Schaubühne Berlin: The Forbidden Zone, Barbican

Avant garde theatre maker and director Katie Mitchell conceived new multimedia play The Forbidden Zone with a team of stellar creatives, including writer Duncan Macmillan and acting ensemble Schaubühne.
Interweaving feminist texts, transforming performance to cinema with realtime camera footage, and featuring a life-size replica of a 1940s subway carriage moving across the stage, the show has been hailed Mitchell's most daring yet. Expect challenging, hard-hitting theatre.
Having opened at Salzburg Festival to superlative reviews, The Forbidden Zone will premiere in the UK for a four-day run at the Barbican as part of the 14-18 NOW Festival commemorating WW1. It will be performed in English with German surtitles.
Taking its title from feminist writer Mary Borden's account of running a hospital and featuring extracts from Borden and Virginia Woolf, The Forbidden Zone explores ideas of warfare and science through the true story of chemist Clara Immerwahr. She committed suicide after the poison gas invented by her husband Fritz Haber was used for mass slaughter in the war. From this female perspective, the play shifts between time periods and continents and conveys every meticulous moment of performance with simultaneous, realtime camera footage.
The combination of Katie Mitchell's mighty reputation and an ultra short run means The Forbidden Zone tickets will sell fast, so be ready to book.