Factory International has today announced a season of new art and performance for 2027, celebrating 20 years of commissioning, producing and presenting ambitious boundary-pushing work from some of the world’s leading artists.
The wide-ranging programme features nine UK and World premieres including:
- The world’s first Mixed Reality play featuring Ian McKellen, Golda Rosheuvel, Arinzé Kene and Rosie Sheehy
- A radical new show by director, choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger combining music, theatre, art and excess in a bold story of transformation
- A groundbreaking dance opera from award-winning choreographer Gregory Maqoma with a libretto by Karthika Nair
- A timely new theatrical work from Javaad Alipoor and Chris Thorpe where cult film, the Iranian revolution and social apocalypse collide
- A powerful and intense visual performance by Bashar Murkus which tests the limits of the human body
- An electrifying dance production of Russell T Davies’ It’s A Sin from leading contemporary dance company Rambert
- A new genre-bending festive show from Darren Pritchard, co-directed by Vicki Amedume blending circus, dance, drag, theatre, aerial performance and music
- Phelim McDermott and Philip Glass’s latest collaboration, the world premiere of a major new production of Einstein on the Beach
- Hetain Patel’s collaboration with over 250 people from across Greater Manchester as Come As You Really Are reaches its conclusion with one of its largest presentations yet.
In addition Manchester International Festival will return to take over the city for its 2027 edition, with the programme being announced in March 2027.
The anniversary season marks two decades since the organisation’s beginnings with the inaugural Manchester International Festival in 2007 – the first major arts festival dedicated solely to commissioning and producing ambitious new work of scale. Now, with its own year-round venue, Aviva Studios, Factory International enters its third decade having commissioned more than 200 new artworks, shared with almost two million people worldwide.
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Factory International said: “Culture has always been a driving force in Manchester – shaping the city, challenging it to reinvent itself and helping to define its place on the world stage. Twenty years ago, Manchester International Festival put the city at the centre of the international cultural conversation, asking what the art of tomorrow could be.
“Over the past two decades, we have invited some of the world’s biggest artists to Manchester to create work that has shifted the artistic goalposts – work that could not have been created anywhere else. Equally importantly, the voices of our communities have rung out through our work, creating opportunities, jobs and joy with and for the people of the region.
“As we mark our 20th anniversary and unveil our 2027 season, we continue to build on this remarkable legacy: championing creative ambition, welcoming pioneering, fearless artists from near and far to our shapeshifting home, Aviva Studios, and making work that changes how people see the world and how the world sees our city, bringing people together, and, ultimately, changing lives.”
Programme highlights
- Come As You Really Are: 13–20 February 2027
- It’s a Sin (World Premiere): 16–27 February 2027
- AN ARK (European Premiere): 27 March–10 April 2027
- Einstein on the Beach (World Premiere Production): 29 May–12 June 2027
- DEADLIFT – الحان (UK Premiere): 5–6 June 2027
- Manchester International Festival 2027: 1–18 July 2027
- Cinema Tehran (World Premiere): 5–10 October 2027
- A Year Without Summer (UK Premiere): 14–16 October 2027
- Genesis: The Beginning and End of Time (UK Premiere): 22–24 October 2027
- Party in the Sky (World Premiere): Winter 2027
