The South Warehouse at Aviva Studios transformed into an immersive, in-the-round venue for this late night takeover by Surround Sounds. Moody industrial ceilings, balconies for pop up performances and a circular stage for live music ensured a layout that invited movement and spontaneity.
The lineup was an eclectic curation with sets from cult Manchester band WU LYF (making a rare live return), North London’s Lex Amor, and a b2b DJ session by AFRODEUTSCHE with Jamz Supernova anchored the night. Rising talents like Reisner, Adisa Allen, Sophia Dignam (bringing jazz‑soul‑electronic fusion vibes), Che3kz, Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh, plus collective walkabouts by Ghetto Fabulous, Club Clam, The Fvck Pigs, Banksie, and Coco Cannell ensured genre-blurring, high-energy variety.
The shift to an in-the-round stage helped cultivate a sense of communal celebration with the audience more a part of the perfomance than traditional music staging often allows for. There was no break in the momentum with live sets and DJ sets ensuring the programming unfolded like a continuous rave‑meets‑festival carousel, pulling you through waves of alt‑rock, rap, jazz‑infused textures, hard‑hitting bass, and art‑club mashups.
Surround Sounds was an electrifying fusion of Manchester’s independent spirit within a slick, warehouse‑scale space. It stayed true to Sounds From the Other City’s rebellious roots while embracing bold musical and spatial experimentation. A night built on energy, inclusivity, and audacious creativity—a fitting celebration of 20 years of underground culture.
Maxine Peake in ROBIN/RED/BREAST at AVIVA STUDIOS. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
Adapted from Robin Redbreast by John Griffith Bowen
Writer Daisy Johnson
Co-Creators Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight
Director Sarah Frankcom
NORTH WAREHOUSE, AVIVA STUDIOS
ROBIN/RED/BREAST continues the highly successful collaboration between Factory International and Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight which began in 2013 with The Masque Of Anarchy. Last year’s Manchester International Festival saw Peake in a reading of the dystopian 70’s novel They which further cemented her artistic reputation as an accomplished actress and a beguilingly natural storyteller. This time the artistic team behind the new production company MAAT (Music, Art, Activism and Theatre) re-examine Robin Redbreast which first featured on the BBC in 1970 as part of the iconic Play For Today series. This piece of folk horror is uncomfortably pertinent as women are once again having to fight for their bodily autonomy and the right to make our own reproductive choices.
For any of us who grew up in a rural community there is an absolute normal in the strangeness of folklore and ritual. Cures handed down by the seventh son of a seventh son and sneaked into hospitals by desperate relatives or teenagers spat on and then blessed by a total stranger living in a remote house up the mountain as a cure for chickenpox were not at all unusual…or perhaps my upbringing was not as mundane as I have presumed. The Seventies produced a plethora of folk horror stories focusing on rural rituals especially around fertility and sacrifice which coincided with huge social revolutions for women around contraception and abortion. In this production Norah played by Maxine Peake is an independent woman who feels confident about her own choices regarding relationships, family and career. Choosing to opt out of city life after a relationship breakdown she finds herself alone in a cottage seeped in history where the rustling of mice and the whirr of wasps seem to open up crevices in time through the ancient walls. As we listen on headphones to Norah’s thoughts it is clear her sense of her own identity may be being threatened by sinister elements in the community around her.
Maxine Peake and Tyler Cameron in ROBIN/RED/BREAST at AVIVA STUDIOS. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
The staging by Lizzie Clachan is stunning in its simplicity. Walking into the cool dimness of the North Warehouse with its huge ceiling, the wooden frame of the cottage nestled on a rich earth floor feels like magically coming across a forest cathedral. All pathways leads toward it and staged in the round with audience on benches it exudes the feeling of a natural amphitheatre. The audience don headphones and are immersed in the sound of birdsong, scuttling mice and the thoughts that come racing through Norah’s mind as loneliness, lust and looming fears begin to creep in like the bindweed that invades the sanctity and safety of her cottage walls. When the febrile dancing abates and the cottage is suddenly ripped away there is nothing left but the dank, rich earth of Mother Nature merging with the prone form of Norah asleep on the forest floor.
