Gecko
| Creator: | Amit Lahav |
| Starring: | Chris Evans, Anna Finkel, Ryen Perkins‐Gangnes, Amit Lahav and Katie Lusby |
| Set design: | Rhys Jarman and Amit Lahav |
| Lighting design: | Chris Swain and Amit Lahav |
| Original music: | Dave Price |
| Associate director: | Rich Rusk |
| Sound design: | Enzo Appetecchia |
| Costume supervisor: | Amy Cook |
| Technical manager: | Matthew Hales |
| Company director: | Tanya Stephenson |
| Lighting director: | Gareth Green |
| Musicians: | Dave Price, Ben Hales, Sam Burgess, Al Cherry and Finn Peters |
| Vocalist: | Georgina Roberts |
| Producer: | Rosalind Wynn |
| Head of production: | Nathan Johnson |
| With the support of: | Arts Council England and Ipswich Borough Council |
| Jointly commissioned by: | New Wolsey Theatre in collaboration with Warwick Arts Centre and DanceEast |
| Original idea developed in collaboration with: | Kanopy Dance and the University of Wisconsin |
The presentation of the play in Spain is supported by the British Council |
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“A type of delirium that unsettles with poetic effect”.The Guardian
With over 15 years of international experience, Gecko can boast of being one of the most respected and praised physical theatre companies on the international circuit thanks to surprising productions likeTaylor’s Dummies, The Race and The Arab and the Jew, all of which enjoyed long runs on stages around the world. This is also the case with Missing which, since its premiere in 2012 has been performed in Russia, Georgia, Malta, Colombia, Mexico and several cities around the United Kingdom. In 2015, during a sting at London's Battersea Arts Centre, the set was destroyed in a fire and had to be rebuilt in barely eight days, which was achieved with the help of supporters, so that its international tour could continue.
Acclaimed by the likes of The Guardian and The Times, Missing is a creation based on memory and identity and on how our past moulds the type of person we are. The play is a journey in the mind of Lilly, a normal woman who remembers her wedding day, the flamenco lessons, the parties and her parents' roots: a series of disjointed facts to which the spectator will attach significance depending on their own experiences. "The truth is that it’s not important to me what the public think. My hope is that there is a profound emotional connection and that their perspective of their world changes in some way”, explains the artistic director Amit Lahav, who is known for his exuberant and poetic productions.
Born in Israel but raised in London, Lahav trained alongside veterans like Lindsay Kemp and David Glass and was involved in drama projects with street children in Southeast Asia before founding this group. Throughout his career he has developed his own language that puts the emphasis on emotion, musicality, breathing and physical work. The visual power of his creations is another feature of his work that is often highlighted by critics. "For me, theatre requires time and patience. Often during the early performances of our plays, people describe Gecko's work as spectacular or technically dazzling. But I'm not interested in the spectacular. I know how to make the spectacular and it’s not hard. The difficulty is to make something meaningful, and which contains many meanings”, says this meticulous creator whose last work The Wedding earned rave reviews from the British press.