The Street Of Crocodiles

by Simon McBurney (Adapted by), Mark Wheatley (Adapted by), Bruno Schulz

"Complicite not only open our eyes to Bruno Schulz but turn his densely impressionistic stories into a piece of vividly imaginative theatre" (Michael Billington, Guardian)

The Street of Crocodiles is inspired by the life and stories of Polish writer Bruno Schulz (1892-1942). Originally co-produced by Théâtre de Complicité and the Royal National Theatre it opened at the Cottesloe in 1992 and toured all over the world until 1994. The original production was remounted in 1998 and played in New York, Toronto, Minneapolis and Tokyo before opening at the Queen's Theatre London in January 1999.

"This astounding production creates a vision of provincial Poland in the early part of the century as a restless ocean of unending flux…the miracle of Complicite's interpretation of Schulz's stories…is its ability to give specific theatrical life to this perceptual anarchy…when you leave the theatre you expect the ground beneath your feet to give way." (New York Times)

Genres: Plays, Theatre

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films The Manchurian Candidate, Friends with Money, The Golden Compass, The Duchess, Robin Hood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Magic in the Moonlight, The Theory of Everything and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Reviews

[Janika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read anything from Bruno Schulz and neither have I seen this adaptation on stage, but after reading this it felt I had done both. It's such an eloquent and fluid writing, which, with it's consistently repetitive and dreamlike quality, gave me a wholesome sense of how it might have felt to be Bruno Schulz.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen a clip of the actual production of this play and I'm reading the short stories upon which it's based. Bruno Schulz had an interesting life and wrote beautiful stories, and this is an awesome synthesis by Theatre de Complicite. It makes my director-sense tingle and all sorts of images and ideas pop into my head while reading it, but I can see some readers not appreciating the read. It is absurdist. It is, as the Note on the Script suggests, a map to a place and not the place itself. But I like maps and I liked this.

[Robin Koogle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standout.

Dizzy and feeling like I need to read it all over again, but not so sure I'm ready. There are several lines I don't think I'll ever forget.

[Clive Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly inventive theatre. Made me want to read the original stories, which are sadly out of print.

[Dramat💗 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
Nie wiem o co chodzi ale buja

[Joyce · Rating 1 out of 5]

one of those plays whose power presumably (hopefully!) resides in its actual performance and so falls flat on the page

[culiecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine i just thought there was more they couldve done but i think im biased as i read this for school

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the book for a Complicité stage adaptation, I kept thinking of how much nicer it would be to see it on stage so that I could see how a character was emerging from a bucket or books were flying like birds.