The music by Gazelle Twin blends beautifully with the dreamy poetry of writer Daisy Johnson who has also worked on Viola’s Room, the latest immersive production by Punchdrunk. There is a very surreal feel to this production further enhanced by elements such as a female brass band who silently observe Norah and are clad in vivid red and white band uniforms that may evoke a group of Robin Redbreasts yet also a female army who may or may not protect Norah from impending threat. The langorous choreography by Imogen Knight adds to the atmosphere as we observe Norah like a character from a fairytale awaking in this cottage, going about her chores and coupling in the woods with a handsome forester.
Maxine Peake draws in the audience as she moves around her cottage home, suitably vexed as she scrubs menstrual blood from her bedsheets and later perplexed as her contraceptive cup has seemingly vanished. Listening to her flurry of thoughts through headphones makes for a potent connection to the character so when she finally speaks aloud to the audience it feels like we might really know Norah or indeed perhaps Maxine. This could be any woman and that is where the true fear lies…rising like the torrent of water that threatens to wash away homes, hopes and security like a deluge of miscarriage blood or the tumultuous waters that may drown a mother or her child in a flimsy refugee boat.
Peake is at her very best when speaking directly with an urgent softness that evokes inclusion and intimacy. Huddled in a circle on blankets the young women silently listen as she speaks of abortion choices, miscarriage traumas and the brutality of the lottery that occurs everyday in a maternity unit. Women bleed whether they abort, miscarry or give birth. They do not know if they will love unconditionally or struggle to feel anything or veer between fierce love and the overwhelming desire to put him down…whatever that may mean at any one time. In such a lottery of joy and despair it is terrifying enough to be a woman without additionally fearing others may try to enforce their choices and beliefs on us.
THE ACCOUNTANTS at AVIVA STUDIOS Image credit: Tristram Kenton
Director and Set Designer Keith Khan
THE HALL, AVIVA STUDIOS
THE ACCOUNTANTS delves into exploring the contemporary culture of modern China and India by exploding myths and throwing light upon these two vibrant countries who are becoming increasingly prominent in the 21st century. Multi-disciplinary artist Keith Khan is known for his ambitious and dramatic work that explores culture and this deep dive into the cultural worlds of these two superpowers is no exception. This hybrid of dance, sound and video is linked by an intimate thread of very human interaction played out in text and voice notes. The result is a kaleidoscopic journey that crosses continents and vast populations inundated with information from the Internet but culminates in the lasting beauty that is human beings coming together in dance and connecting in a moment where there is no distraction and each one is enough in their own right.
The first half of this ambitious production is quite literally a shock to the senses. The video designers from Manchester based art and design studio idontloveyouanymore once again showcase their imaginative and innovative designs. The vast backdrop to the stage is a projection screen that bombards with numbers, statistics, factual information and images. Either side of the stage are two giant smartphones belonging to the central characters, Liam and his favourite “non auntie” Auntie Kash. He is a young man of British/Chinese heritage visiting China and India in a bid to understand his cultural heritage and discover who he truly is as a person while she is his Mum’s close friend who is of Indian descent but has only ever lived in Britain. Josh Hart and Shobna Gulati are never on stage but their relationship plays out in their messages and voice notes as Liam explores a world where he feels increasingly frustrated at both discovering he is no longer a minority in a country but is also a cultural tourist who cannot speak the language. He quickly discovers the reality of the countries he visits is often very different to what is portrayed on the Internet.
