Complicité

Complicité is an international touring theatre company. Founded in 1983 by Annabel Arden, Fiona Gordon, Marcello Magni and Simon McBurney, the company is now led by Artistic Director Simon McBurney OBE with Executive Director Susie Newbery and Senior Creative Producer Tim Bell. Between 1993 and 2018 all of the company's work was produced by Judith Dimant. 

The word Complicité doesn't haven't a direct translation however here is the story behind it. Jacques Lecoq began as an athlete. He travelled Europe exploring the masks and comedy of commedia dell'arte  and Greek theatre, especially how the chorus spoke directly to the audience. After these experiences Lecoq returned to Paris opening up the L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq . His teaching became a kind of research. Research into the perfection of his style. The principles he came up with were disponsibilité, le jeu and Complicité , which roughly translate to openness, play and shared creativity respectively. Some of the students who became teachers themselves banded together naming themselves theatre de Complicité .  

More recently Simon McBurney has played a huge role in shaping the company's style — he's deeply interested in how theatre can explore memory, imagination, and the ways we perceive reality.