A group of people in dark uniforms pose around a large framed photo of a baboon under a spotlight, with one person holding handcuffs next to the photo.
A row of police officers in uniform stand at attention in a dimly lit setting, facing forward.
Six people in police uniforms stand close together, some with dramatic red face paint resembling blood. The lighting is dark and theatrical, evoking an intense, emotional scene.

Romeo Castellucci: Bros

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ABOUT

Men pulled from the street, none of them actors, put on police uniforms and agreed to one rule: obey. Commands arrive through hidden earpieces, and they follow them, whatever comes, with no rehearsal and no way to know what the next order will be. Out of that pact, Romeo Castellucci builds Bros, a monumental and genuinely unsettling farce about obedience, force, and how quickly a person hands responsibility to someone else’s voice.

The result is hallucinatory, a run of images at once slapstick and terrifying, laced with pop culture, Christian iconography, and the visual language of the nightly news. Castellucci is one of the towering figures of European theater, and this long-overdue U.S. appearance is his art at full scale: overwhelming to look at, impossible to settle, asking where violence begins and who agrees to carry it out.

ADVISORY
Contains violence, loud sounds, and intense imagery.

RUN TIME
1 hour and 30 minutes

Three reasons to go

MORE THAN A CLASSIC – A U.S. premiere by one of the towering figures of European theater, a Golden Lion winner whose images are unlike anyone else’s.

PROVOCATIVE – A genuinely combustible piece, recruiting local performers wherever it travels and dividing the rooms it plays.

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES – An urgent, visceral meditation on obedience and authoritarianism that refuses easy comfort.

THE ARTIST

Romeo Castellucci

Romeo Castellucci

CREATIVE CREDITS

Concept: Romeo Castellucci
Direction: Romeo Castellucci
Music: Scott Gibbons
Cast: Valer Dellakeza, Luca Nava, Sergio Scarlatella, and with men from the street
Collaboration in Dramaturgy: Piersandra Di Matteo
Assistant Directors: Silvano Voltolina, Filippo Ferraresi
Banners Written By: Claudia Castellucci
Technical Director: Eugenio Resta
Stage Technician: Andrei Benchea
Light Operator: Andrea Sanson
Sound Technician: Claudio Tortorici
Costumes: Chiara Venturini
Stage Sculptures and Automations: Plastikart Studio Amoroso & Zimmermann
Costume Creation: Grazia Bagnaresi
Latin Translation: Stefano Bartolini

Production Management: Benedetta Briglia
Production and Tour: Giulia Colla
Promotion and Distribution: Gilda Biasini
Organisation: Caterina Soranzo
Technical Headquarters Team: Carmen Castellucci, Francesca Di Serio, Gionni Gardini
Administration: Michela Medri, Elisa Bruno, Simona Barducci
Economic Consultant: Massimiliano Coli
Production: Societas
Coproduction:
Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Printemps des Comédiens Montpellier, LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg – Scène européenne
Temporada Alta, Manège Maubeuge, scène nationale transfrontalière, Le Phénix, scène Nationale Valenciennes, MC93 — maison de la culture de Seine-Saint-Denis, Bobigny, ERT Emilia Romagna Teatro (Italy), Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Holland Festival, Triennale Milano Teatro, National Taichung Theater

GALLERY

PRESS

A profound, visually stunning performance.

Le Figaro (on BROS) Le Figaro (on BROS)

Castellucci is a towering visual genius.

The Guardian (on BROS) The Guardian (on BROS)

An awe-inspiring, existential farce.

Onassis Stegi (on BROS) Onassis Stegi (on BROS)

BEYOND THE STAGE

Culturally curious? We’ve got you. For each NYU Skirball production, we create extracurricular engagement resources to support the University’s larger academic mission. Whether you’re a student at NYU or a student of life, please explore our Prep School study guides, scholarly essays by NYU faculty, and online artists’ conversations to learn about our artists, their creative process, and all kinds of insights into the shows.

SUPPORT

NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Culture Ireland; The Shubert Foundation; Collins Building Services; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut New York with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Harkness Foundation for Dance; and Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.