Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Barbican Theatre review ★★★★★
Complicite & Simon McBurney, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. Credit: Marc Brenner
No performance can ever top the drama of the show that gets cancelled on press night because the lead is taken ill moments before the curtain is due to rise. Such was the case of Complicité’s Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, but fortunately, the formidable Kathryn Hunter – the show’s lead and the crown jewel of the company – had recovered and was back on stage by the time of our rescheduled visit. Anyway, this latest production from the Jacques Lecoq-inspired company and its artistic director Simon McBurney proved more than worthy of a couple of tube rides to the Barbican.
Complicite & Simon McBurney, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. Credit: Marc Brenner
In a swathe of dark and lonely Polish countryside, animal rights activist Janina (Hunter) is on a solo mission to defend voiceless creatures killed or mistreated by humans. She gets into verbal scuffles with her dog-abusing neighbour, threatens deer hunters and argues her case to dismissive police as she struggles to protect woodland animals from further harm. But when it appears the animals are getting revenge, Janina’s proximity to a trickle of mysterious deaths begins to look suspicious.
McBurney is a world leader in physical and surrealist storytelling, and here, he employs Rae Smith’s set, Paule Constable lighting and Christopher Shutt’s sound design in tandem to effectively create the harsh, rural landscape of Olga Tokarczuk's eco-thriller, on which the show is based. Through simple spotlights cutting through bleak darkness, searing sounds carrying us along gravelly roads, and only a few hard-working props including a mic that remains front-and-centre for the entire show, we’re reminded of the power of good storytelling.
Complicite & Simon McBurney, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. Credit: Marc Brenne
While a 10-strong, coated (for the most part) chorus are heavily instrumental to this storytelling, it's is very much Hunter’s show. Peeling post-it note prompts off the aforementioned mic, she reads out proverb-style statements to introduce each chapter of her cautionary tale, which travels from dimly lit kitchens where she translates the poetry of William Blake and studies the stars, to a party and into the woodland. While Janina is clearly a woman at odds with the world around her, there’s a sense she’s found her set, which includes her former student Dizzy (a fervid Alexander Uzoka) and doting neighbour Oddball (a nuanced César Sarachu). Hunter captures her character’s contrary wryness and passion, and we feel her anguish as she’s thrown to the ground by those more imposing, leaving her sobs fill the auditorium, captured hauntingly on a loop pedal.
The story drags ever so slightly in the second half, but is nevertheless compelling when it means more time with Janina’s gaggle of misfits and some shock revelations about her masterplan.
Surreal, timeless and always enthralling, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is theatre-making par excellence, where all the ingredients complement one another, and where a pinch of magic you can’t quite categorise is sprinkled throughout for good measure.
In a swathe of dark and lonely Polish countryside, animal rights activist Janina (Hunter) is on a solo mission to defend voiceless creatures killed or mistreated by humans. She gets into verbal scuffles with her dog-abusing neighbour, threatens deer hunters and argues her case to dismissive police as she struggles to protect woodland animals from further harm. But when it appears the animals are getting revenge, Janina’s proximity to a trickle of mysterious deaths begins to look suspicious.
McBurney is a world leader in physical and surrealist storytelling, and here, he employs Rae Smith’s set, Paule Constable lighting and Christopher Shutt’s sound design in tandem to effectively create the harsh, rural landscape of Olga Tokarczuk's eco-thriller, on which the show is based. Through simple spotlights cutting through bleak darkness, searing sounds carrying us along gravelly roads, and only a few hard-working props including a mic that remains front-and-centre for the entire show, we’re reminded of the power of good storytelling.
While a 10-strong, coated (for the most part) chorus are heavily instrumental to this storytelling, it's is very much Hunter’s show. Peeling post-it note prompts off the aforementioned mic, she reads out proverb-style statements to introduce each chapter of her cautionary tale, which travels from dimly lit kitchens where she translates the poetry of William Blake and studies the stars, to a party and into the woodland. While Janina is clearly a woman at odds with the world around her, there’s a sense she’s found her set, which includes her former student Dizzy (a fervid Alexander Uzoka) and doting neighbour Oddball (a nuanced César Sarachu). Hunter captures her character’s contrary wryness and passion, and we feel her anguish as she’s thrown to the ground by those more imposing, leaving her sobs fill the auditorium, captured hauntingly on a loop pedal.
The story drags ever so slightly in the second half, but is nevertheless compelling when it means more time with Janina’s gaggle of misfits and some shock revelations about her masterplan.
Surreal, timeless and always enthralling, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is theatre-making par excellence, where all the ingredients complement one another, and where a pinch of magic you can’t quite categorise is sprinkled throughout for good measure.
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| What | Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Barbican Theatre review |
| Where | Barbican Theatre, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, E2CY 8DS | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Barbican (underground) |
| When |
16 Mar 23 – 01 Apr 23, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM |
| Price | £- |
| Website | Click here for more information and to book |