MINEFIELD to Return to Royal Court Theatre Ahead of UK Tour

In a collaboratively created work with both British and Argentinian veterans, Lola Arias will bring the unanimously acclaimed MINEFIELD back to the UK to a series of venues across the country. With the full original cast, the production will return to The Royal Court Theatre for just 10 performances at the end of the year ahead of a UK tour in 2017/18 that will take it to major cities and military towns across the country.

Widely regarded as a theatrical highlight of 2016, MINEFIELD in a multi-media performance from Argentinian artist Lola Arias that uses archive footage, live feeds, music and projection to present the deeply personal and enduring stories of aftermath of conflict. In her singular style, Lola has worked with veterans Lou Armour, David Jackson, Gabriel Sagastume, Ruben Otero, Sukrim Rai and Marcelo Vallejo to create a production which tells their stories.

Gabriel Sagastume was a soldier who never wanted to shoot a gun, now he is a criminal lawyer. David Jackson spent the war listening and transcribing radio codes, now he listens to other veterans in his role as a counsellor. Marcelo Vallejo was a mortar direction controller, now he is a triathlon champion. Sukrim Rai was a Gurkha and expert with his knife, now he works as a security guard. Ruben Otero survived the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano, now he's in a Beatles tribute band. Lou Armour was on the front page of every newspaper when the Argentinians took him prisoner on the 2nd April, now he is a teacher for children with learning difficulties.

Lou Armour said 'What's driven me to take part in this project is just how beautiful it is. War is awful, it damages not just those on the battlefield but family, friends and wider society. But out of something terrible and ugly has come something very beautiful - a play where humanity and redemption shines through.'

Lola Arias said, 'War isn't what interests me, it's what comes after the war that interests me. What matters to me is what happens to a person who went through that experience. What matters to me is what memory has done, what it has erased, what it has transformed.'

In 2014, LIFT commissioned Lola to produce Veterans, a project commemorating the centenary of World War One. The resulting work was a video series of Argentinian veterans recollecting their involvement in war. This project evolved into the 2016 co-commissioned production of MINEFIELD which premiered at Brighton Festival before transferring to The Royal Court Theatre as part of LIFT '16.

MINEFIELD was originally commissioned and co-produced by LIFT, Royal Court Theatre, Brighton Festival Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Theaterformen, Le Quai Angers, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Maison des Arts de Créteil and Humain Trop Humain / CDN de Montpellier.

The 2017/2018 UK tour of MINEFIELD is part of LIFT's ongoing commitment to taking pioneering, international work across the UK and follows the recent sell-out tour of DEPART, a site specific contemporary circus performance led by Circa that travelled to parks and cemeteries in Hull, Brighton and Blackpool earlier this year. LIFT is currently working with a new network of producing theatres and UK Festivals to collaborate on international commissions and tours to encourage a greater supply and demand of international work across the UK.

Photo credit: Tristram Kenton

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