A scary scene, a giant man on stilts with an expressionless mask over the face, wearing a red hood that flows for meters behind him, stands in front of an old red bus. People hang like rag dolls from the bus windows, and above the roof a silver sign reads 'this city has ten millions souls'.

Silence

SILENCE, Teatr Biuro Podróży

Sat 27th Aug - Mon 29th Aug 2017, Market Place, Newbury

Hundreds of people gathered to watch this night time performance by Teatr Biuro Podróży, combining physical theatre with fire, unusual staging and puppetry to tell the story of refugees and migrants caught up in a spiral of war, fences and dreams of escape.

In this harrowing, night time show, Teatr Biuro Podróży's powerful, poetic visual imagery and menacing action portrayed a group of displaced people enduring constant threats, humiliations and incursions.

Three adults crouch around two doll children as if they are real, on a dark evening in Newbury Market Place

People hung in twisted positions from the wreckage of a bus. Mannequins of children were brought out of the bus and tended to by the adults.

Spinning cartwheels of fire came dangerously close to the audience and intimidating soldiers on motorbikes drove around the people, threatening them. A death-like figure stood by a bus with a giant slogan behind him, and strode through the street ringing a bell.

In amongst the threat and menace there were brief moments of resilience and survival, a sense of a group of people making life go on where ever and however they could.

With a soundtrack of plaintive cello and metallic riffs, this experimental company created a dystopian vision and picture of human fragility in the face of adversity.

Five adults stand in a line in front of an old red bus, each of them holding a child doll infant of them. A man in khaki combat gear runs towards them.

Silence

Founded in 1988, and based in Poland, Teatr Biuro Podrózy are one of the world’s leading outdoor companies, known for their production Carmen Funebre, which explored similar themes.

Co-commissioned by Greenwich & Docklands international Festival, Freedom Festival and Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Supported by City of Poznan and the Foyle Foundation. In association with MSL Projects

A man with dark hair stands on a pedestal in Newbury Market Place - he is wearing a white shirt and his face and upper body are covered in bright red blood. He looks down at a person in khaki trousers, a red tank top and sunglasses on shouting up at him.
A red bus sets the scene. In front of it, a man stands with his hands in the air in surrender. In front of him are 4 child sized, life like dolls, all also with their hands in the air. On top of the bus are two people holding guns. to the left of the shot, a person in khaki clothes raises a sledge hammer over a barrel.

Teatr Biuro Podrózy

Visit website

Newbury Weekly News Review

Read review