Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

© ALEX BRENNER

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, image from Barbican Theatre

A great show for students devising or designing theatre

Complicité’s new adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s mysterious novel is a thrilling story that prompts its audience to take a long hard look at ourselves and our crimes against nature.

Set in a remote part of Poland, the piece follows Janina Duszejko (Kathryn Hunter), an ageing woman with a fierce passion for animals, as she navigates a series of murders in her community. Hunter’s skilled storytelling drives the piece – her rich, guttural tone conveying a sense of raw power that feels akin to Mother Nature. Amid the sense of foreboding that underlines the piece, her droll reflections on her life and companions provide welcome moments of relief and laughter.