The Forbidden Zone

May 2016

Directed by Katie Mitchell.

​

This was a wonderful innovative and imaginative staging at The Barbican of what I would describe as a piece of theatrical Performance Art. It was directed and delivered with precision timing. It was a multi-media show of epic scale and intricacy.

This was a uniquely female perspective on war, science and the advance of chemical weapons. The play interwove multiple narratives across two time periods and continents.

The title The Forbidden Zone, is taken from an account by Mary Borden of running a field hospital.

The set has a moving subway train which acts to punctuate the action and focus the audiences attention where required. There is real-time onstage filmimg in high quality, projecting onto the large screen above the stage, which is very dramatic, and increases the feeling of tension. 

The performance is dual language, with the actors switching between the two, and therefore also has surtitles.

The women become despairing about the development of chemical weapons and history repeats itself in the consequences with suicide.

I absolutely loved this production. I cannot praise it enough. It is certainly what I aspire to. I think this is the kind of theatre that our young people should be exosed to, rather than re runs of colditz.

The colour was subtle, and in my opinion coded. I will take much from this and translate it into future work.

It was uppermost in my mind when I was editing my film " Its not a perfect story".