And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers

RBP Rorschach, Chicago

About the Show

Fernando Arrabal’s rarely produced
examination of the triumph of the human spirit. Influenced by the true stories of
prisoners in Franco’s Spain, And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers invites
the audience to partake in a ceremonial communion with the actors, as they relive the
physical and psychological pain of four political prisoners, as well as celebrate their
inextinguishable hopes and dreams.

The audience is literally touched by the actors as they are led into the space in which
they will participate in a communal ceremony celebrating hope while acknowledging the
conflicting nature of man’s primal tendencies. The
thin line between actor and character, dream and reality, and victim and aggressor are
all blurred as a cacophony of images, sounds, and Arrabal’s poetry engulf the audience
and actors alike in this experimental work.