SINGAPORE - Ground-breaking theatre director Peter Brook's new play Battlefield will have its international premiere in Singapore in November, brought here by the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT).
The 90-year-old British theatre legend last had a show here in 2013, where the SRT, in collaboration with the Esplanade, produced a star-studded theatre series - 3 Titans Of Theatre. The line-up included Brook's The Suit, a heartbreaking tale about adultery and forgiveness set against apartheid South Africa.
Battlefield draws from a climactic battle in the 3,000-year-old Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata, where the Bharata family is torn apart by war and grappling with the horrors they have not only experienced, but also perpetrated. The production will first open at Brook's long-time theatre home, the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, before travelling to Singapore, then London, Sydney and Tokyo.
Brook's famous nine-hour production on the Mahabarata in 1985 has been cited as one of the greatest productions in modern theatre history. Battlefield is much shorter at an expected 11/2 hours in length.
book it
BATTLEFIELD
Where: Capitol Theatre
When: Nov 17 to 21, Tue to Fri at 8pm, Sat at 3pm and 8pm
Admission: $48 to $108, $15 for SRT Youth from Sistic (excludes booking fee; call 6348-5555 or go to www.sistic.com.sg)
