Punchdrunk Returns To London With Largest Live Show To Date THE BURNT CITY Supported By Porsche As Headline Partner

PUNCHDRUNK PRESENTS

THE BURNT CITY

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• PUNCHDRUNK RETURNS TO LONDON WITH LARGEST LIVE SHOW TO DATE
• THE BURNT CITY WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE COMPANY’S NEW HOME IN WOOLWICH 
• SET ACROSS THREE GRADE-II LISTED BUILDINGS, THE BURNT CITY TELLS THE STORY OF THE GREATEST GREEK TRAGEDY, THE FALL OF TROY, TRANSPOSED TO A FUTURE PARALLEL WORLD
• THE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND SLEEP NO MORE REUNITES TO BRING THIS NEW PRODUCTION TO LIFE
• SUPPORTED BY PORSCHE AS HEADLINE PARTNER
• THE PRODUCTION WILL OPEN ON 22 MARCH 2022 WITH A LIMITED SEASON ON SALE UNTIL 28 AUGUST 2022
• PREVIEWS COMMENCE 22 MARCH WITH OFFICIAL OPENING ON THURSDAY 21 APRIL 2022
• TICKETS ARE ON SALE FROM WED 8 SEPTEMBER AT WWW.THEBURNTCITY.COM 

Punchdrunk, the internationally-acclaimed theatre company who pioneered the breakthrough of immersive theatre in the UK, are returning to London for the first time since 2014. Following a break from the capital, with sell-out international productions and their award-winning foray into TV, with The Third Day, the company are back in their home city to premiere their first major new show since The Drowned Man.  

“As the smoke soars on wings to heaven, so sinks our city”

In the smouldering promise of the fall of Troy, a mythical world of Gods and mortals rises from the ashes.

As Greece teeters on the brink of victory, the neon backstreets of Downtown Troy give way to a sprawling labyrinth hiding secrets even the prophecies could not foretell.

In this colossal playground, the furies watch on as mortals play out their fate. And as night falls, the city comes alive. One last time.

On their own theatrical adventure, audiences are free to explore this dystopian landscape – taking them from the majesty of royal palaces to the pulsating underworld of Troy. Audiences may choose to follow the characters who emerge from the shadows, saturate themselves in the show’s shifting atmosphere, or break free of the crowd and discover mysteries lying in wait at the heart of the labyrinth.

A limited season is on sale until 28th August 2022 with previews commencing on Tuesday 22nd March in the company’s new home at Woolwich Works. The official opening will be on Thursday 21st April and tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 8th September at 10am.

The Burnt City will be Punchdrunk’s most ambitious production to date, opening in the wake of long-running international productions Sleep No More in New York and in Shanghai (where it has been playing to sold out audiences since it re-opened in June 2020 following a Covid pause). The production reunites the creative team behind Sleep No More and features a cast of international performers, including original members of the first Punchdrunk shows.

The Burnt City will take place in the company’s new home in Woolwich Arsenal – taking over three Grade II Listed Buildings as part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s new creative district, Woolwich Works. This will be the first time some of the buildings have ever been opened to the public. The epic size of these buildings offers the company a scale never before seen in a Punchdrunk show with vast heights and over 100,000 square feet of space. Alongside the production, the buildings will be the permanent home for Punchdrunk, as the company develops new works across theatre, TV and gaming.

Punchdrunk is committed to working with the local community including running community events and partnerships with local arts and community groups in the borough, offering support, learning and resources. 

The Burnt City is supported by Porsche as Headline Partner.

Punchdrunk presents The Burnt City  

Directed by Felix Barrett & Maxine Doyle 
Choreographed by Maxine Doyle 
Designed by Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan & Beatrice Minns 
Sound Design by Stephen Dobbie 
Lighting Design by FragmentNine
Costume Design by David Israel Reynoso
Creative Producer Colin Nightingale

Location: One Cartridge Place, London, SE18 6ZR

Headline Partner: Porsche

This is a promenade production. Comfortable footwear recommended. 

Suitable for ages 16+ (16-17 year olds must be accompanied by a guardian).

The performance lasts up to three hours. There are six arrival times in 10-minute intervals.

Tuesday 6.30pm

Wednesday 6.30pm

Thursday 6.30pm

Friday 6.30pm

Saturday 1.30pm and 6.30pm

Sunday 4.30pm

Prices start from £45 during previews and from £66 thereafter.

