MADE IN MANCHESTER
PERFORMANCE TO PARTY
This summer, Manchester is proving its credentials as a cultural capital city. If you’re sinking a beer by the canal in the sunshine and you think, “You know want? I fancy something dead arty tonight,” then the Manchester International Festival has hundreds of hot tickets for you
TEXT PHIL WATSON
A little bit of history: the Manchester International Festival (MIF) is the first of its kind entirely made up of new work and special commissions. The inaugural event in 2007 produced a global hit in the shape of Monkey: Journey To The West, so it has a good track record.
This year, a handful of the same artists return to MIF, including primate-obsessed indie legend Damon Albarn (of Monkey and Gorillaz fame), the world’s hottest ballet dancer, Carlos Acosta, and multicultural music sensation the Beating Wing Orchestra.
They’ll be joined by big-name acts such as Kraftwerk, Elbow, Antony And The Johnsons, Lou Reed and De La Soul, along with cutting-edge performance art and modern theatre that will entertain (and possibly baffle) audiences from around the world.
In the words of MIF director, Alex Poots, “Manchester has long thrived on invention, innovation and radical thought, and MIF aspires to be part of that tradition.”
MR MANCHESTER
In Manchester’s long history of producing “interesting” characters few stand out as much as the sadly departed Tony Wilson, also known as Mr Manchester.
Wilson, who died in 2007, was a TV presenter, journalist and general champion of the city. He was also behind the legendary Haçienda nightclub and Factory Records (home to New Order and Happy Mondays), and was played by Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People.
A Paen To Tony Wilson is a musical tribute by close friend Vini Reilly of influential underground band The Durutti Column.
ALBARN, DAMON
After the massive success of MIF’s commission Monkey: Journey To The West, Damon Albarn is back with a new production, It Felt Like A Kiss.
This time the inspiration isn’t an old Chinese opera, it’s the American Dream, with the multi-talented Mr Albarn providing background music for an interactive theatre experience set in a disused office block.
It Felt Like A Kiss is a ghost story, using theatre, music and film to tell the story of America’s ascent during the golden age of pop, while also exploring the dark side of this shiny, Coke-flavoured dream.
NEW YORK ART STARS
Recently married New York art-scene superstars Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson will perform an evening of music and spoken word pieces about love, life and which side of the bed Lou likes to sleep on (OK, maybe not the last bit!).
Drawing on everything from Reed’s troubled time in The Velvet Underground to Anderson’s electro soundscapes, the acclaimed duo will give audiences a taste of why they’re still considered two of the most influential artists in the world.
However, given Lou’s famous grumpiness, don’t expect to hear a special version of the Velvets’ I’m Waiting For My Man(chester) or Laurie’s O Superman(chester).
CHAMBER MUSIC
In JS Bach’s time his music would have been performed in a small, candlelit room surrounded by furniture that goes for a fortune on the Antiques Roadshow today.
Fast forward to 2009, where the latest production of Bach’s work takes place in a stunning modern space created by architect Zaha Hadid to complement some of the best chamber music ever written.
We can’t know what the great man would have thought of his compositions being performed on a stage that could have come from a sci-fimovie, but this visionary combination will definitely bring Bach to the future.
HEART OF HEARING
Made up of pensioners aged between 70 and 90, the Young@Heart Chorus have swapped their bus passes for air miles, returning to the UK to bring new life to songs by artists as diverse as the Buzzcocks and Bruce Springsteen.
Started in 1983, the 25-strong, Massachusetts-based ensemble will be performing their moving and powerful show about age and memory with more verve and vitality than acts more than half their age. Pete Doherty take note.
ELBOW HEAD HOME
Like the body part they’re named after, Elbow aren’t sexy or glamorous in the least. But they’ve been quietly doing something vital for nearly two decades. And having nabbed last year’s Mercury Prize for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid, they’re finally starting to get the recognition they deserve.
This show will be a triumphant homecoming for the band who formed 18 years ago in Bury, Greater Manchester, and it sees them team up with another musical force from the area: The Hallé, Britain’s oldest professional symphony orchestra.
The combination of epic song-writing and dramatic strings will be unmissable, so make sure you, ahem, elbow your way to the front.
STEVE REICH AND KRAFTWERK
It’s not known if minimalist American composer Steve Reich likes cycling, but German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk have a well documented love of the sport.
All of which makes the stunning Manchester Velodrome the perfect place to hear their 1983 hit single, Tour de France (at the same time as paying homage to Britain’s gold-winning Olympic cycling team).
For a group of lycra-clad, ex-classical musicians, Kraftwerk have been massively influential on the modern-day pop scene. And this spectacular collaboration will prove once again that German music has more going for it than Eurovision wannabes and David Hasselhoff.
TWO PINTS OF BEER, TA
After you’ve been awed by some musical genius or astonished by some crazy modern theatre you’ll probably want to discuss what you’ve seen over a drink – and there’s no better place then the Festival Pavilion.
Located in Albert Square and designed by award-winning architect Stephenson Bell, this is the beating heart of the festival. With a bar open until the wee hours and a cafe serving fresh local produce, it’s the ideal meeting place for a post-show catch-up session.
And for those who want to keep the festival spirit going, DJs from Manchester’s best clubs will provide the sounds late into the evening.
EVERYBODY LOVES A WINNER
OAP entertainment gets a modern theatrical makeover in a production that uses bingo to explore our relationship with success.
Set in the iconic Royal Exchange Theatre – transformed into a working bingo hall, naturally – Everybody Loves A Winner tracks the highs and lows of a group of players as their luck unfolds. And, because this is modern theatre, the audience will also play for prizes themselves.
In the words of writer/director Neil Bartlett, this is so “you’ll hear the devil whispering in your ear: maybe this time I’ll be lucky, maybe this time I won’t”. Has bingo ever been this exciting before?
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
A famous and wealthy family, teen acclaim, drug problems and his friendship with Elton John must have given Grammy-nominated singer Rufus Wainwright enough material to make a song and dance out of his own life.
But Prima Donna, Wainwright’s first operatic production, isn’t about his stellar-but-strange career, it’s about a fading opera singer returning to the stage in 1970s Paris.
Wainwright introduces us to Régine Saint Laurent (played by Janis Kelly), once the world’s most revered soprano, who has to defeat the demons that almost destroyed her career to emerge triumphantly, back in the spotlight. Wonder where he got the inspiration from?
For more information, visit the festival website at www.mif.co.uk
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