“It’s such a privilege being back on a stage,” says Damon Albarn, half way through tonight’s show. “And extra super lovely for me, being back in Manchester. At the festival.” Indeed, Damon Albarn has become something akin to the spiritual heart of...
Do you have one of those brains that comes pre-equipped with an internal jukebox? Personally, every morning, I wake up and my mind immediately fires up that jukebox, flips in a dime, and on comes some track; a soundtrack as I fix my breakfast and...
It is a not-quite-paradox of human life that we are all the same and yet each is so unique. One way or another, these two facts underpin all of human joy and suffering. Take, for example, grief: so universal an experience for humanity, yet so...
Having seen Theatre-Rites’ wonderfully immersive The Welcoming Party at MIF 2017, expectations of The Global Playground – the company’s offering for this year’s festival – were high. The fact that it was my first in-person, indoor theatre trip since...
I always feel obliged to stick around for post-show Q and A sessions. Perhaps, just maybe, one or other member of a creative team, will release some precious nugget into the stream of consciousness triggered by the host’s (or the audience’s)...
Greater Manchester based artists and creatives can access funding to create and test new ideas thanks to a new scheme launched by Manchester International Festival (MIF). Livelihoods of people working in the creative sector have, like the wider...
The Mayfield venue, an old railway siding behind Piccadilly station, barely looks passable from the outside for anyone to enter without a hard hat. Inside, some basic raised seating, lighting rigs and a sprung reflective floor, transform this...
For those quick to label Manchester International Festival as elitist, point them towards FlexN Manchester. In recent years Britain’s Got Talent has revealed a huge appetite for street dance in popular culture, and this show is a fantastic...
Simon A. Morrison
Martin Thomasson
Georgina Wells
Carmel Thomason