Punchdrunk has released new images of The Burnt City as the show enters its final eight weeks. Following a record-breaking eighteen months in London, the final performance of Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City will be held on 24 September 2023.
Opening in March 2022, the production has sold over 200,000 tickets. By the time it closes, the show will be the longest running mask show that the company has presented in London.
Over 600 people have worked on the show, making it the largest project in Punchdrunk’s history. The epic retelling of the end of the Trojan war, set between the neon-drenched backstreets of downtown Troy and the menacing but opulent shadow of Greece, is played out across two vast warehouse buildings. Part of the old Woolwich Arsenal, these buildings provide Punchdrunk with its first permanent home in London.
Punchdrunk also revealed that The Burnt City Remix is returning on Sunday, 13th August. Descend into the neon backstreets of Troy and immerse yourself in re-mixed revelry, as The Burnt City is re-imagined with a selection of new music. This sonic world will turn on its axis another time, in real time, for performers and audience alike. After the show, party in Troy with special guest bands and DJs.
Punchdrunk is keen to keep pushing the boundaries of the company’s craft and make use of the unique space the buildings provide in different ways. News of future projects will follow later this year. Tickets are on sale for the remaining performances of The Burnt City from www.theburntcity.com and performances will end on 24th September.
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 F9, Ben Donoghue and Felix Barrett
Costume Design by David Israel Reynoso
Audience Experience Curator Colin Nightingale
About Punchdrunk
Founded in 2000 by Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk has pioneered a game-changing form of theatre which places the audience at the very heart of the action. Recently listed amongst the 50 most influential artists of the last 50 years (Sky Arts, 2022) alongside Bowie, Sir Steve McQueen and Vivienne
Westwood, Punchdrunk disrupts the theatrical norm, creating worlds in which audiences can rediscover the childlike excitement of exploring the unknown.
Its iconic “mask” shows, which redefined the genre of immersive experiences, have been cited amongst the 40 creative moments that changed culture (Creative Review), and have 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. The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable broke the National Theatre’s box office records when it went on sale in 2013, and Punchdrunk’s current London production, The Burnt City, is the longest-running show in the company’s home city.
Alongside these landmark live theatrical experiences, Punchdrunk has taken its ground-breaking approach to cross-cultural collaborations in music, tech, fashion and TV: from projects with Rihanna to Jack White, Louis Vuitton to Alexander McQueen, and HBO to Brad Pitt’s Plan B Studios – most recently with tv series The Third Day, starring Jude Law, Naomie Harris, Katherine Waterston, Emily Watson and Paddy Considine which included the Bafta-nominated live event: The Third Day: Autumn: a 12-hour live episode, filmed in one continuous take.
Punchdrunk’s past 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).
