Square² - international theatre
Square² was launched last year as our second outdoor space for bigger ticketed shows – the programme has grown into five weeks of stunning international theatre.
Teatr Biuro Podróży from Poland are back with their stunning Macbeth and Swiniopolis (Pigs); then from the Basque Country in Spain we have the UK debuts of Markeliñe with the outrageous Carbón Club and Gaizerdi Teatro with Otsoko, a dark version of Red Riding Hood; and finally Cia la Industrial Teatrera with the delightful Rojo.
View calender for full listings.
Contego Audio Amplification is available for partially hearing apeople for performances in Square². Headsets are essential, so please book on 020 7452 3000 or boxoffice@nationaltheare.org.uk.
Macbeth: Who is that Bloodied Man? - Teatr Biuro Podróży (Poland) | Theatre
Extra performance added on Saturday 8 August at 9.30pm due to popular demand and owing to Thursday's downpour. Swiniopolis will be performed at 3pm on Saturday only.
Following their sell-out run at the National last year, Poland’s foremost outdoor theatre company return with their breathtaking staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy, featuring armies on motorbikes, witches on stilts and a spectacular burning castle. Teatr Biuro Podróży has established an enviable international reputation and return to the National to celebrate their twentieth year of extraordinary theatre. Directed by Pawel Szkotak.
‘A production that shows this magnificent Polish company at its best, and a reminder that large-scale outdoor theatre really can be thoughtful, as well as an eyeful.’ Lyn Gardner, Guardian, 2007
Dates: 30, 31 July, 1, 5, 6 August at 9.30pm, 7 at 12am, 8 August at 9.30pm
Watch a video trailer | Book tickets
Performed in English. Standing tickets. 60 mins. Suitable for audiences aged 12+. Captioned performance: 6 August.
www.teatrbiuropodrozy.ipoznan.pl
The visit by Teatr Biuro Podróży is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of POLSKA! YEAR. PolskaYear.pl
Swiniopolis - Teatr Biuro Podròży (Poland) | Theatre
Extra performance of Macbeth: Who Is That Bloodied Man? added on Saturday 8 August at 9.30pm due to popular demand and owing to Thursday's downpour. Swiniopolis will be performed at 3pm on Saturday only.
In this deceptively simple Orwellian tale, the little piglets are groomed by their elders to be good and obedient citizens and taught to worship man, the great creator of their happy universe. But their carefree existence comes to an abrupt end when they discover the true intentions of their superiors. In a humorous but grotesque cartoon style, Teatr Biuro Podróży’s trademark stilt-walkers tower over the small and vulnerable in Swiniopolis (Pigs), a tragi-comic tale of little rebels with a noble cause. This is a great introduction to theatre for young people, so there are special matinee performances. Directed by Pawel Szkotak.
Dates: 1, 2 August at 3pm, 8 August at 3pm.
Watch a video trailer | Book tickets
Performed in English. Floor seating. 50 mins. Suitable for audiences aged 8+.
www.teatrbiuropodrozy.ipoznan.pl
The visit by Teatr Biuro Podróży is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of POLSKA! YEAR. PolskaYear.pl
Carbón Club - Markeliñe (Spain, Basque Country) | Theatre
'Entertainingly unique with flashes of Brokeback Mountain, The Full Monty and various Almodovars. Not understanding something has never been so much fun.' thelondonpaper
Join the young José as he enters the ‘Carbón Club’, where the coalminers of the Basque Country – be they dead or alive – come to tell their stories in an ironic coalmining cabaret. Over the footlights, hear of the tragic tale of the bridegroom trapped underground on the eve of his wedding; the girl waiting eternally at the mouth of the pit for the return of her man; the unrequited love between two miners destined never to be revealed until tragedy strikes; and the mysterious nightclub girl who cheers, comforts and cleans the men after their return to the surface. Markeliñe, one of the Basque Country’s most celebrated theatre companies, make their UK debut in a show with music, song and dance, pyrotechnics and special effects – this is a cabaret unlike any other.