There are two dance companies on stage both making their International debut in Britain. From India comes Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company choreographed by Terence Lewis and MahrukhDumasia and from China, Xiexin Dance Theatre choreographed by Xie Xin. The twelve dancers onstage start out looking scarily similar in grey suits and generic bob wigs and seem to almost fade into the background like your proverbial stereotypical accountant. It’s initially frustrating and mildly stressful trying to simultaneously focus on the dancers while also paying attention to images onscreen and on the smartphones. The dance performances can seem blurred and the minutiae of movements sometimes feel lost but that is clearly the intention of Keith Khan as increasingly the actions on stage mirror the daily bombardment we all face in a fast paced world where the population growth and the online data growth is exploding exponentially.
The second half of the production is a very different beast. The phone messages reduce dramatically and the giant projection screen slowly rises to open up a strikingly cavernous backstage giving the dancers a vast space to fill. It’s no mean feat but fill it they most certainly do. Stripped back from all the distractions and discarding the wigs that make them appear so uniform there is now nothing but six Chinese dancers and six Indian dancers who start to explore each other’s culture and dance disciplines to emerge as a cohesive whole. All three choreographers involved faced huge adversities attempting to not only find commonality in their practice but to do a lot of this work on Zoom before finally coming together in a physical space. The result works beautifully with the music and sound design from Somatic. The dancers create a space for both companies to work separately and together. Vibrant energy meets taut precision and the dance is sometimes fluid and others tensile as bodies jerk like firing neurons. There are haunting moments where some are so far back and motionless that they resemble shadowy statues like the Antony Gormley installation Another Place. As the dancers work and merge together there is a palpable shift in their energy. Tiny hand movements etc that are ingrained in each other’s dance culture start to infiltrate the choreography and create a potent sense of what we gain when we try to understand another culture.
THE ACCOUNTANTS is undoubtedly a huge creative undertaking requiring artistic risks as well as benefits. It feels very relevant to the space and the artistic vision at AVIVA STUDIOS which Factory International has worked so hard to develop. On a personal note the production hit an artistic high note when the projection screen rose to reveal that huge shadowy floorspace. In that moment it felt like Factory had recaptured the magic and majesty of previous MIF performances at Old Mayfield Depot.
Still Got It…!? is the cabaret show from David Hoyle and is the culmination of his three week residency at Factory International. There may be no obvious sign of a pier or chips and candyfloss but this production has as much a rich vein of darkly sweet seaside humour as a stick of Blackpool rock. Hoyle is the consummate performer and seems as at home on the vast stage in The Hall as in a more typically intimate cabaret venue. He delivers a performance that is warm, witty, pithy and droll. There’s something quite beautiful and incredibly touching to see this avant-garde performer who has so openly documented his own personal struggles taking to this packed auditorium to ask Still Got It…!?
Hoyle is joined on stage by a range of cabaret artists and although they are all undoubtedly talented there is also a strong sense of Hoyle using this opportunity in a 1600 capacity auditorium to celebrate friendships he has made on his own creative journey. Glitterbomb Dancers are a cabaret dance group produced by Joseph Mercier are as hi energy as they are big on sequins, glitter and dark and twisty charm. Their numbers are dotted through the show and include a dystopian ballet and a pointed and dark allusion to the Pan’sPeople dancers of Top of the Pops and a time when we switched on to Gary Glitter and Jimmy Saville.
David Hoyle Image credit: Lee Baxter
Thom Shaw otherwise known as Pam Lustgarden joins Hoyle on stage to discuss jam making in the W.I. as well as well as her well documented love of poetry and building improvised incendiary devices. Her act includes poetry by John Cooper Clarke and a unique take on Pull My Daisy by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassidy. The best element however is a sly epitaph for Hoyle when he supposedly dies from Empathy.
There are burlesque performances that include Lilly Snapdragon who performs in a child’s paddling pool and delivers an act that may destroy or increase the traditional Mancunion fondness for the great British fry up depending on your fondness for blending food and sex in a particularly graphic manner!! Symoné whirls across the stage on rollerskates using hulahoops while the Alternative Miss Ireland Veda Lady delivers a powerhouse performance involving a shopping trolley and later educates the audience about PrEP and her podcast Poz Vibe.
