Jan McNulty Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2023 PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS Factory International today announces the 2023 edition of Manchester International Festival (MIF) from 29 June to 16 July. Working with partners regionally and across the globe, the wide-ranging programme of original new work by an array of international artists will take place in venues and spaces around the city and at Factory International’s much-anticipated new home, which opens its doors for the first time for the Festival, in advance of its official opening in October. Tickets for MIF23 are on sale to Factory International members from 28 March and on general sale 30 March. PERFORMANCE COMMISSIONS FOR THE 2023 FESTIVAL INCLUDE: Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight bring the dystopian world of Kay Dick’s masterpiece They to life in the John Rylands Library The world premiere of a new interpretation of Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta’s cult 1977 book The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions from Philip Venables and Ted Huffman Dance company L-E-V and London-based record label Young come together to present a night of dance and music hosted in Manchester’s iconic New Century Hall night club with music throughout from club culture icon Ben UFO All Right. Good Night. - an exploration into loss from award-winning German theatre group Rimini Protokoll The world premiere of Kimber Lee’s award winning play, untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play directed by Roy Alexander Weise in collaboration with Royal Exchange Theatre, Young Vic Theatre and Headlong KAGAMI - a groundbreaking mixed-reality concert event created by legendary composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto in collaboration with Tin Drum We Cut Through Dust - A collaboration between Blast Theory and Manchester Street Poem takes audiences on a walk through the city into the future Combining photography, choreography and theatre choreo-photolist Benji Reid will create live photographs in front of an audience in Find Your Eyes. Award-winning cabaret legend Justin Vivian Bond headlines a night of trans excellence~ Manchester Collective And Slung Low Present a vibrant new staging of Benjamin Britten’s community opera, Noah’s Flood featuring Lemn Sissay live as the voice of God and 180 schoolchildren as every bird and beast under the sun Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Factory International & Manchester International Festival John McGrath said: “From the radical and agenda setting to the purest of celebrations, MIF23’s programme covers a huge range of art forms and styles - from a ritual on the banks of a newly uncovered river, to mixed reality from one of Japan’s greatest composers. A genuine melting pot of creativity where artists share their ideas with each other and the public, the Festival will once again take the temperature of our times, and imagine possibilities for the future.” For the full festival programme, please visit factoryinternational.orgThey Imagine a near-future where creative expression is outlawed, all art eradicated and any resistance takes enormous courage. Would it be enough to go on quietly creating for yourself? To memorise your favourite passages before all books disappear? What is art without an audience or a debate? For MIF23, Kay Dick’s dystopian masterpiece They: A Sequence of Unease, is brought to life as a live performance created by Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight. First published in 1977, the novel went out of print for decades but was recently re-discovered and feels more relevant than ever. Step through the doors of the iconic John Rylands Library, and into a dystopian world – as Maxine performs an afterhours reading of They. The adaptation is their latest Festival collaboration, following The Masque of Anarchy, The Skriker and The Nico Project, which celebrated radical acts and artists. They marks the trio’s first production as the newly-formed company MAAT – a collective adventure to make new work in conversation with Music, Art, Activism and Theatre. Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom, Imogen Knight said: “In a climate of escalating culture wars, the erosion of Arts in education and a continuing political disregard for the value of creativity in building a fair society, They speaks truth to power. It celebrates the importance of making art as a means of survival and resistance and rich inspiration to make something for the times we find ourselves in right now.” Creative Team Kay Dick - Original Writer Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight - Adaptation Commissioned and produced by Factory International for Manchester International Festival. The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions Composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman present a world premiere musical adaptation of Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta’s cult 1977 book The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, reimagining the history of the world through a queer lens with a cast of actors, singers and musicians. The ultimate anarchic bedtime story in which fables and myths celebrate queer community and conjure up a world on the brink of revolution with battle re-enactments, cheerleading, and