Us/Them

The Play

Following acclaimed engagements in the UK, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, Brussels-based BRONKS now takes the stage in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Beslan, Russia, September 2004: Chechen separatists storm a school, taking hundreds of children hostage in a deadly three-day siege. What unfolds onstage is not a recounting of the tragedy, but rather a stunning, intricately choreographed exploration of the unique way that young people cope with extreme situations. Told through the eyes of a young girl and boy, this exquisitely haunting, sometimes funny, always beautiful piece of physical theater reveals how for children, things that seem incomprehensible to adults have their own logic. The UK’s Total Theatre Magazine declares, "Work of this quality and intelligence and tenderness reminds us that this is why we make theatre; this is why we watch theatre. And breathe."

Us/Them is presented as part of a series of three pioneering works that represent the next wave of boundary-pushing International theater—fueling a dynamic engagement between artist and audience.

The Players