Some of these performances translate better than others unto such a large stage however that becomes increasingly irrelevant as Hoyle himself wields his laconic charm and stage majesty across proceedings. The huge audience is always on his side and revelling in seeing one of their own up on that stage delivering songs and reverie in his unique style. The interactive quiz show Still Got It, Never Had It, Lost It Years Ago has the audience riotously involved as Hoyle strides across the stage discussing rats in his Longsight abode, a belief in Capitalist reality and his childhood stamp collection. There truly is a broad church in the house tonight and Hoyle is the perfect High priest. He may wonder aloud how a lot of us are still alive…or ask himself How did I get away with that? The answer from the crowd to the big question of the night…David Hoyle,Still Got It…!? A resounding YES!!!
Cast of Jungle Book at AVIVA Studios Image credit: Lucie Jansch
Based on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Direction, Set and Lighting Design Robert Wilson
Music and Lyrics CocoRosie
Co-produced by Factory International with Théâtre de la Ville
THE HALL, AVIVA STUDIOS
Acclaimed Director and Designer Robert Wilson is collaborating once more with Factory International having previously brought several productions to Manchester International Festival. This time the avant-garde Wilson has joined forces with American composers CocoRosie to give their unique “family friendly” take on the classic The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The result is visually sharp and stylised with a suitably vibrant score. The story is somewhat fractured and evolves in a rather staccato manner which may challenge anyone expecting a more traditional retelling. Vivid and crisply architectural in form, the scenes unfold like the pages of a very minimalist pop-up storybook.
Aurore Déon as Hathi The Elephant and Dira Sugandi as Mowgli. Image credit: Lucie Jansch
Wilson’s trademark style of elaborate lighting and projections and shadowplay with a use of deliberately artificial looking landscapes is very striking. The vivid costumes and makeup reminiscent of Japanese Noh theatre add to an otherness in the characters and the landscape they inhabit. Each animal is highly stylised and the performers inhabit their animal personas rather than don obvious animal costumes so they straddle the world’s of man and beast just as the “man-cub” Mowgli did. Roberto Jean as Shere Khan exudes part Tiger part, Studio 54 snake hipped rock star. Aline Belibi as Bagheera is clad in sleek, vampish black velvet and smoulders and purrs like a glorious Eartha Kitt. The whole story is narrated by Hathi The Elephant who is clad in a white colonial style dress which alongside her grey ear headdress looks like an otherworldly Bjork.
The soundscape swathes the theatre in slightly off-kilter animal and jungle sounds that both enchant and disarm. The original music and lyrics by American performance artists CocoRosie are lively and vibrant with impish lyrics punctuated by dreamy ballads. The performers all sound great and a few including Dira Sugandi as Mowgli are particularly memorable. The overall feel has a decidedly French vibe and one scene change is used to employ the trademark coloured spotlights to shine on each of the musicians in the pit with great effect.
This production celebrates otherness and is intended as a plea for tolerance and understanding. The use of The Jungle Book as a base text is fitting as these varied creatures demonstrate “the law of the Jungle” as they struggle and strive to come together and try to move between the different worlds in an ever changing climate. There are issues in this production if you expect a smooth narrative flow but if you can sit back and enjoy the music and appreciate this as a montage of striking tableau scenes then there is much to appreciate. Absolute moments of striking beauty, a quirky sense of artful play that is present throughout and scenes that look like a Banksy mural brought to life are all present in this punchy piece which also includes some clowning and aerial work. It may not be the Disney rendition realised on stage but that was clearly never the intention.
LOST AND FOUND at Factory International Image credit: David Levene
Written by Oliver Jeffers
Adapted and Directed by Will Brenton
Music by Gruff Rhys
FACTORY INTERNATIONAL
At its heart Lost and Found is about the importance of imagination, communication and connection…the very things that form the essence of our humanity. Storytelling is how we help young children make sense of the world around them and hopefully imbibe them with a lifelong love of the Arts. Director Will Brenton has adapted this award winning children’s favourite by Oliver Jeffers for the stage and it is a truly magical experience.
