Theatre News

MIF 2011 Starts with Vegas, Wood & Punchdrunk

The third Manchester International Festival (MIF) commences today (30 June)
running until 17 July 2011, with more than 20 commissions, premieres and
special events as part of the biennial event’s programme.

Theatrical
highlights in the 2011 Festival include a musical written and directed
by Victoria Wood, a new production from comedian-turned-actor Johnny
Vegas
and a Doctor Who adventure created by immersive theatre pioneers Punchdrunk.

Wood’s musical, The Day We Sang
runs at Manchester’s Opera House from 6 to 16 July and tells the story
of a Mancunian secretary and insurance man, looking back from 1969 to a
day in 1929 when they performed as part of the Manchester School
Children’s Choir and recorded with
the Hallé Orchestra.

The
cast is led by Olivier Award-winning actress Jenna Russell alongside
Vincent Franklin, Lorraine Bruce, Jemma Drake, Gerard Horan,
Ian Marr and Martin Savage. The production also features members of
the Hallé Youth Orchestra and a specially formed Manchester
Children’s Choir.

Comic Johnny Vegas returns to the MIF with And Another Thing…, following the success of his 2007 MIF dark comedy, Interiors.
The production, which runs from 11 to 17 July at the Pavilion Theatre
on Albert Square, explores the world of the home shopping TV channel
through a hybrid of theatre and television.

Vegas,
Kevin Eldon and Emma Fryer present the audience with three
characters and use ‘Theatrevision’ – including live selling on
television shopping channel Ideal World – to show the lives behind and
in front of the cameras.

Another follow up performance in the festival’s line-up is The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, which acts as a sequel to the 2009 show Marina Abramović Presents.
A biography of the performing arts pioneer with
interpretative perspective from director Robert Wilson, it will feature
scenes from Abramović’s life and career, and is billed as
“once-in-a generation cultural event”.

The
production stars Abramovic herself in addition to an international cast
and runs at the Lowry from 9 to 16 July prior to transferring to Madrid
in April 2012.

In their first piece created specifically for younger audiences, theatrical ensemble Punchdrunk have combined forces with the Doctor Who creative team – namely executive producer Stephen Moffatt and BAFTA award-winning writer Tom MacCrae, to present The Crash of the Elysium.

The immersive theatre piece, which takes the form of an interactive Doctor Who
adventure, is tailored specifically towards under 13s, although due to
popular demand ‘after dark’ performances were recently announced for
adult audiences. The production will run for the entirety of the
festival (‘After Dark’ performances commencing on 5 July) at the
the BBC’s new MediaCity UK studio centre at Salford Quays.

Elsewhere
in the MIF programme, music fans can see performances from the
likes of American rapper Snoop Dogg, contrasting with a three week
residency from Icelandic pop singer Bjork, who gives her first
performance in the UK for three years in the form of her live show, Biophilia.

– Caitlin Robertson