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The Malady of Death (La Maladie de la mort)

Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord

— ,Barbican Theatre

Through an intricate blend of performance and live cinema, this production explores intimacy, gender, emotional paralysis, and the male and female gaze.

Playwright Alice Birch updates and inverts Marguerite Duras’s novella, turning the female protagonist into a sex worker and investigating the impact of pornography on the psyche. In a hotel room by the sea, a man waits. The woman comes at night, only ever at night, and is permitted neither to speak nor to resist. Anything he wants, she must do. The cost doesn’t matter. He wants to learn how to love, what it is to feel again.

Risk-taking auteur Katie Mitchell considers the unique way in which men and women scrutinise each other – as well as the potential for abuse of women within patriarchal structures. Affecting images, sophisticated camera techniques and courageous acting by Laetitia Dosch and Nick Fletcher come together, with the intense action unfolding both onstage and on a large screen to the words of narrator Irène Jacob.

Tagged with: Theatre & dance

Duration: 1 hour/no interval
Age restriction: 18+ (contains scenes of nudity and graphic sexual imagery)
Language: Performed in French with English surtitles

Proof of ID may be requested on ticket collection and/or entry

Presented by the Barbican. Produced by CICT – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. Associate co-production by Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris and Le Théâtre de Liège. Co-produced by the Barbican, MC2: Grenoble, Edinburgh International Festival, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Teatro di Roma – Teatro Nazionale, Teatro Stabile di Torino – Teatro Nazionale, Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Fondazione Teatro Metastasio – Prato and Tandem scène nationale. In collaboration with Mayhem

Creative Team

  • Freely adapted after the story by Marguerite Duras  
  • Katie Mitchell   Direction
  • Alice Birch   Adaptation
  • Lily McLeish   Associate Direction
  • Grant Gee   Video Direction
  • Alex Eales   Set Design and Costumes
  • Paul Clark   Composer
  • Donato Wharton   Sound
  • Ingi Bekk   Video Design
  • Ellie Thompson   Collaboration Video Design
  • Anthony Doran   Lighting
  • Nadja Krüger, Sebastian Pircher   Camera Operators

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Learn more about our building including accessible entrances, parking, facilities and the many accessible performances, screening and events you can enjoy at the Barbican.

Barbican Theatre

Location
The Barbican Theatre is located within the main Barbican building. Head to Level G and follow the signs to find your seating level. 

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
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