Softly colourwashed staging combines a set that displays the detritus of washed up flotsam and jetsam. It also serves to cleverly disguise some of the live musicians on stage and allows for the ebb and flow of props such as boats, bathtubs and the Lost and Found office. Set and Costume Designer Jean Chan has beautifully evoked every page of this illustrated storybook in the most delightful manner. Moments where a characters’ arms stretch out like retractable hoses to grab packages or a gleaming bathtub that conjures up a yellow duck seem effortlessly natural and therefore suspend reality and immerse the audience further in the pages of this storybook.
LOST AND FOUND at Factory International Image credit: David Levene
The use of puppetry by Puppetry Director Olly Taylor sees seagulls move around the theatre interacting with the children in the audience and also driving the narrative during set changes. The performers imbibe them with an uncanny realism that is delightful. The sense of perspective and distance of the journey undertaken by the boy and the penguin is further enhanced by the small models used in conjunction with the animation by Keyframe Studios. The combination of movement, music, animation and puppetry fills this large stage while also giving the sense of soaring space that is the South Pole.
There are some lovely opportunities to interact with the young audience. A boat has missing elements which the children can help discover and one lucky child finds a vital piece under their seat requiring a trip unto the stage. Moments where the penguin mimics the boy create an almost Pantomime vibe. There are audible gasps as trees descend from above, and swirling mist and storms buffet the tiny rowing boat.
LOST AND FOUND at Factory International Image credit: David Levene
The boy and the penguin are delightful as they hesitantly develop a real friendship and come to understand each other. The whole production exudes a real charm and wimsy that builds the sense of childlike wonder. The music created by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals builds the emotion and the real sense of scope being out on the ocean virtually alone. Musicians meander on to the stage coming together with a raggle taggle feel that echoes the coming together of a caille. There is a softness to the colours used in the set, and with the lighting and the soundscape that also seem carefully considered to make this production suitable for all children including any with neurodivergency or other sensory triggers. This is the first family show to feature in the programming at Factory International and it sets the bar high for future productions.
Afrique en Cirque. Kalabanté Productions at Aviva Studios. Image credit: Peter Graham
KALABANTÉ PRODUCTIONS
The Hall, AVIVA STUDIOS
The latest extravaganza to mark the launch of Aviva Studios in the city is The Welcome a series of events curated by local people across Greater Manchester selected as part of The Assembly. Many of these events happening between the 11-19th November are free to the public and others are affordably priced. Afrique en Cirque celebrates everyday life in Western Africa as it zeroes in on coastal village life in Guinea. Devised by Montreal based circus Kalabanté Productions this is an unadulterated expression of joy and physical prowess that is at times as mind bending as it is literally body bending.
The staging of an African village looks invitingly beautiful and the lighting is gorgeous. Village huts are peopled by musicians while the front of the wide stage of The Hall lends itself perfectly to the endless series of tumbling routines that blend with tribal inspired dance, juggling, hoop and human pyramids that erupt on stage without anyone appearing to ever draw breath. This might be a show that casually started on African time but once it gets going it’s exuberance and high energy is unrelenting.
Afrique en Cirque. Image credit: Wendell Teodoro
Yamoussa Bangoura established this circus company in 2007 to celebrate African culture and circus. There are no high wires or safety equipment other than crash mats and the performers seem gleefully unbothered by the very real risks involved in much of their routines. One strides around with another performer casually standing on their head while the contortionist bends in ways that can have seemingly scant regard for their own body in 10 years time. The ensuing result is an extraordinary exhibition of human skill and endurance that also paints a vibrant image of village life. Routines are developed around market bartering, fishing expeditions and storytelling that all play out with colourful costume changes and live music from the live band. Afro jazz style music is performed with guitar and saxophone blending with traditional West African percussion and the beautiful kora.
