Peter Brook: The Valley of Astonishment

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 07 December 2016 > What's On


Back by popular demand, the legendary director Peter Brook's  The Valley of Astonishment in Paris.

The play examines the joys and dilemmas of people with exceptional perception and memory: who experience synaesthesia, where the senses become mixed and a person can taste colours or see sounds. And in particular those who can apparently remember everything they see or experience: is it a gift or a curse?

Peter Brook poses deep philosophical questions in The Valley of Astonishment: Do we all perceive the world in the same way? If not, then how do we perceive it? He explains, “We wanted to re-examine the workings of the brain. Spectators find themselves confronted by individuals for whom the experiences of music, colour, taste, images, memory... are so intense that, from one moment to another, their position changes from heaven to hell.”

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Inspired by years of neurological research, the mystical Persian poem, "The Conference of the Birds" by Farid Attar, and the mysteries of the human brain as explored by Dr Oliver Sachs, this piece is a fascinating journey into the human mind. (Be ready to delve deep into the human psyche.)

The Valley of Astonishment - Aperçu de création from Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord on Vimeo.

In English with French surtitles.

Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris
Till 23 December