★★★★★ “This is theatre to make the heart soar and the soul sing: inventive, playful, joyous, sexy, a bit crazy and entirely heart-rending.” – What’s On Stage
★★★★ “Gorgeous touring production of Emma Rice’s intimate and moving exploration of art and love.” – The Stage
★★★★ “Gloriously romantic.” – The Times
★★★★ “Deeply personal and deeply felt… A whirl of colour and surreal humour.” – The Guardian
★★★★ “Wraps you in the soaring giddiness and deep solace of overwhelming love.” – Financial Times
★★★★★ “A riot of colour, filled with music and movement that eagerly brings the couple to life in front of your eyes; a vision of expressionism in many glorious forms.” – Broadway World
★★★★ “A visual gem… Kneehigh’s typically high-octane approach evokes the challenges facing an artist.” – The Stage
★★★★★ “A heartfelt celebration of the endurance of art and love through the darkest times of persecution and war… A mixture of song, memory and movement, this performance of playful intimacy is theatre at its most expressive and poetic.” – North West End
★★★★ “It’s a show that’s it’s easy to fall in love with – and why would you want to resist that sweet temptation?” – Manchester Theatre Awards
★★★★★ “A striking non-romanticised view of love and art in a stunningly sensual and passionate way… Beautifully told… This is a truly unmissable show.” – Upstaged Manchester
★★★★ “With its dizzying fusion of text, music, movement, dance and design, [this show] captivates the soul and ravishes the senses.” – Frankly My Dear
★★★★ “The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk is a gentle and comforting love story that convincingly and rationally puts across the otherwise inexplicable emotion of being so in love with someone that you just don’t care what happens around you.” – The Greater Manchester Reviewer
★★★★ “A kaleidoscope of life, laughter and loss.” – Underdog Reviews
“A show which feeds the senses… The narrative is interesting, both as a love story and a political history, but it is the sensual delights of Flying Lovers that will stay with me… The perfect harmony of colour, movement and music.” – Unrestricted Views
“Kneehigh Theatre Company and Bristol Old Vic have created this masterpiece of theatre to challenge, inspire and evoke ‘joyful anarchy’… Very rarely do you get a piece of theatre which you can call flawless… A piece of theatre which makes you feel like your soul has been replenished and your heart soars. I was left wanting more as the lights came down.” – Reviewer Number 9
“Marc Antolin and Daisy Maywood, the two principals, are superb dancers as well as actors [who] give it all they’ve got… A splash of splenetic colour – go see!” – Jildy Sauce
“A beautiful piece of theatre that uses diverse methods of telling a story and somehow manages to weave them together seamlessly in a way that Kneehigh at its best does so well… Catch it before it ends its current tour.” – British Theatre Guide
“Incorporating art, biography, history, politics, domestic drama and abstract theatre, this production tells a detailed story and is bound to make you smile. After all, as Chagall seemed to purport (and as those familiar with the film Notting Hill will know): Happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat.” – Harpy Magazine
“Head over heels in love with The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk at HOME.” – Viva Magazine
“The central performances are flawless. Marc Artolin and Daisy Maywood are utterly believable and sing, dance and emote with a form of enhanced theatricality that perfectly fits this dreamy, magical piece.” – Live Art Alive
★★★★ “The love, marriage and perpetual journeys of artist Marc Chagall and the writer Bella Rosenfeld are celebrated with grace and affection.” – Culturewhisper
★★★★ “Kneehigh’s unabashedly romantic, totally adorable play.” – Time Out
★★★★★ “An unforgettable flight of imagination.” – Jewish Renaissance Magazine
★★★★ “Captivating, in both visual and emotional terms.” – The Herald
“Enchanting.” – Los Angeles Times
Perhaps you’ve seen them floating over a Russian village? Or perhaps you’ve seen her toppling forward, arms full of wild flowers, as he arches above her head and steals a kiss.
Partners in life and on canvas, Marc and Bella are immortalised as the picture of romance. But whilst on canvas they flew, in life they walked through some of the most devastating times in history.
Daniel Jamieson’s The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk traces this young couple as they navigate the Pogroms, the Russian Revolution, and each other. Emma Rice’s production is drawn in a theatrical language as fluid as Chagall’s paintings, and woven throughout with music and dance inspired by Russian Jewish tradition.