There are some gorgeous moments such as the dreamy balletic hoop routine with the spinning cyr wheel. There is cheeky humour in a routine involving hard hats and a human pyramid that is an impudent nod to The Chippendales/ The Full Monty. The sheer athleticism and energy is invigorating and the performers are multi talented as they also take on some of the percussion and singing as well. The music and singing is utterly infectious and has numerous young children dancing in the aisles in this relaxed performance. The audience is involved and encouraged to engage in callbacks as we learn little bits of the Guinea dialect Susu…I now know that naani is four and suli is five thanks to a playful juggling routine.
This is a production that has played all over the world and in doing so is a reminder of what a rich and varied culture exists in Africa. It’s also a lovely reminder that communal joy and gasps of awe can be universal whether in Manchester, Manéah or Montreal.
Co-created by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Assante, Danny Boyle, Es Devlin, SabrinaMahfouz and Kenrick ‘H20′Sandy
Commissioned by FACTORY INTERNATIONAL
AVIVA STUDIOS
The first ever Manchester International Festival launched in 2007 and quickly established a reputation for promoting and creating ambitious new works. Artistic Director John McGrath took over from Alex Poots in 2015 when the idea for a permanent building was already being floated. Fast forward to now and from the ashes of the old Granada Studios and with an eye watering bill of approximately £242 million Factory International finally opens the doors of Aviva Studios. Devised by Danny Boyle, Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, Es Devlin, Sabrina Mahfouz and Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy; the show to launch the building is FREE YOUR MIND. It is a huge scale hip hop dance homage to iconic movie The Matrix via a tribute to Manchester’s proud industrial past and reputation for innovation.
The first half is in the Hall and opens with a vast blackboard filled with equations…its a lecture theatre and one of the great founders of computer intelligence, Alan Turing, is giving a lecture via an old black and white TV screen. A quick lesson on the birth of the computer age and Manchester’s role, takes us even further back to the 1700s and Arkwright and the birth of the industrial age. Staccato pulsing bodies flood the stage and Turing is gone leaving the legacy that will be The Matrix and hinting at the A.I. world we now inhabit. The first of many dramatic shifts occurs as the back of stage is punctured with light beams as the punch cards of the first Jacquard loom are replicated. Dancers appear sheathed like gossamer condoms that stretch up and connect to the ceiling. Beautifully lit they weave through each other like a maypole of lost souls. Each dance piece has drama and demands attention. Neo appears, as does the red wigged Trinity clad in glistening black PVC. Bowler hatted dancers in rubber ridged trousers appear like futuristic Bertie Bassets and a wraith-like dancer performs in front of a glistening golden orb punctuated with the holes of bullets or punch cards of computers or grafting workers. The trial of the first computer charged with killing a human is a brutal annihilation with murderlous beams of light. An aerial performer swings across the stage as black discs of destruction rain down.
Suddenly its time to follow the white rabbits through to an interval filled with Matrix inspired figures suspended in mid air while grooving rabbits dance and workers silently graft at machines. The tannoy announces time to divide the audience and blue wristbands go one way and red through a different route into the Warehouse.
Stark and minimalist the vast space is wrapped in white cotton, possibly a nod to Manchester’s historic role in the cotton industry. Running through the middle is a huge white runway suggesting a futuristic fashion runway or conveyor belt. Screens running its full length project images of the building of the Mancunion Way, Ian Curtis, Tony Wilson and the old Granada Studios to the pulsing sound of Blue Monday by New Order. As the screens raise the dancers start to emerge. Before the final battle scenes of The Matrix the runway looks like a bizarre fashion show of costumes by Gareth Pugh fashioned to showcase Apple and Amazon rather than Armani, Twitter and Facebook instead of Tom Ford. These images are startling and darkly funny as they reflect our current human obsessions with consumerism technology and social media. They are all the more potent as audience member immediately try to capture whats happening on stage on their phones.
