Theatre in the North
Kristy Stott, Theatre EditorDaDaFest’s unapologetic 40th anniversary programme, contemporary reimaginings and outlandish fringe shows are among our picks in this month’s theatre guide.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, DaDaFest International returns to Liverpool this March. Champions of groundbreaking disability and Deaf arts, the theme for this year’s festival is ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’ and as always, the line-up (which is mostly free) includes some of the boldest and most unapologetic visual art, performance and film alongside talks and workshops.
Closer to home, over at Aviva Studios, Factory International launch an electrifying season of performance. Celebrated hip hop company Boy Blue return with their newest show, Cycles, this month. We’ve also got our eyes on party-performance, Wake, by Irish Contemporary cabaret collective, THISISPOPBABY; Hamlet Hail to the Thief, a thrilling amalgam of Shakespeare’s great tragedy and Radiohead’s seminal album, and the return of Benji Reid’s acclaimed MIF23 show, Find your Eyes.
Meanwhile, Headlong and Frantic Assembly join forces for The House Party at HOME; a contemporary adaptation of August Strindberg’s naturalistic classic, Miss Julie. Expect explosive physical theatre and ingenious staging in this bang-up-to-date show.
In contrast, lovers of experimental performance should check out the utterly terrifying Red Bastard at The Kings Arms; Georgia Tegou & Kristina Pulejkova’s Homecoming at Lowry, a dance show that blends cutting edge technology that can be appreciated as a live performance or as a VR experience, and theatrical wildcard, TOOM’s A Quiet Room at The White Hotel.
Read on for details of all of this and more.