CityLife

MIF: Theatre and dance line-up

THE full programme for this month's Manchester International Festival has been announced, boasting an exciting line-up of theatre, dance and exhilaratingly unclassifiable events.

These will include exclusive appearances from "arguably the world's greatest male ballet dancer"; Carlos Acosta; a musical adaptation of Salman Rushdie's bestseller, The Ground Beneath her Feet, performed by the Hallé Orchestra and accompanied by a film directed by Oscar-winning Mike Figgis; a one-man theatre show from the anarchic Johnny Vegas; a new show from the Belgium-based Victoria in collaboration with Contact; and also a newly-commissioned show from Faulty Optic and Mira Calix.

"We wanted to bring some of the world's greatest artists together in new, exciting and innovative ways, to produce world-class events that you would have to travel to Manchester to see," explains festival director Alex Poots.

"Many of these events are unique and so special that they've taken months, or even years of preparation and negotiation. The inspiration for Manchester International Festival is the city itself," he emphasises. "Manchester was the birthplace of modern industrial society, and so it seems only fitting that this city should launch the world's first international festival of original, new work. Many of these creations we have commissioned over the last few years will travel to other international venues, festivals and broadcasters in the future, but Manchester will see them before anyone else.

"At its core, this is an artist-led festival, an event at which leading international figures can imagine, develop and present new work. Manchester is a city known for invention and reinvention; we hope the programme reflects this, while also looking very much to the future."

Introducing his new one-man theatre show, Interiors, co-written with Stewart (Jerry Springer - The Opera) Lee, Johnny Vegas quipped that he was feeling "so much out of me depth that part of me just wants to sing a Neil Diamond song! I never went to theatre when I was younger and I think what Stewart and I are trying to do with Interiors is to take theatre away from theatre."

He went on to acknowledge that he'd been very apprehensive when Alex approached him{hellip} "but then I heard rumours that one of the events was an opera involving a monkey and I started to think `maybe there is a place for me here!' The way Alex put it to me when he asked me if I was interested in being commissioned to do something was `have you got something in mind that wouldn't get made otherwise?' That seemed like a really intriguing idea for a festival." (June 29-July 15).

Meanwhile, on July 13 and 14, the Lowry will host exclusive performances from the Royal Ballet's principal guest artist, Cuban-born ballet dancer Carlos Acosta, a "genius of dance" whose rags-to-riches story and phenomenal talent have already made him an artistic icon.

The Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Mark Elder, will be performing a specially-commissioned version of Salman Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet, in which his epic rock 'n' roll novel is transformed into a full-length concert piece for orchestra, film, singers and narrator. The piece, having its world premiere at the Bridgewater |Hall on June 29, will feature a film that Oscar-winning director Mike Figgis describes as "like a silent Bollywood film!".

For All The Wrong Reasons, at Contact from June 30-July 14, is a new piece of theatre from one of Europe's leading stage companies, Victoria. Lies Pauwel of the Ghent-based troupe is bringing her dedication to pushing the frontiers of European theatre to Manchester for the first time. The piece will be performed by an ensemble of actors, young people and artists who work at Contact, including David Hoyle (previously known as The Divine David).

Look out too for Dead Wedding, where cult puppetry company Faulty Optic and composer Miri Calix, have re-invented the ancient myth of Orpheus to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the opera. The show runs from July 5-7 at the Library Theatre.

The Manchester International Festival, supported by the Manchester Evening News, runs from June 28-July 15. Tickets are now on sale to members, and to the public from Friday, March 30. Tickets for Interiors will be available from May 1. Book online at manchesterinternationalfestival.com, or by phone on 0871 230 1888.