Dancers karate kick their way down the runway and choreographer Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy makes for a molten and mighty Morpheus. The ultimate scenes with Neo (Corey Owens) and Trinity (Nicey Belgrave) play out in a flurry of bullets of light and coding. It’s truly a spectacular sight that is powerfully impacted by the incredible lighting and video design by Lucy Carter and Luke Halls.
A scene from Free Your Mind. Commissioned and produced by Factory International @ Aviva Studios. Credit: Tristram Kenton
This show is a theatrical extravaganza that is all about showing off and celebrating being here in this brand new space in this city that so many of us love. FREE YOUR MIND isn’t a seamless production telling a cohesive and fully comprehensible story. It’s clear that it’s been in development for almost as long as it’s taken to get the building from concept to construction. It involves a wide range of creatives imagining a work for a stage that wasn’t even built and with a vision of creating something that was about possibilities for what could develop in this new space…about creative possibilities that are yet to be imagined. I like the unabashed joy of opening the doors to the playroom, ushering in the kids and saying Explore! Imagine! Play! This is a huge production using both the 1600 seater theatre and the vast warehouse space that could accommodate a Boeing 747. This is all about spectacle and showing off what these spaces will creatively allow us to do in Manchester. There is an incredible sound system in a building that can seamlessly adapt to different sized audiences in productions that could scale 64metres long and 21 metres wide and accommodate 5000 people while also allowing for floors that can flood and drain. The second half evokes one of my favourite MIF openings when in 2017 Jeremy Deller premiered What Is the City but the People when 100 people walked a gigantic walkway in Piccadilly Gardens celebrating Mancunions from all walks of life. Artistic Director John McGrath and his team have a shared vision for this new building and for Manchester…Invent Tomorrow Together. Let’s hope that FREE YOUR MIND is truly a gateway to new possibilities and just a taste of what is yet to come.
The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions achieved cult status since Larry Mitchell self published in 1977. In a world where acceptance and compassion can flow generously and hopefully then quickly appear to ebb away again, this new production feels timely as LGBTQIA+ rights and safety seems to be worryingly under threat. The blending of a wide range of musical styles, instruments and voices are a carousing anthem for unity and change. A high point of this performance is Kit Green breaking the fourth wall to bring the whole audience together in song. There is a palpable sense of unified passion as everyone literally sings from the same hymn sheet. The word Faggot is cherished here and used with real love in this celebration of queerness and the revolutionary attitude to male patriarchal society required to achieve self-determination.
This is the third collaboration between Composer Philip Venables and Writer/Director Ted Huffman. This new opera commissioned by Factory International is one of the touring productions which premieres at HOME before going to festivals in France and Austria. Previous work includes a highly disturbing opera production of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis which apparently induced panic attacks in some of the audience members. Here there is a warmth and generosity in the music that is playful and highly engaging. The Faggots are alongside the faeries, the faggatinas and the women who love women. The music here has opera sitting alongside baroque, bossa nova, and club music. Fifteen musicians, singers, dancers and actors play multiple instruments from lutes and accordions to violins and viola da gambas. The score vividly evokes the sexually charged urgency as magic cock fluid is ejaculated, the folky sense of campfire singing in a Commune and the euphoria of a drug fuelled club night.
Image credit: Tristam Kenton
The history of the patriarchal society is told as a subversive fairytale. This story flips the history books and slyly suggests it’s the power and paper hungry men who are the aberrations in Society and its the Faggots and their friends who are the original people. All the performers have their moment in the spotlight with some beautiful virtuoso performances. However it’s the inimitable Kit Green and dancer/choreographer Yandass who primarily tell the story. They are a perfect foil for each other with Green all laconic, fluid elegance and pithy delivery whereas Yandass is a powerhouse of taut, passionate energy.
The stage at HOME looks like a vast black box creating a wonderful sense of looking back in time and seeing these performers in a stripped back way where there are no other visual distractions…they have to be seen…and they are seen…as extraordinary, gifted and ultimately human individuals who will carry on and survive whatever Revolutions are yet to come.
Live Art Alive 