Dates: 12, 13, 14, 15 August at 9pm
Watch a video trailer | Book tickets
Performed in English, suitable for audiences aged 14+, promenade production, 50 mins.
The visits by Markeliñe and Gaitzerdi Teatro are supported by the Basque Goverment and the Spanish Ministry of Culture. www.mcu.es | www.kultura.ejgv.euskadi.net
Otsoko - Gaitzerdi Teatro (Spain, Basque Country) | Theatre
The celebrated Bilbao-based physical theatre company present a mature and powerful retelling of the traditional Red Riding Hood tale. Taking the darkest aspects of the famous story, Otsoko (Wolf) brilliantly dissects the complex relationship between a wolf and a young woman. With a menacing forest made of sticks, flowers made from darts, fire effects and a genuinely frightening pack of wolves with illuminated spines, this is the Angela Carter school of disturbing fairytales. Directed by Kepa Ibarra.
Dates: 19, 20, 21, 22 August at 9pm
Watch a video trailer | Book tickets
Performed with English narration, suitable for audiences aged 10+, floor seating, 50 mins Audio-described performance: 21 August.
The visit by Gaitzerdi Teatro is supported by the Basque Goverment. www.kultura.ejgv.euskadi.net
Photos taken by L.A. Barajas
Rojo - Cia La Industrial Teatrera (Spain, Catalonia) | Theatre
Extra performance of Rojo added: Friday 28 August at 10.30pm.
Ticket holders for Rojo are also entitled to a free Rojo Cocktail in the Green Room, our late night lounge bar, after the event.
Leading Catalan artists Jaume Navarro and Mamen Olías present a delightful blending of theatre and circus. We follow two itinerant wanderers from their rather clumsy, monochromatic waking life into the fantasy of their dreams. As they climb into their bunk-beds, the audience, carefully tucked up for the night, share the gentle revelation that perhaps their high-flying night-time aspirations could find a place in reality. Awaking, they find a little touch of colour has magically brightened up their lives. Jaume and Mamen’s witty and touching characterisations, combined with high circus skill and detailed performances make Rojo (Red) a very special and intimate show.Directed by Jordi Purti.
Dates: 26, 27, 28 August at 9pm and 28 August at 10.30pm
Watch a video trailer | Book tickets
No text, suitable for audiences aged 8+, bench seating, 50 mins.
The visit by Cia La Industrial Teatrera is supported by Institut Ramon Llull. www.llull.cat
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- Thursday 30 July
- 9.30pm PRESS NIGHT
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Friday 31 July
- 9.30pm
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Saturday 1 August
- 3pm PRESS NIGHT
- Swiniopolis - Teatr Biuro Podróży
- 9.30pm
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Sunday 2 August
- 3pm
- Swiniopolis - Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Wednesday 5 August
- 9.30pm
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Thursday 6 August
- 9.30pm
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Friday 7 August
- 9.30pm
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- 12am
- Macbeth - Who is that Bloodied Man? Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Saturday 8 August
- 3pm
- Swiniopolis - Teatr Biuro Podróży
- Wednesday 12 August
- 9pm PRESS NIGHT
- Carbón Club - Markeliñe
- Thursday 13 August
- 9pm
- Carbón Club - Markeliñe
- Friday 14 August
- 9pm
- Carbón Club - Markeliñe
- Saturday 15 August
- 9pm
- Carbón Club - Markeliñe
- Wednesday 19 August
- 9pm PRESS NIGHT
- Otsoko - Gaizerdi Teatro
- Thursday 20 August
- 9pm
- Otsoko - Gaizerdi Teatro
- Friday 21 August
- 9pm
- Otsoko - Gaizerdi Teatro
- Saturday 22 August
- 9pm
- Otsoko - Gaizerdi Teatro
- Wednesday 26 August
- 9pm PRESS NIGHT
- Rojo - Cia La Industrial Teatrera
- Thursday 27 August
- 9pm
- Rojo - Cia La Industrial Teatrera
- Friday 28 August
- 9pm & 10.30pm (extra performance added)
- Rojo - Cia La Industrial Teatrera
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