Factory International Spring Season 2025
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, has firmly asserted itself as a global destination for art lovers and culture since it officially opened in autumn 2023. Now, another electrifying spring season is brewing for 2025.
From playable art installations to frenetic Shakespearean adaptations via contemporary cabaret, hip hop and live photography, Factory International bring another wonderfully wild programme, bolstered by bold collaborations.
The season will welcome audiences with a free immersive exhibition for all ages. Those Who Hold Up The Sky is an interactive installation co-created by artists BRiGHTBLACK and Fusion Factory, a community collective of creative Mancunians. Gaming meets live performance as visitors (or ‘players’) are invited to remodel and remix the city of Manchester. Set to an evocative soundscape, you’ll find gaming stations and hands-on making spaces, where you can unleash your imagination on a future Manchester. Whatever your age, and whether you like to make digitally or by hand, Those Who Hold Up The Sky is a great place to get creative with friends and family.
Next up, the celebrated hip hop theatre company, Boy Blue return to Aviva Studios with their latest dance production, Cycles. Following the success of Aviva Studios’ opening show, Free Your Mind, Factory International are thrilled to welcome back Boy Blue founders, Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy. Joyous and celebratory, Cycles explores the shared pleasures of dance; it went down a treat during its world premiere at the Barbican last year – we can’t wait to see it in Manchester.
In exciting contrast, Irish sensation THISISPOPBABY bring Wake, a high-octane variety show packed with wild acrobatics and outrageous cabaret. Taking its name from Ireland’s traditional funeral rite, this is a live performance that reminds us to live fully. Expect musicians, aerialists, slam poets and Irish dancers in this acclaimed party-performance spectacular.
April sees the much-anticipated production, Hamlet Hail to the Thief open at Aviva Studios. Blending Shakespeare’s great tragedy with Radiohead’s seminal album, this performance brings an intoxicating fusion of theatre, music and movement. Co-created by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Frantic Assembly’s Steven Hoggett and Theater for One’s Christine Jones, this is an unmissable world premiere.
Finally, we’re thrilled that Benji Reid’s acclaimed MIF23 show, Find Your Eyes returns to Aviva Studios in May. Weaving theatre, choreography and photography, this genre-bending live photography show is a must-see this spring.
