OUTWITTING THE DEVIL

Stirring classical and contemporary, Akram Khan explores our oldest rituals in the midst of our ever-changing planet. He brings together a superb ensemble of six international artists sharing great differences in their practice: Ching-Ying Chien, Jasper Narvaez, Dominique Petit, James Vu Anh Pham, Mythili Prakash and Sam Asa Pratt.

Inspired by the newly discovered fragment of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s earliest surviving great works of literature, Akram’s new work is a concentrated epic about ritual and remembering. In a landscape of broken tablets and fallen idols, its six characters trade their remaining wealth and stories, seeking to make whole the fragments of ancient knowledge lost and forgotten over time.

To weave the narrative and design of this new piece, Akram has invited his close collaborators: dramaturg Ruth Little, composer Vincenzo Lamagna, rehearsal director Mavin Khoo, costume designer Kimie Nakano, and writer Jordan Tannahill – joined by lighting designer Aideen Malone and visual designer Tom Scutt. Outwitting the Devil invites us all to the table where life, death and our half-remembered myths are the bread we break together.