The Return of the The Wanderer: 11 and 12

“For us to feel truly concerned theatre needs to be very close to our lives, but to capture our imagination its elements must always be fresh and unexpected. Hampaté Bâ’s story unites these two conditions. It offers no answers, but it brings to life a mystery.”

Peter Brook has been one of the most dynamic directors for over fifty years. Having astonished British audiences with his radical stagings of Shakespeare and his brutal Theatre of Cruelty, he eventually migrated to Paris, where he began to consider the global meanings of theatre. In 1988, he brought his epic Mahabharata to Glasgow, discovering the space that would become Tramway and leaving behind the majestic red wall that still dominates the building.

After more than a decade’s absence, Brook is returning to Tramway with 11 and 12. The cryptic title refers to an argument about the numbers’ hidden, spiritual meaning that led an African state to violence and war, yet this adaptation of African author Amadou Hampaté Bâ struggles as much with theology as human cruelty.

Like much of Brook’s theatre in the past twenty five years, it approaches universal themes, draws influences from around the world yet without losing sight of a common humanity that transcends culture. The international cast reflects Brooke’s globalised vision, and the script unflinchingly studies the broadest philosophical questions.

The story is based on the life of Tierno Bokar, a Sufi (Muslim mystic or ascetic) in a small Malian village. In a time of strife, Bokar strove to maintain and teach patience and compassion. As a Sufi, he represented Islam’s most mystical movement, and his life became a teaching summed up in his famous words: “The only struggle that really concerns me is the one that is aimed at our own weaknesses. This struggle, alas, has nothing to do with the war that so many of Adam’s sons wage in the name of a God they claim to love deeply, but whom they love badly – because they destroy a part of his creation.”

11 and 12 epitomises Brook’s enthusiasm for religious thought, as well as offering a rare chance to see a master of theatre interpreting a profound narrative. While Brook demonstrated early in his career that he could revolutionise the way that British theatre was conceived, even in his later years he is restlessly challenging the possibilities of performance.