How does Complicite make theatre, and what role do ensemble, multimedia and physical imagination play?
Complicite and collaborative, devised theatre, including ensemble physicality rooted in Lecoq, imaginative transformation of objects and space, integrated multimedia and design, non-linear storytelling, and director Simon McBurney's process.
A focused answer on Complicite for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering ensemble physicality rooted in Lecoq, imaginative transformation of objects and space, integrated multimedia and design, non-linear storytelling, and the collaborative process led by Simon McBurney.
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What this dot point is asking
AQA lists Complicite as a prescribed practitioner. The board wants you to understand the company's collaborative, physically inventive theatre, so you can explain their methods and apply them practically when devising or interpreting work in Component 2 or Component 3.
Collaborative, devised theatre
Complicite, originally Theatre de Complicite, grew out of Lecoq-trained performers and built a reputation for visually striking, imaginative work made through collaboration. Rather than starting from a finished script, the company devises in the rehearsal room over long periods, generating material physically and shaping it collectively under director Simon McBurney. The name itself, complicite, points to the live complicity between performers, and between the stage and the audience, that drives the work.
Key methods
- Collaborative devising. Material is generated and shaped by the ensemble through long rehearsal-room exploration rather than from a fixed text.
- Ensemble physicality. Lecoq-rooted physical training lets performers move and respond as one, forming crowds, machines and landscapes with their bodies.
- Imaginative transformation. A few simple objects and the performers themselves stand in for whole worlds, so a table can become a mountain and chairs a moving train, engaging the audience's imagination.
- Integrated multimedia. Projection, film, sound and lighting are woven into the storytelling as active elements, not decoration.
- Non-linear structure. Time and place shift fluidly, with memory, dream and reality interwoven, trusting the audience to follow.
Lecoq and McBurney's process
Complicite's roots in Lecoq matter for the exam: the physical economy, the play and complicite, and the body-led invention all come from that training. McBurney's process is collaborative but directed, using improvisation, research and physical experiment to find images, then shaping them with a strong design and technological vision. Knowing the Lecoq lineage lets you explain why the company works as it does.
Applying Complicite in practice
When devising in their style, work collaboratively to generate physical material, use the ensemble and a handful of objects to transform space imaginatively, integrate projection and sound as part of the storytelling, and structure the piece non-linearly so images and ideas, not just plot, carry the meaning.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20208 marksExplain how you would use the methodologies of Complicite to create imaginative staging in a devised performance. (Component 2)Show worked answer →
Component 2 rewards accurate, named technique applied to your own devising with a clear effect.
Apply Complicite's methods: devise collaboratively as an ensemble, generating material physically rather than from a finished script; use the body and a few objects to transform space, so a table becomes a mountain or a chorus becomes a crowd; integrate projection, sound and lighting as storytelling, not decoration; and structure the piece non-linearly, trusting the audience's imagination. Explain how the ensemble's physical invention and multimedia together create vivid images economically.
Markers reward correctly named techniques (collaborative devising, physical transformation of objects, integrated multimedia, non-linear structure) tied to a clear theatrical effect.
AQA 20184 marksExplain one way Complicite uses the ensemble to create meaning. (Component 2)Show worked answer →
Identify a concrete ensemble technique, for example performers physically transforming a few objects or their own bodies to conjure locations, crowds or shifting images, drawing on Lecoq-based physical training.
Then say what it achieves: it lets the company create vivid, fluid stage pictures with minimal set, engaging the audience's imagination and moving rapidly between places and ideas.
Markers reward one precisely named ensemble technique and a clear account of its effect on the audience.
Related dot points
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Drama and Theatre (7262) specification — AQA (2016)