all night raves mixed with lute songs and court dances. Step into a world where fables and myths celebrate queer community, friendship and pleasure: a manifesto for survival for the marginalised everywhere. A joyful celebration of queer experience that's both vulnerable and provocative. A space where deeply personal stories are shared and soothed through community. In this musical adaptation the original text is taken on a kaleidoscopic journey by a cast of actors, singers and musicians. Philip Venables said: “Faggots and their Friends is both a joyful and sinister bedtime story, a playful re-telling of 'how we got where we are today', with song, music, dancing, improvisation, storytelling and heaps of glorious faggotry. I’ve never made anything as free, as open and celebratory as this before, so I’m incredibly excited to present it to Manchester audiences.” Creative Team Philip Venables Music Ted Huffman Direction & Text Yshani Perinpanayagam Music Direction Theo Clinkard Choreography & Costume Design Rosie Elnile Set Design Simon Hendry Sound Design Scottee Dramaturg Commissioned by Factory International, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU Skirball. Produced by Factory International for Manchester International Festival. Under exclusive licence and courtesy by Nightboat Books, New York. R.O.S.E L-E-V & Young with Ben UFO Dance company L-E-V and London-based record label Young come together to present a night of dance and music hosted in Manchester’s iconic New Century Hall night club. R.O.S.E brings the dark hedonism of Sharon Eyal’s choreography and artistry of the L-E-V dancers off the stage and onto the dancefloor. The evening features new music curated by Young for L-E-V. Club culture icon Ben UFO DJs throughout, playing for both the dancers during performances and the audience between. R.O.S.E is for everyone – an invitation to watch, to dance, to come together on the floor and celebrate the freedom, energy and intimacy that run through club culture and dance.Itis a collaboration between L-E-V led by Sharon Eyal, an award-winning choreographer, and her artistic director and long-term collaborator Gai Behar, and the London-based multi-arts and record label Young, founded by Caius Pawson. L-E-V are known the world-over for their intoxicating and boundary-blurring choreography, while Young are long-time collaborators of MIF. Young artists have provided unforgettable MIF moments over the years; from The xx performing 18 intimate shows at a secret location throughout MIF13 to FKA Twigs inviting fans behind the scenes of her MIF15 show – and from Jamie xx composing the score for MIF15’s highly-acclaimed Tree of Codes and Sampha playing an intimate sell-out gig at MIF17. L-E-V & Young with Ben UFOCommissioned by Factory International and Sadler’s Wells Produced by Factory International for Manchester International Festival All Right. Good Night. One of the biggest mysteries in the history of modern travel merges with a personal story from Helgard Haug, director and co-founder of the award-winning German theatre group Rimini Protokoll in All right. Good night. In 2014, a flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members took off from Kuala Lumpur, heading towards Beijing but the plane disappeared from radar. Shortly after the disappearance, Haug’s own father developed dementia. This powerful UK premiere is a meditation on disappearance, loss and how to deal with uncertainty. Performed live with a haunting contemporary score from Barbara Morgenstern and arranger Davor Vincze, this poignant production makes its UK premiere at MIF23. Expect a captivating new performance from Berlin-based Rimini Protokoll, one of Europe’s leading contemporary theatre groups – and the team behind MIF19’s visionary Utopolis. Director and co-founder of Rimini Protokoll Helgard Haug said: “We started with the question: What happens to the theatre when the implicitness of human presence disappears in a performance? What remains then? Only thoughts and memory? The naked theatre apparatus? The music?" Creative Team Written and Directed by Helgard Haug Music by Barbara Morgenstern A production of Rimini Apparat in co-production with HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Volkstheater Wien, Factory International for Manchester International Festival, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, PACT Zollverein. untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play ‘Very well. I will do what I must do, Mother.’ Winner of the inaugural Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019, International Award, the powerful world premiere of Kimber Lee’s untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play is directed by Roy Alexander Weise, and designed by Moi Tran for the Royal Exchange Theatre as part of MIF23 Kim is having one of those days. A terrible, very bad, no-good kind of day, and the worst part is...it all feels so familiar. Caught up in a never-ending cycle of events, she looks for the exit but the harder she tries, the worse it gets and she begins to wonder: who's writing this story? She makes a break for it, smashing through a hundred years of bloody narratives that all end the same way. Can she find a way out before it's too late? The anticipated production, co-produced with the Young Vic and Headlong, jumps through time – wriggling