The Lower Depths

Directed by Aaron Parsons 

Designed by Aldo Vazquez 

Lighting by Amy Mae 

Sound Designer/Composer Jack Drewry Gorky’s masterpiece of 1902 is brought to life here in an epic ensemble production by graduating students of Bristol School of Acting. 

Locked away from the sun, a group of thieves, fallen aristocrats, and weary dreamers pass the nights exchanging wit and heavy truths. When a mysterious pilgrim arrives spinning tales of a better world, a fragile spark of hope ignites, but can the truth survive when comfort is built on illusions? 

The Lower Depths is an unflinching but deeply compassionate study of human illusion, poverty and the determination to survive. It draws on Gorky’s own experience as an orphan at the age of 11 wandering homeless across pre-revolutionary Russia, observing a society feeding on itself; seeing the value and purpose of human life set against the dreams of the oppressed.