A rarely produced Pablo Picasso play is being performed by LUXE at the Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham this week.
The radical artist, better known for his famous Cubist and Surrealist paintings and sculptures, composed this play in Nazi occupied Paris during four days of illness in 1941.
Following in the vein of his artwork, Desire Caught by the Tail is a highly stylised, surrealist, and non linear piece of theatre, and reflects the devastation of its time with both angst and humour.
The absurdity of destruction is a constant theme throughout the play and helps it remain extremely relevant in 2016 given recent global events.
Director Cradeaux Alexander said: “Two or three years ago I probably wouldn’t have seen the urgency, but the world has changed so quickly, so brutally, so surreally – Picasso wrote his play during the Occupation in Paris and the undercurrent of anxiety is palpable.
“This condition feels very contemporary, and universal.”
As you would expect from Picasso, the play has abstractly named characters including protagonist Big Foot and his love interest Tart, as well as Round End, Onion, and the two Bow-wows.
When asked what audiences can most look forward to, Mr Alexander said: “Some unique language play for sure, and a bit of dismemberment. The Tart’s also literally got a pot to piss in!”
Founded by Alexander, the LUXE theatre company will produce and perform the UK premieres which will run from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20, with a cast that includes Clare Almond, Hugh Leadon, Eldi Dundee, Molly Ward, and Natasha Colenso.
