelings of frustration and anger. I do like the concept of a journey for the audience but I don't want the emotions to take over the concept or message of the piece. With Tomorrow's Parties it got to the point where your emotions were much stronger and therefore paid little attention to what the performers started to say. Although, I do want the content just like Tomorrow's Parties to offer excitement and creative new ideas. 

            COMPLICITE  

The company is based in London and use extreme movement to represent their work. Their productions often involve dazzling use of technology, such as projection and cameras, as well as lyrical and philosophical contemplation of serious themes. 

The company's lineup changes frequently, though McBurney continues to be the artistic director. Complicite is currently more active as an international touring company than within the UK. 

Their main principles of work are "seeing what is most alive, integrating text, music, image and action to create surprising, disruptive theatre." 

       MEASURE FOR MEASURE 

Measure for measure is a play written by William Shakespeare. It was (and continues to be) classified as a comedy, but it's mood defies those expectations. The play deals with the issues of mercy, justice, and truth and their relationship to pride and humility. I think, like Complicite, we should work with a text and develop it into a piece. Using a structure of a story as a stimulus means that you can make the piece have a journey that follows a path underneath the experimental subtexts behind it.