Coinciding with this week's official launch of Manchester's £240m Aviva Studios arts centre, highlights of next year's programme have been unveiled, including original live performances by world-renowned artists.
Visionary director Robert Wilson teams up with surreal folk duo CocoRosie to retell Kipling’s Jungle Book (March 2024).
Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight join forces with Gazelle Twin and Daisy Johnson to present a feminist theatrical reimagining of John Bowen’s Robin Redbreast, first broadcast as part of the BBC’s Play for Today series in 1970 and regarded as a precursor to The Wicker Man (May 2024).
Award-winning dance artist and cultural innovator Ivan Michael Blackstock presents the Olivier award-winning Traplord (Sept 2024), a dance performance meditating on life, death and rebirth.
A new music and multimedia theatrical experience by Laurie Anderson, Ark (Nov 2024), will explore how the world needs to change to be saved.
Other highlights include award-winning Marshmallow Laser Feast (July to Aug 2024), a stage spectacle combining Chinese and South Asian dance, data and video from multi-disciplinary artist Keith Khan (May 2024) and an interactive symphony by Chinese composer Huang Ruo and the BBC Philharmonic (June 2024).
Following the current run of opening show Free Your Mind, (until November 5) Aviva Studios hosts The Welcome (November 11-19), a programme of music, circus, art and fashion developed by Greater Manchester residents – an invitation from local people to celebrate the new cultural space,.
Johnny Marr presents two nights of music with an orchestra made up of northern musicians (December 7-8).
A stage adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ award-winning book Lost and Found (December 13-January 6) ) from BAFTA award-winning director Will Brenton with music from Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals rounds off Aviva's launch year.
The Studios will also present a selection of gigs, including in-house concerts and collaborations with local and national promotors.
Aviva Studios is programmed and operated by Factory International, the organisation behind the Manchester International Festival; reflecting its commitment to ensuring access to the widest possible audiences, 5,000 tickets have been made available for Free Your Mind at £10 or less as part of an affordable pricing strategy that will see discounted and £10 tickets for Manchester communities across its year-round programme.
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