In 2008, Gecko re-adapted Gogol’s The Overcoat in a vivid and humorous way. The Overcoat took the stage of Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009 and was highly praised by audience and critics. This award-winning drama came to China for the first time in June 2010, and the four performances in National Centre for the Performing Arts arouse a lot of applause. This November, British Council is bringing this excellent production back to China again, together with Magique (Beijing). Overcoat will be touring to Beijiing, Xi’an, Wuhan and Shenzhen.

Organizers: British Council, Magique (Beijing)

Touring dates and Cities:
5-7 November, Beijing, Capital Theatre
10 November, Xi’an, People’s Theatre
13 November, Wuhan, Zhongnan Theatre
19-20 November, Shenzhen, Youth Place Theatre



With their trade-mark inventive style, award-winning Gecko creates a fantasy of love, greed and desire using comedy, cinematic imagery, movement and evocative music.

Gecko takes the unruly spirit of Gogol’s irreverent masterpiece and creates its own intoxicating journey. A downbeat draughtsman is fixated on a new coat – and, ultimately, the unobtainable girl at the desk next to him. His thoughts spill out into everyday life, blurring reality with grotesque fantasy to present a love story – and a vivid critique of modern consumption.

Gecko’s The Overcoat magnifies the atmosphere of Gogol’s short story; his ‘department’ becomes an office playground with floating desks and an apparent labyrinth of corridors representing the repetitive, bureaucratic routine.  The humdrum is juxtaposed with the magical inner-world of the underdog protagonist, Akkaki’s extraordinary imagination and determination to win the affection of the girl of his dreams and change his position in the world.



“Hauntingly and recklessly brilliant”    --Sunday Times

“Dazzlingly inventive”   --Guardian



The Overcoat Team:

Directed by Amit Lahav
Design by Ti Green
Lighting Design by James Farncombe
Music byDave Price
Sound Design by Dan Steele
Assistant Director: Rich Rusk
Creative Advisor: Helen Baggett
Producer: Kate Sparshatt

About Gecko

Gecko was founded in 2001 by Amit Lahav and Al Nedjari. Their coming together was fuelled by a shared response to theatre which for years had left them feeling somewhat dulled and uninspired. Instead, Lahav and Nedjari wanted to arrest their audience’s imagination, awaken their senses and fill them with energy and vitality. From their very first conversations about making theatre, there seemed little doubt that they wanted to explore work that was physical. By that, they mean the exploration of movement that involves great athleticism, physical contact and endurance.