Project Dictator

Project Dictator (or “Why Democracy Is Overrated And I Don’t Miss It At All”)

Beautiful and bonkers – it’s the clown show about totalitarianism we never knew we needed.

A riotous double-act are reunited for one final show – on pain of death. 

Years ago they were banned, separated and ‘re-educated’. Now, they’re back and couldn’t be happier to star in a celebration of the State and its Glorious History. Their choice? To die on stage – or off it. Hahaha. 

Devised by award-winning company Rhum + Clay with Hamish MacDougall, this is a darkly comic world premiere about artistic expression, complicity and the power of a damn good state-censored variety performance.

Following global success with The War of the Worlds, Artistic Directors Matt Wells and Julian Spooner perform, accompanied live by Syrian composer Khaled Kurbeh. Project Dictator was created in collaboration with international artists living under authoritarian regimes, whose anonymous contributions inspire and shape the show. 

“A devised performance that is as hilarious as it is heart-breaking, as deeply intimate as it is universal. Project Dictator is a breakneck guide to totalitarianism, taking in tin-pot military coups, the vapid platitudes of the modern electoral campaign, the rise of populism and the debasement of the human spirit—it is also very funny!” British Theatre Guide.