Peeping Tom: Father (Vader)

The phenomenal choreography and enigmatic visual imagery of Peeping Tom plunge viewers into the realm between fantasy and reality in this empathetic, swirling and surprising portrait of ageing.

Towering walls surround the visiting room of a care home where an elderly man, also a father, counts his final days. Revealed in shifting scenes that speak of isolation, divinity, ridicule and melancholia, we learn more of his complex identity and lived experiences. As people and objects move around the figure, we are drawn into hallucinatory moments in which memories make way for something far less lucid.

Astonishing dance, song and live music are interwoven into this incisive and compassionate piece. Father forms the first part of the company’s surreal trilogy on families echoing their own reminiscences, mysteries and hopes. Seen here in January 2018, Mother was described as ‘a brilliant mix of naturalistic observation and weirdness’ (Independent) while their earlier work, 32 rue Vandenbranden, presented in 2015, picked up an Olivier.

Tagged with: Theatre & dance London International Mime Festival 2019

Duration: 1 hour 25 mins, no interval
Age guidance: 14+

Fri 1 Feb
BSL-interpreted performance and post-show talk

Presented by the Barbican in association with London International Mime Festival

Co-produced by Theater im Pfalzbau, KVS – Royal Flemish Theatre, Grec Festival, Hellerau – European Center for the Arts Dresden, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris, Maison de la Culture de Bourges, La Rose des Vents and Le Printemps des Comédiens