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Opera for babies joins New Order at Manchester international festival Opera for babies joins New Order at Manchester international festival
(about 5 hours later)
A musical about Lancashire’s cotton industry, an opera for babies and New Order reworking their back catalogue with a 12-member synthesiser ensemble are some of the highlights of this summer’s Manchester international festival (MIF). An opera for babies, Jane Horrocks singing about Lancashire’s cotton industry and New Order reworking their back catalogue with a 12-member synthesiser ensemble are some of the highlights of this summer’s Manchester international festival (MIF).
Founded 10 years ago to promote Manchester as a global cultural hub, MIF attracts some of the world’s top talent. This time, renowned German director Thomas Ostermeier has chosen to premiere his latest play in the city rather than in Berlin at the Schaubühne, where he is artistic director. Founded 10 years ago to promote the city as a global cultural hub, the festival attracts some of the world’s top talent. This time, renowned German director Thomas Ostermeier has chosen to premiere his latest play in Manchester rather than Berlin, where he is artistic director of the Schaubühne theatre.
Adapted by Ostermeier from Didier Eribon’s bestselling memoir, Returning to Reims has been described as an urgent reaction to the new world order. It recalls how the French philosopher and radical social theorist had to reevaluate his life after his father’s death, when he discovered his family had switched allegiance from Communism to the far-right Front National. Returning to Reims, adapted by Ostermeier from Didier Eribon’s memoir of the same name, has been described as an urgent reaction to the new world order. It recalls how the French philosopher and radical social theorist had to re-evaluate his life after his father’s death, when he discovered his family had switched allegiance from communism to the far-right Front National.
Also premiering at MIF is Fatherland, a show about contemporary fatherhood created by Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham, Karl Hyde from Underworld and playwright Simon Stephens (Punk Rock, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time). Also premiering at MIF is Fatherland, a show about contemporary fatherhood and post-Brexit Britain created by theatre company Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham, Underworld musician Karl Hyde and playwright Simon Stephens.
Another hot ticket is likely to be Party Skills for the End of the World by members of the mischievous Shunt collective, an interactive show aiming to teach ticketholders the essential skills needed to survive and savour life when everything they have taken for granted has gone – from starting a fire and making balloon animals to mixing the perfect Martini and skinning a rabbit. Another hot ticket is likely to be Party Skills For the End of the World by members of the mischievous Shunt collective. The interactive show aims to teach the essential skills needed to survive and savour life when everything taken for granted has gone – from starting a fire and making balloon animals to mixing the perfect Martini and skinning a rabbit.
The festival will open on 29 June with a free, high-rise catwalk show in Piccadilly Gardens featuring some of Manchester’s most intriguing characters. What Is the City but the People?, created from an idea by artist Jeremy Deller, will take place on a 100-metre-long runway raised high above the square, with organisers still looking for volunteers to take part. The festival will open on 29 June with a free, high-rise catwalk show in Piccadilly Gardens featuring some of Manchester’s most intriguing characters. What Is the City But the People?, created from an idea by artist Jeremy Deller, will take place on a runway 100 metres long high above the square, with volunteers being sought to take part.
Mancunians are also invited to host a show in their front rooms, for a strand called Festival In My House, a global dance and food event in Cheetham Hill and a music festival in New Islington. In the run-up to the opening day, Mancunians are invited to host a show in their front rooms for an event called Festival in My House, which has already featured a global dance and food event in the Cheetham Hill area and a music festival in New Islington near the city centre.
One of Europe’s top choreographers is also showing work in the city. Boris Charmatz will use Mayfield, an abandoned railway depot, to stage his a show featuring a 25-member ensemble of dancers performing, in succession, 10,000 Gestures – none repeated, every one unique. One of Europe’s top choreographers is also taking part in the festival. Boris Charmatz will use Mayfield, an abandoned railway depot near Piccadilly station, to stage his show featuring an ensemble of 25 dancers performing 10,000 Gestures – a series of actions, each one unique and unrepeated.
