A group of actors embrace in a circle before a show. The actor whose back is facing the camera wears a black Complicite T-shirt with a white chair on it.

About us

‘…the most influential and consistently interesting theatre company working in Britain’
– The Times

Complicité is an international touring theatre company led by Artistic Director and co-founder, Simon McBurney. We create work that strengthens human interconnection, using the complicity between performer and audience that is at the heart of the theatrical experience. We work across art forms; believing theatre, opera, film, radio, installation, publication and participatory arts can all be sites for the collective act of imagination.

Our recent work includes: the reimagined Mnemonic which played at the National Theatre last summer, Figures in Extinction [2.0] But then you come to the humans, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Figures in Extinction [1.0], Can I Live? and The Encounter, as well as The Dark is Rising; an audio drama for BBC World Service and BBC Sounds based on Susan Cooper’s cult novel. Founded in 1983, we have won over 50 major theatre awards worldwide, and played in more than 40 countries.

Alongside Simon McBurney’s work, we support artists through our ‘Mudlarks’ strand; widening access and pro-actively seeking to support talented artists who are under-represented in the theatre sector.

Learning and engagement are central to our work and our award-winning creative engagement programme includes professional development, work in schools and colleges, and participatory projects with a range of communities.

We are committed to responding to the climate and ecological emergency. We are a founding member of Culture Declares Emergency and a member of a working group of UK Touring Theatre Companies to share best sustainable practice and to develop the Theatre Green Book Touring Guidance. You can read more about this on our Climate Crisis page.

2025 marks the company’s 42nd year.