Battlefield

The Play

One of the most venerated directors of our time, Peter Brook has redefined theater for audiences around the world. From his years at the Royal Shakespeare Company to the groundbreaking work at his own theater in France, his astonishing career as a director of theater, opera, television and film spans over fifty years. Thirty years after his landmark production that took the theater world by storm, the legendary director returns to the Mahabharata, distilling the ancient Sanskrit epic down to its essence. Haunted by the voice of a single instrumentalist, a new king seeks justice after a bloody civil war of his own making, struggling with how to rule a violent world filled with murderers and victims. An immense canvas in 70-minute miniature, this central section of the ancient text is at once timeless and contemporary, asking how we can find inner peace in a world riven with conflict. Battlefield comes to the MCA Stage in Chicago for a limited engagement after premiering in Paris in September 2015, and thrilling audiences from Singapore, India, the UK, Italy, Spain and the United States, among other countries.

The Players