Factory International announces 2027 season featuring ‘mixed reality’ Ian McKellen play and It’s A Sin

Factory International has announced its 2027 season, marking 20 years since the first Manchester International Festival in 2007.

The season opens with the world premiere of It’s A Sin, directed and choreographed by Rambert artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer. The production, running from 16 to 27 February 2027, is executive-produced by Russell T Davies, the Pet Shop Boys and Glyn Fussell, and explores the lives of young people in the 1990s through dance.

From 27 March to 10 April, An Ark will bring audiences into a “Mixed Reality” theatrical experience featuring Ian McKellen, Golda Rosheuvel, Arinzé Kene and Rosie Sheehy. The production comes from Mixed Reality pioneer Todd Eckert, writer Simon Stephens and director Sarah Frankcom.

ENO and Factory International will present Einstein on the Beach from 29 May to 12 June. The new production brings together director Phelim McDermott, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and a cast of singers and performers to reimagine Glass’s opera in the warehouse space at Aviva Studios, marking the composer’s 90th year.

John McGrath, artistic director and chief executive of Factory International, said: “Culture has always been a driving force in Manchester – shaping the city, challenging it to reinvent itself and helping to define its place on the world stage.

“Twenty years ago, Manchester International Festival put the city at the centre of the international cultural conversation, asking what the art of tomorrow could be. Over the past two decades, we have invited some of the world’s biggest artists to Manchester to create work that has shifted the artistic goalposts – work that could not have been created anywhere else.

“Equally importantly, the voices of our communities have rung out through our work, creating opportunities, jobs and joy with and for the people of the region.”

From 5 to 6 June, Deadlift will receive its UK premiere in partnership with Shubbak Festival. Created by Palestinian director Bashar Murkus, the work explores endurance and rebuilding in Palestine without spoken text. The production is presented by Al-Harah Theater in partnership with Boy Jonkergouw Producties and Riksteatern.

Manchester International Festival will return from 1 to 18 July, with its full programme of premieres and events due to be announced in March.

In October, Florentina Holzinger will present A Year Without Summer from 14 to 16 October. Inspired by the 1816 eruption of Mount Tambora and the subsequent period of darkness, the production brings together 24 women and non-binary performers aged from their 20s to their 80s to explore health, identity, ageing, technology and the limits of the human body.

The world premiere of Cinema Tehran, by Javaad Alipoor and Chris Thorpe, runs from 5 to 10 October. The production draws on reports from 1978 of sightings of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s face in the moon, combining performance, documentary and projection to examine revolution, mass belief and the power of stories.

Gregory Maqoma’s Genesis: The Beginning and End of Time receives its UK premiere from 22 to 24 October. The dance opera, with a libretto by Karthika Nair, explores Black liberation, drawing on the ideas of Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon and Steve Biko, as well as the experiences of migrant communities.

Party In The Sky, conceived by Darren Pritchard and developed and co-directed with Vicki Amedume, will be presented during winter 2027. The production combines circus, dance, drag, theatre, aerial performance and music, with separate family and late-night club editions.

From 13 to 20 February, Come As You Really Are will bring together makers, modifiers, enthusiasts and collectors aged five to 90 from every borough of Greater Manchester. The free exhibition includes thousands of objects, Patel’s own artwork and a programme of performances, workshops and tours. The project is commissioned and produced by Artangel in partnership with Factory International.

Alongside the theatre and performance programme, Aviva Studios will host music performances throughout 2027. Announced dates include Bonobo on 4 and 5 February, Ezra Collective on 12 and 13 March, Nubya Garcia’s first cello concerto on 18 March, The Dead South on 6 March, Lizzy McAlpine on 4 and 5 April, Slippery People, recreating Talking Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense, on 17 April, Snarky Puppy on 24 April and Tindersticks on 6 May.

Tickets for the newly announced programme are on sale to members, with American Express cardholders able to book from 16 October ahead of general sale on 20 October. Tickets start at £10.