What is Complicite's approach to collaborative, visual, devised theatre, and how does it transform objects and space through the ensemble?
Complicite and devised theatre for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: collaborative devising, the ensemble and physical storytelling, the transformation of objects, bodies and space, the integration of multimedia and visual imagery, and how to apply this imaginative, devised style (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Complicite and devised theatre for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): collaborative devising, the ensemble and physical storytelling, the transformation of objects, bodies and space, the use of multimedia and visual imagery, and how to apply this imaginative devised style.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
Edexcel expects you to understand Complicite's approach to collaborative, visual, devised theatre so you can apply it: in Component 1, where their methods drive imaginative devising, and in Section C, where you may interpret a text through their style. Complicite is a contemporary company famous for ensemble-driven physical storytelling and inventive, transformative use of objects, bodies and space.
The aim: imaginative, collaborative storytelling
Complicite's distinctive contribution is to make theatre that is unmistakably theatrical: rather than recreating reality, the company conjures worlds through the imagination of the ensemble. A few performers and a handful of objects can become a crowd, a landscape, a memory or a journey, with the audience invited to believe the transformations. The work is devised collaboratively, so the ensemble generates material together through play and improvisation, and is typically rich in visual and multimedia imagery.
The key features
- Collaborative devising. The ensemble generates material together through improvisation, play and experiment, rather than realising a single author's script.
- Ensemble physical storytelling. A tight, versatile group tells the story with their bodies, becoming characters, objects, crowds and environments.
- Transformation of object and space. Ordinary objects become many things and the space is reshaped moment by moment, so meaning is made inventively rather than literally.
- Visual imagery and multimedia. Striking stage images, projection, video, sound and light are integrated to create atmosphere and tell the story.
- Fluidity. Time, place and perspective shift rapidly, often non-linearly, held together by the ensemble's storytelling.
Complicite in design and staging
The company's productions fuse physical performance with bold design: integrated projection and video, atmospheric sound, expressive lighting and a flexible, often spare set whose elements are transformed by the ensemble. The staging foregrounds imagination over illusion, so a screen image, a shaft of light or a reconfigured object can change the whole world of the play in an instant. When you interpret a text through Complicite, multimedia and ensemble transformation become the production's language.
Complicite in the practitioner spectrum
Complicite sits in the contemporary devised tradition alongside Frantic Assembly, sharing the ensemble and physical storytelling but placing more emphasis on imaginative transformation, multimedia and non-linear structure. Like Berkoff and Artaud, it rejects literal naturalism in favour of theatricality, but its tone is more playful and image-driven. Setting Complicite against a naturalistic or Brechtian approach is a productive Section C contrast.
Why Complicite matters
Complicite gives you an imaginative, ensemble-driven method that turns limited resources into expansive theatre, which is ideal for Component 1 devising and for reinterpreting a text inventively in Section C. Securing its features gives you a flexible, contemporary storytelling vocabulary built on transformation and the audience's imagination.
A note on the sources
This guide is AI-written and not individually human-reviewed. Confirm the company's methods and emphasis against current Pearson Edexcel materials and your set practitioner notes. The approach here transfers across texts and into your own devising.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 202214 marksExplore how you would apply the working methods of Complicite to a devised piece for a contemporary audience. (Component 1 / Component 3, Section C)Show worked answer →
A response on applying Complicite's collaborative devised methodology, marked on AO1 (creating and developing) and AO3.
Explain the process: devise collaboratively as an ensemble, generating material through improvisation and play; build physical storytelling in which the actors transform their bodies, ordinary objects and the space to become many things; integrate striking visual imagery and multimedia (projection, sound) so the staging is imaginative and fluid rather than literal. Tie the inventive theatricality to a clear story or idea for a contemporary audience.
Markers reward accurate Complicite features (collaborative devising, ensemble transformation of object and space, visual and multimedia imagery) applied to the piece, and a coherent imaginative interpretation.
Edexcel 20198 marksExplain how an ensemble could transform a single object and the performance space to tell a story in the style of Complicite. (Component 1)Show worked answer →
Explain the technique: in Complicite's style the ensemble uses imagination and physical skill to make one object become many things (a ladder becomes a boat, a bed, a tree) and to reshape the space moment by moment, with the actors' bodies and movement signalling each transformation.
Give the effect: this inventive, fluid theatricality invites the audience to complete the picture imaginatively, allows rapid shifts of place and meaning, and foregrounds the ensemble's collaborative storytelling.
Markers reward a concrete example of object and space transformation, the role of the ensemble, and the imaginative audience effect.
Related dot points
- Frantic Assembly and physical theatre for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: choreographed movement married to text, devising methods such as Building Blocks and chair duets, the emphasis on dynamic ensemble physicality, and how to use movement to express emotion and narrative (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Frantic Assembly and physical theatre for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): choreographed movement married to text, devising methods such as Building Blocks and chair duets, dynamic ensemble physicality, and how to use movement to express emotion and narrative.
- Berkoff and total theatre for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: stylised physicality and exaggeration, mime and the creation of objects and environments with the body, ensemble work, heightened vocal delivery and rhythm, caricature and direct address, and how to apply this anti-naturalistic style (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Steven Berkoff and total theatre for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): stylised physicality and exaggeration, mime and body-as-object, ensemble work, heightened vocal delivery and rhythm, caricature and direct address, and how to apply this anti-naturalistic physical style.
- Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: total, sensory theatre, the assault on the senses, breaking the actor-audience separation, ritual, lighting, sound and movement over text, and how to apply these ideas to create an overwhelming, visceral experience (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): total sensory theatre, the assault on the senses, dissolving the actor-audience separation, ritual, and the dominance of light, sound and movement over text, with how to apply these ideas in devising and interpretation.
- Devising in the style of a practitioner for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: choosing a practitioner, applying their methodology and techniques to generate and shape devised material, using a performance text as a starting point, and keeping the influence genuine rather than decorative (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on devising in the style of a practitioner for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): choosing a practitioner, applying their methodology and techniques to generate and shape devised material, using a performance text as a starting point, and keeping the practitioner influence genuine throughout Component 1.
- Responding to a stimulus for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: interpreting a stimulus, generating ideas through research, improvisation and theatrical exploration, finding a focus and intention, and turning a starting point into original devised material (AO1).
A focused answer on responding to a stimulus for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): interpreting a stimulus, generating ideas through research, improvisation and theatrical exploration, finding a focus and intention, and turning a starting point into original devised material for Component 1.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)