Manchester’s musical history will be celebrated across the festival, with New Order taking over the old Old Granada Studios, abandoned by Coronation Street for Salford’s Media City. The band will stage a series of intimate shows created in collaboration with visual artist Liam Gillick, who has previously presented solo exhibitions at venues such as Tate Britain in London and MoMA in New York; and composer-arranger Joe Duddell, a fellow son of Manchester and a frequent collaborator with the band. Manchester’s musical history will also be celebrated, with New Order taking over Old Granada Studios. The band will stage a series of intimate shows created in collaboration with visual artist Liam Gillick, who has presented solo exhibitions at venues such as Tate Britain in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and composer-arranger Joe Duddell, a fellow Mancunian and frequent collaborator with the band.
For New Order + Liam Gillick: So it goes.., the group will be deconstructing, rethinking and rebuilding a wealth of material from throughout their career. To perform it live, they will be joined by musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music, with Joe Duddell providing the orchestrations. For New Order + Liam Gillick: So It Goes..., the group will rework a wealth of material from throughout their career. To perform it live, they will be joined by musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music, with orchestration by Duddell.
The band, as well as their antecedents, Joy Division, will be celebrated in an exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery. Curated by Matthew Higgs and Jon Savage with archivist Johan Kugelberg, True Faith centres on four decades’ of works from artists such as Julian Schnabel, Deller, Gillick, Mark Leckey and Slater Bradley, all directly inspired by the two groups. The New Order frontman, Bernard Sumner, will not reveal the setlist but warned fans not to expect the hits. “Can I make it clear it won’t be anything like our normal sets? There will be no Blue Monday, no Love Will Tear Us Apart,” he told the Guardian. “It’s good to do something different at all because that is what we were like when we started, just hopefully not so much chaos.” The songs were undergoing “real, micro deconstruction” he said, “even taking a four-note chord and splitting out those notes to four different players, so each player has a monophonic line”.
Upper Campfield Market Hall will see the first staging of Cotton Panic!, a musical drama co-written by Jane Horrocks about how the Cotton Famine in the US brought Lancashire to its knees. The production has been created by Horrocks, Nick Vivian and Wrangler Industrial. He said he was excited to take part in the festival: “We didn’t hesitate to say yes because it’s a great festival and it’s in our hometown.” Playing Old Granada Studios holds special significance for Sumner because it was where New Order’s antecedents, Joy Division, made their first TV appearance, on Tony Wilson’s Granada show, before Wilson set up Factory Records and signed the band.
MIF hopes to entice the next generation of culture lovers with a pioneering piece of music theatre written by Scottish Opera’s Liam Paterson and directed by Improbable’s Phelim McDermott. Bambino promises to reinvent operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences. Babies will be free to crawl around during the performance, interacting with singers, musicians and each other. New Order and Joy Division will be celebrated in an exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery. Curated by artist Matthew Higgs and music writer Jon Savage with archivist Johan Kugelberg, True Faith centres on four decades of work from artists including Julian Schnabel, Deller, Gillick, Mark Leckey and Slater Bradley, all directly inspired by the two bands.
Upper Campfield market hall in Castlefield will host the first staging of Cotton Panic!, described as an “industrial music drama co-written by actor Jane Horrocks about how the cotton famine in the US brought Lancashire to its knees”. The production has been created by Horrocks, her film-maker husband, Nick Vivian, and musician Stephen Mallinder of the bands Cabaret Voltaire and Wrangler.
Speaking at the launch on Thursday, Horrocks was at pains to make clear Cotton Panic! is not a musical. “It’s a gig. It’s not a musical. Definitely not,” she said. “People will think we’re doing singing and dancing and skipping about with bales of cotton, which we are not.” The audience should not expect a literal narrative but a story told quite abstractly in film, words and music, said Mallinder.
MIF hopes to entice the next generation of culture lovers with an opera for babies written by Scottish Opera’s Liam Paterson and directed by Phelim McDermott of theatre company Improbable. Bambino promises to reinvent operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences. Babies will be free to crawl around during the performance, interacting with singers, musicians and each other.
The Guardian is a media partner of MIF.