''Enter Achilles'' is a performance created by the dance and theatre company

DV8 Physical Theatre DV8 Physical Theatre (or Dance and Video 8) is a physical theatre company based at Artsadmin in London, United Kingdom. It was officially founded in 1986 by Lloyd Newson (1986 - 2022), Michelle Richecoeur (1986–1988) and Nigel Charnock (198 ...

and directed by

Lloyd Newson Lloyd Newson (born 1957) is a director, dancer and choreographer. He formed DV8 Physical Theatre and has led the company since its inception in 1986. He studied psychology and social work at Melbourne University and after graduating began his da ...

. First performed on 7 June 1995 at Vienna Festwochen in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, the piece initially toured around the UK and Europe in 1995, before moving to Australia in early 1996. The performance was later revived and toured in 1997, visiting Europe and North America, and again in 1998, where it toured Europe and Japan. An award-winning film version was released in 1996. It was revived in a new production in 2020, premiering at the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

Description

The performance, with a run time of 75 minutes, explores

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...

and our perception of the stereotypical "bloke". Set in a dark, dusty, British pub, a group of men gather around the blasting

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

, a pint in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Movement- and dance-based, this

physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre", the genre's characteristic aspe ...

performance uncovers the men's insecurities and vulnerability. The concept of gender is investigated through the understanding of what we deem as "unmanly" and this is closely represented through the gestures, action and movement of the performers, a technique which is often associated with the work of Newson and DV8. Looking at conformity regarding male relationships, friendships and identity the performance attempts to realise the struggle of being a "real" man. The piece is an exploration, concentrating on the complications of existence within a man's world.

Stage performances

After receiving its world premiere in Vienna in 1995, the piece went on to tour extensively, and was critically acclaimed, with

Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic. Life and career Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (former editor of the ''Daily Express'') and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (fo ...

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

stating that it was "heartening to find DV8 blazing a fresh, dangerous trail". It toured Europe, North America and Japan. A new production, in collaboration with

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

and

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

, staged its world premiere at the

in March 2020.

Film

In 1995,

Newson NewsON is a local news service that enables users to see live and on demand local news broadcasts and video clips from TV stations across the United States. As of February 2021, NewsON includes over 275 TV stations from over 160 markets, covering ...

collaborated with the director Clara Van Gool to adapt the stage piece for film. The resulting piece, which was screened at numerous film festivals around the world, received numerous awards, including an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for the Performing Arts in 1997.

References

{{reflist

External links

DV8 Homepage

Enter Achilles IMDB Page
Physical theatre