inside of and then exploding lifetimes of repeating Asian stereotypes, wrestling history for the right to control your own narrative in a world that thinks it can tell you who you are. Kimber Lee said: "For me, this play is a way to transform the provenance of very old pain into a joyful shout, a burst of laughter, and a journey to freedom. At its core, the play celebrates the unbreakable thing at the core of a human being, this thing that comes alive through connection if we're willing to reckon with the truth, to actually see one another. These past few years have cost us all so much, not least the ability to gather together and laugh, and Roy and I are absolutely thrilled to finally be able to invite audiences into the hilarious rollercoaster ride we're constructing, to laugh out loud fully and without reserve in a room full of people -- come thru!" Following its Manchester run, the play will transfer to the Young Vic later in the autumn. Creative Team Kimber Lee - Writer Roy Alexander Weise - Director Moi Tran - Designer Produced by Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International for Manchester International Festival, Young Vic Theatre and Headlong. KAGAMI by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Tin Drum A groundbreaking mixed-reality concert event created by legendary composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto in collaboration with Tin Drum KAGAMI represents a new kind of concert, fusing dimensional moving photography with the real world to create a never-before-experienced mixed reality presentation. Audiences are invited to wear optically transparent devices to view the virtual Sakamoto performing on piano alongside dimensional art aligned with the music. Presented in surround sound, the experience is both collective and individual, inviting observers to connect to the work – and each other – throughout. While audiences may view the show in a seated format, they are also free to wander and explore during the hour-long event. Sakamoto is an international sensation, with a body of work spanning from electronic to classical composition and performance, including original scores for Oscar-winning films such as The Last Emperor and The Revenant. KAGAMI brings Sakamoto into collaboration with Tin Drum – the world’s premier studio producing content for mixed reality devices. Reflecting on the collaboration, Sakamoto writes: There is, in reality, a virtual me. This virtual me will not age, and will continue to play the piano for years, decades, centuries. Will there be humans then?Will the squids that will conquer the earth after humanity listen to me?What will pianos be to them?What about music?Will there be empathy there? Empathy that spans hundreds of thousands of years.Ah, but the batteries won't last that long. “In my mind, Ryuichi Sakamoto may be the most complete artist of all time. His whole career has been a relentless pursuit of innovation and beauty,” says KAGAMI Director Todd Eckert. “With KAGAMI, he is presented in concert through mixed reality––a recorded event presented in real time. This makes him the first immortal musician, in a way, and I cannot imagine anyone more fitting for the distinction.” Produced by Tin Drum, in association with The Shed and Factory International for Manchester International Festival. We Cut Through Dust A collaboration between Blast Theory and Manchester Street Poem, We Cut Through Dust takes audiences on a walk through the city into the future guided by a series of phone calls. Set in a world not too far from now, the walk starts at a location where your mobile phone triggers a giant mechanical sign to open, and the story begins. At a time when everyone has experienced their own kind of science fiction, We Cut Through Dust hovers somewhere between the real and the fantastical, where something is not quite right. Blast Theory is an artist group which makes interactive work exploring social and political questions, and Manchester Street Poem is a co-produced art collective whose work reflects the personal experiences of Manchester’s marginalised communities. Ju Row Farr, Artist and Co-Founder of Blast Theory said: “We’ve always been huge fans of MIF and so we’re thrilled to be taking our latest project, We Cut Through Dust, to Manchester this summer. We Cut Through Dust has been made in collaboration with Manchester Street Poem who are an amazing group of people and a force of nature. Working with them is taking us to a new creative places.” Creative Team Blast Theory and Manchester Street Poem Commissioned by Factory International for Manchester International Festival Produced by Blast Theory Find Your Eyes Known for award-winning Afro-futurist images that seem to defy gravity, Benji Reid invites us to watch him at play as he creates live photography in this genre-bending show, Find Your Eyes. A choreo-photolist, Benji combines photography, choreography and theatre to make striking and surreal images which speak to his experiences as a Black man in the UK today. The world premiere of his new show at MIF23 exposes the making of this work – a behind-the-scenes look at Benji’s life and practice where the stage becomes a studio. Choreographing three performers, Benji will create live photographs in front of an audience, interlacing the action with recollection of resonant moments from his life. Using photography