A Friday Rush scheme will be in operation with a limited number of £25 tickets available for all performances which will be released for sale on Fridays for performances the following week (online only). 

Premium and VIP tickets are also available. For details please contact the Box Office. 

ABOUT THE COMPANY
Since 2000 Punchdrunk has pioneered a game-changing form of theatre in which roaming audiences experience epic storytelling inside unique sensory worlds. Blending classic texts, physical performance, award-winning design installation and unexpected sites, the company’s infectious format rejects the passive obedience usually expected of audiences. 

Punchdrunk productions are unique theatrical experiences, where the lines between space, performer and spectator are constantly shifting. Audiences are invited to rediscover the childlike excitement of exploring the unknown. The choice of what to watch and where to go is theirs alone.

Led by Artistic Director Felix Barrett and the creative team (including long term collaborators Maxine Doyle, Livi Vaughan, Beatrice Minns, Stephen Dobbie and Colin Nightingale), Punchdrunk has found phenomenal success across the globe, with record-breaking productions established in the US, UK and China. Sleep No More in New York has been playing to sell out audiences since 2011, and in Shanghai the show has been running since 2016, making it the longest running show in the city’s history.

Alongside theatrical works, Punchdrunk has created award-winning experiences in digital environments, including Believe Your Eyes, a unique VR experience in partnership with Samsung North America, and ANTIdiaRy, a cross platform experience made in collaboration with Roc Nation to promote the release of Rihanna’s eight album. Punchdrunk has also announced a partnership with game developers Niantic (creators of Pokémon GO) to create work that fuses theatre and gaming. 

In 2020 Punchdrunk worked with writer Dennis Kelly to create The Third Day, a TV series co-produced with HBO and Sky Studios in partnership with Plan B Entertainment. Designed to be the world’s first immersive TV series, the first transmission included The Third Day: Autumn a 12-hour episode, recorded as-live in one continuous take. This innovative theatrical event received an RTS Award for Best Live Event, and was also nominated for a BAFTA in the Live Event category.

Punchdrunk’s theatrical works include: The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable (with the National Theatre, The Crash of the Elysium (Manchester International Festival), The Duchess of Malfi (with ENO), Sleep No More (with the American Repertory Theatre, Boston, Mass.), It Felt Like A Kiss (with Adam Curtis and Damon Albarn, Manchester International Festival),Tunnel 228 (in collaboration with The Old Vic), The Masque of the Red Death (with Battersea Arts Centre), and Faust (in collaboration with the National Theatre).

Felix Barrett is the founder and Artistic Director of Punchdrunk and the co-director of award-winning productions including The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable and Sleep No More. Barrett is a graduate and Honorary Doctorate in Drama of the University of Exeter, he was one of the first recipients of a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Breakthrough Fund Award (supporting exceptional arts practitioners in the development of their vision) and was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to theatre.

Maxine Doyle is an independent choreographer and director.  Since 2002 she has been  Director and Choreographer for Punchdrunk, with whom she co-directed the multi-award winning Sleep No More (London, Boston, New York, Shanghai), The Drowned Man, The House Where Winter Lives, The Firebird Ball, Faust, Masque of the Red Death, Tunnel 228, The Duchess of Malfi (an operatic collaboration with English National Opera and Thorsten Rasch) The Yellow Wallpaper. 

Maxine has an MA in choreography from the Laban centre and is a recipient of the Bonnie Bird Choreography Award. She was Artistic Director of First Person Dance Company from 1996 - 2003 touring works such as Déja Deux, In the Face of a Stranger, Plastic Chill and It's Only a Game Show. 

Maxine has created work for The BalletBoyz (UK), The Martha Graham Company (USA), Verve (UK) and Johannes Wieland Company (Germany).  In 2019 she created the award winning Sunset (Australian Dance Award) for Strut Dance and the Perth Festival.  In 2022 Maxine will premiere Here Not Here – a collaboration with artist Es Devlin and Göteborg Dance Company, Sweden.  Future projects include a major new site- specific dance theatre work with Australasian Dance Collective and the Brisbane Festival.  Maxine is also a regular principal artist at Springboard Dance Montreal, B12 Festival in Berlin and has mentored for the iconic Jacobs Pillow Dance Season.  

Work for film and television includes Mari (dir: Georgia Paris),The Third Day – Autumn (Punchdrunk), Brave New World (dir: Owen Harris) and 20:20 Vision (dir: Jake Polonsnky).