‘Competitive Co-operation’: Playing with Theatre de Complicite

Abstract

Clive Mendus joined Theatre de Complicite a year after its formation by Simon McBurney in 1983. Born in Cumbria in 1954, he shared classes with McBurney during training at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, before returning to Britain to develop his acting career. In this interview with NTQ Co-Editor Maria Shevtsova, held in London in December 2004, Clive Mendus discusses aspects of his work at the Lecoq School, while his account of playing with Complicite – particularly in The Street of Crocodiles (1992) and Measure for Measure (2003) – sheds light on the improvisation processes which are characteristic of the company, as well as on Mendus’s sense of himself as an actor. Measure for Measure toured Wroclaw, Madrid, Mumbai, Bangalore, Milan, Grenoble, and Berlin in 2005. Apart from accumulating a range of theatre experiences, Mendus has worked in film and television, including such television series as EastEnders and The Bill.