as a lifeline and anchor point to explore personal struggles, this is a show about the artistic process. Bold and vulnerable, full of light and shade, Find Your Eyes is an ode to reinvention. Benji Reid said: “This performance is a culmination of all my practices, from popping to contemporary to physical theatre to directing to photography. This work is a dance between all forms framed as a meditation in the artist’s studio.” Creative Team Benji Reid - Concept, Direction, Photography and Text Andrew Wong - Creative Associate & Sound Designer Ti Green - Set Designer Liam Hopkins - 3D Designer & Maker Saskia Lenaerts - Costume Designer Benji Reid & Performers - Choreography Tupac Martir - Lighting Designer Keisha Thompson - Dramaturg Cast Benji Reid Slate Hemedi, Salomé Pressac and Yvonne Smink - Performers Andrew Wong - DJ Lee Grey - Stage Manager & Camera Assistant Commissioned by Factory International, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam and Black Achievement Month and Taipe Performing Arts Center Produced by Factory International for Manchester International Festival. Justin Vivian Bond: One Night in Trans Vegas A living legend of cabaret headlines a night of trans excellence. Trans pioneer and icon of the cabaret scene, Justin Vivian Bond (or Viv to friends) has toured worldwide – headlining the likes of Sydney Opera House and New York’s Carnegie Hall. For one night only, Viv touches down in Manchester with a raucous and seductive evening of songs and stories – along with some very special guests. A true master of their craft, expect wit, warmth and gorgeous vocals, dotted with backstage anecdotes and tall tales straight from the streets of New York – and anywhere else Viv has whipped up a storm. One Night In Trans Vegas sees MIF partner with Trans Creative, the UK’s leading trans arts festival for the grand finale of their 2023 edition. Culminating in a trans-led takeover of Festival Square, Viv’s appearance is the jewel in the crown of a night of trans joy and excellence. As a performer, both on and Off-Broadway, Viv has received some of the highest accolades in theatre – winning an Obie and a Bessie, as well as being nominated for a Tony Award. The New Yorker didn’t call them ‘the greatest cabaret artist of their generation’ for nothing. A tireless campaigner for trans rights, they also pioneered the use of the pronoun Mx. Produced by TransCreative and Factory International for Manchester International Festival Noah’s Flood In this vibrant staging of Benjamin Britten’s community opera, director Alan Lane tells a story of hope and survival, featuring Lemn Sissay live as the voice of God and 180 schoolchildren as every bird and beast under the sun. When Britten wrote this show, he was determined to create parts for as many performers as possible – no matter their musical experience. True to this vision, a cast of world-class musicians will join forces with an army of performers from communities in Holbeck and Manchester to bring this ancient story to life. Alongside the orchestra of Manchester Collective, the score features a motley crew of recorders, wind machines, mugs that you hit with sticks, bugles, an organ and a trio of belting hymns for everyone to join in with. Family-friendly and open to all, this is a show about the joys of working together and using the tools you have around you to get creative – your voice included. Adam Szabo, Artistic Director & Chief Executive, Manchester Collective said: “Noah's Flood is a totally unique work – it’s part of a rich operatic tradition, but with sharing, inclusion and community at its beating heart. A joyful spirit of collaboration runs through the piece, making it the ideal debut for Manchester Collective and Slung Low to perform at MIF 2023. This production will showcase British opera at its very finest, made in the north, for the people, by the people.” Alan Lane, Artistic Director, Slung Low said: “It’s rare to get the chance to work with so many partners who share your values but with Noah’s Flood we are so lucky. All of us working on this project, in our own ways, believe passionately in the need for the arts to reach every part of our communities, of our cities and of our nation. And so from Holbeck, an amazing place in South Leeds full of creativity and magic but with the worst health outcomes of the any ward in England and facing so many of the challenges that blight too much of Britain, 180 of the most creative primary schoolchildren will don animal costumes and make their way to perform with the amazing Manchester Collective and Lemn Sissay in the most impressive, newest theatre in the UK. And if that isn’t living your best values through the work that you make then I don’t know what is.” Noah’s Flood is a Slung Low and Manchester Collective co-production in association with Leeds People’s Theatre, Ingram Road Primary School, LEEDS 2023 and Factory International for Manchester International Festival. The production will also play in Leeds on 7 July. LISTINGS Tickets for MIF23 are on sale to Factory International members from 28 March and on general sale 30 March. They By Kay Dick Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight John Rylands Library 6 - 9 July Preview performance: 5 July, 9pm Press performance: 6 July, 10pm 7 - 9 July, 7pm and 9pm The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions By Ted Huffman and Philip Venables Based on the cult fantasy novel by Larry Mitchell HOME 28 June – 1 July at 7.30pm, 2 July at 3pm Press performance: 29 June at 7.30pm Age guidance 16+ R.O.S.E.L-E-V and Young with Ben UFONew Century Hall13 – 16 July, 9pmPress performance: 14 July, 9pm All Right. Good Night. Rimini Protokoll HOME 6 July at 7pm, 7 and 8 July at 7.30pm Press performance 6 July at 7pm untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play By Kimber Lee Royal Exchange Theatre 24 June – 22 July, 7.30pm Tues - Sat, in addition Wed and Sat, 2.30pm and Sun, 2pm Press performance: 30 June, 7.30pm KAGAMIRyuichi Sakamoto and Tin DrumVersa Manchester Studios29 June – 9 July, 7pm, 9.30pm Tues - Sun, 1pm and 3.30pm in addition Sat - SunPress performance: 30 June, 11am We Cut Through Dust Blast Theory and Manchester Street Poem Manchester City Centre 29 June – 16 July, Tues - Sun 11.30am - 11pm, Sat - Sun 7am - 11pm Press performance: 30 June at 12.30pm Find Your Eyes Benji Reid Manchester Academy 12 – 16 July 12 - 15 July 7.30pm, in addition 15 July 2.30pm and 16 July, 2pm Press performance: 13 July, 7.30pm Justin Vivian Bond: One Night In Trans Vegas 6 July Noah’s Flood Manchester Collective and Slung Low 9 July, 3pm NOTES TO EDITORS About Manchester International Festival & Factory International Factory International is the organisation behind both Manchester International Festival (MIF), and the landmark new space which will open in 2023, creating a global destination for arts music and culture in the heart of Manchester. Factory International will commission and present a year-round programme of original creative work, music and special events at its new venue, online, and internationally through its network of co-commissioners and partners. It will also stage the city-wide Manchester International Festival (MIF) every other year at its new home and in spaces and venues across Greater Manchester. Factory International builds on the legacy of Manchester International Festival, one of the world’s leading arts festivals, and the only one entirely focused on the commissioning and producing of ambitious new work. Staged every two years in Manchester since 2007, MIF has commissioned, produced and presented world premieres by artists including Marina Abramović, Damon Albarn, Laurie Anderson, Björk, Boris Charmatz, Jeremy Deller, Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah, Elbow, Tracey Emin, Akram Khan, David Lynch, Ibrahim Mahama, Wayne McGregor, Steve McQueen, Marta Minujín, Cillian Murphy, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Yoko Ono, Thomas Ostermeier, Maxine Peake, Punchdrunk, Skepta, Christine Sun Kim, The xx, and Robert Wilson. These and other world-renowned artists from different art forms and backgrounds create dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking new work reflecting the spectrum of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture, staged across Greater Manchester – from theatres, galleries and concert halls to railway depots, churches and car parks. Working closely with cultural organisations globally, whose financial and creative input helps to make many of these projects possible, much of the work made at MIF also goes on to travel the world, reaching an audience of 1.6 million people in more than 30 countries to date. The design of Factory International’s landmark new cultural space is led by Ellen van Loon of the world-leading practice Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). Built with flexibility in mind, the building is based around large, open, adaptable spaces that can be constantly reconfigured, enabling artists to develop and create large-scale work of invention and ambition, of a kind not seen anywhere else in the world. Driven by the same interests and ambitions that defines MIF, artists will be encouraged to create work in new ways, to collaborate across disciplines and blur the boundaries between art and popular culture. Audiences will be able to enjoy the broadest range of art forms from major exhibitions and concerts to intimate performances and immersive experiences, while the venue’s outside areas will come alive with pop-up performances, events and markets, creating a thriving new riverside destination for all. Manchester residents play a key role in Factory International, participating in flagship commissions, co-designing programmes of activity, and shaping the organisation through involvement in its public forums. Skills, training and development opportunities for local people are provided through the Factory Academy, helping to build the technicians, producers and other talent that will bring the future alive, and providing opportunities for careers in Manchester’s ever-growing Creative Industries. Factory International will strengthen the city’s status as a national and international centre for culture, creativity and innovation, as well as a major visitor destination. The economic impact of Factory International will be considerable, creating or supporting up to 1,500 direct and indirect jobs and adding £1.1 billion to the city’s economy over a decade. The venue’s development is led by Manchester City Council, with backing from HM Government and Arts Council England. factoryinternational.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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