Beautiful Burnout

Beautiful Burnout PIC CREDIT Ela Wlodarczyk

THEATRE: UK

“A brilliantly acted exploration of what makes boxers box and what happens when a shooting star shimmers, shines brightly and falls to earth.” The Guardian (UK)

The TV3 Season of Beautiful Burnout takes audiences into the world of boxing – literally. With a boxing ring as the revolving stage and a backdrop of glittering video screens, the audience is right in on the action.

In what promises to be an adrenaline-filled night at the theatre, the cast duck and weave their way through brilliantly choreographed boxing sequences to tell the stories of five Glaswegian teenagers, including one young woman, all dreaming of glory.

The actors undertook intensive training in a real boxing gym in order to create this gritty, compelling story of the sport and its competitors. Written by British playwright Bryony Lavery (Frozen, Stockholm) and directed and choreographed by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, Beautiful Burnout does not shy away from the emotive and sometimes polarising nature of the sport. “Its staging... allows us to pause and restart the action, and look at it from angle after angle, exploring the poetry, horror, beauty and sheer danger of beautiful young bodies in motion,’’ wrote The Scotsman.

Beautiful Burnout premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 and was named one of the London Observer’s top 10 plays of that year. It is a co-production between two world-renowned companies: the London-based physical theatre company Frantic Assembly, and the National Theatre of Scotland, and features a driving soundtrack by Underworld.

The National Theatre of Scotland’s Black Watch was a hit of the 2008 New Zealand International Arts Festival, and featured associate direction from Frantic Assembly’s Steven Hoggett. “Like Black Watch before it, Beautiful Burnout has all of the ingredients of a knock-out hit, wrote The Independent.

The TV3 Season of Beautiful Burnout is at TSB Bank Arena from 3 to 18 March for the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival, Wellington, 24 February – 18 March. Tickets $48 – $68 available from Ticketek.

AGE RECOMMENDATION: 14+ CONTAINS STROBE LIGHTING

ENDS

Sponsored by TV3

Supported by the Scottish Government International Touring Fund

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