Belfast International Arts Festival runs from 15 Oct – 3 Nov in various locations across Belfast. With over 200 events and 14 UK, Irish and world premieres, there is something for everyone. This week’s top picks are:
To Da
Bone, Fri 25 – Sat 26 Oct, The Grand Opera House,
Christine
and the Queens fans will recognise the work of French arts collective (LA)HORDE
from the video for Girlfriend, and from their stunning Glastonbury
performance.
To Da Bone
is a captivating, contemporary rebel-call to the social media generation and
explores youth culture, identity and expression. The cast of 11 dancers were crowd-sourced
from across Europe through internet auditions, and have created this pulsing
and electrifying performance of jumpstyle dance, with powerful intensity and
emotion. High energy. Stunning.
Real
Magic, Tues 22 – Wed 23
Oct, The MAC,
Groundhog
Day meets Samuel Beckett! Real Magic
creates a world of absurd disconnection, struggle and comical repetition. Part
mind-reading feat, part cabaret act, part nightmare game show, this surreal
adventure takes its cue from popular culture and current affairs, while
questioning larger systems of control. A compelling commentary on the
individual desire for change in the face of higher power. Make your own political comparisons!
Before,
Thurs 24 – Fri 25 Oct, The MAC,
Touchingly
combining some of the best-loved songs from musical theatre with the story of
an estranged father and daughter, this solo show is set on the closing day of
Clery’s department store in Dublin. Writer and performer Pat Kinevane received
the Herald Archangel Award at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival.
Staging
Schiele, Sat 26 Oct, The MAC,
Four dancers inhabit radical
artist Egon Schiele’s highly-charged world of colour, masterful lines and
unusual perspectives that put the human body on visceral display. Shobana
Jeyasingh’s award-winning choreography matches the raw intensity of Schiele,
and scrutinises the relationship between male artist and female model; the
viewer and the subject.
Unique Instruments, Expectant Spaces, Fri 18 Oct – Fri 8 Nov, Ulster
University, York Street
Metaphor,
simile and story-telling are at the heart of local architectural practice Hall
McKnight’s work. This large-scale
installation, which appeared at the prestigious invitation-only 16th
international Architectural Exhibition in Venice, cross-references a number of
their projects including the re-imagining of new civic spaces from a variety of
different perspectives.
The Octavia Poetry Collective, Wed 23 Oct, Ulster Sports Club,
Octavia
is a poetry collective for women of colour, founded by poet, Rachel Long in
response to the lack of inclusivity and representation in poetry and academia.
The evening will explore themes of representation, cultural identity, and
equality.
Lanny with Max Porter, Tues 22 Oct, Black Box,
An
innovative hybrid of fairy tale, fable, and myth, Lanny is Max Porter’s hugely
anticipated second novel and was recently long-listed for the Man Booker Prize
2019.
The
Worst Cafe in the World, Wed
23 – Sun 27 Oct, Worst Café
(pop-up), Cotton Court
If reality TV had a lovechild with theatre, this is it. A Big Telly special for Festival, there is
just one week to get a table, place your orders and experience the gloriously
mad ‘Worst Café in the World’. Pure comedy and pathos, this chaotic foodless venue
promises a large serving of entertainment for people who like their theatre
fresh. Make sure to book your dinner elsewhere!
For
information visit: https://belfastinternationalartsfestival.com/
or to book call 02890 246609.
