State of Emergency

Thursday, 6 November 2008 - Saturday, 13 December 2008
Times : 15:00 - 16:30 19:30 - 21:00

Gate Theatre, 11 Pembridge Road, Notting Hill, W11 3HQ

How Much: £16.00 (Tickets) , £11.00 (Concessions)

Translated from the German by David Tushingham, this short, sharp play by FAlk Richter is about highly topical subjects: recession, urban dread and gated communities.

The drama follows a family who live inside a fortress apartment, but face fear on their way in and out and also a more nagging worry, that the well organised father will lose his job and they will have to move back out among the rabble. It's a highly charged drama which shows that the widening gap between the middle class and a new underclass is just as wide in Germany as it is here. As the play develops, the fear and paranoia of the family trapped in their safe haven gradually eclipses any dangers they imagine outside.

A UK premiere for a shocking, claustrophobic piece that sets up real fears and violence against excessive paranoia and insularity, and amply demonstrates the cost of allowing fear to rule your life. Oh, and it is very funny in its own Germanic way.