It’s a very sore subject around here. There are raw wounds.
It’s been just over 30 years since the Battle of the Beanfield – a brutal crackdown on the annual Stonehenge Free Festival.
Called away from policing the miners’ strike, officers enforced an injunction around the ancient stones with bloody violence and mass arrests.
Armed with a camera, a map and home-made riot gear, Breach set out to mark the anniversary with a historical re-enactment. Onstage, the same performers try to capture the 2015 Stonehenge summer solstice: there’s hot dog stands, Hare Krishnas and MDMA, as a group of young people try to connect – but it all feels a bit fake.
Blending documentary footage with new writing, Breach presents a multimedia show about state violence and national heritage.
Winner of a Total Theatre Award at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
“A swift-flowing, bright, funny, energetic piece… The pace never flags and the six young men and women are all highly watchable. The script is as witty as it is bold.” – Manchester Salon
“It is a piece of theatre that will make an impression and keep you entranced long after the end. It was a beautiful, horrific, hilarious production that gives you a new way to think of the world. Don’t fail to see this production; it is utter perfection from start to finish.” –North West End
“Breach have produced a great piece of writing and deliver some great performances to recall this recent historic event, and a surprisingly fresh perspective from not having lived through it.” – The Reviews Hub
“A stylish show that has many unsettling moments.” – Manchester Theatre Awards
“A brave and brilliant production that brings attention to something we should never have forgotten.” – The Manchester Review
★★★★ “Theatrically ambitious and boldly political.” – The Guardian
★★★★ “A truncheoning force.” – Sunday Times
★★★★ “Very funny… genuinely unsettling.” – The Stage
Supported by Arts Council England.