The UK première of a “spectacular wild west tale”, Deadtown, kicks off the 10th Birmingham European Festival, otherwise known as BE Festival.
The sons of Oscar-winning film director Milos Forman are bringing a cast of 20 acrobats, dancers, singers and musicians to perform Deadtown which mixes film, live action and magic to present the old west in a new way.
The Forman brothers “step over the boundaries of optical illusion, discovering a new world. As in their other shows, the audience does not merely enter a theatre venue but rather steps inside a highly original wild west universe”.
Deadtown can be seen at Birmingham REP from Thursday 27 until Saturday 29 June.
Throughout the festival, the REP’s rarely seen backstage areas will be transformed into a hub filled with artists from all over Europe and beyond.
Highlights include Mokhallad Rasem's Soul Seekers (Iraq / Belgium), a performance documentary following a journey of refugees to asylum; German choreographer Paula Rosolen with her show PUNK?, a homage to punk and contemporary dance complete with a live band and pogo sticks; and Catalan company Ça Marche’s Silence which “explores a world of improvised chaos, with a cast of local children, fake snow and giant blow-up monsters that exist when parents aren’t watching”.
BE Festival runs at Birmingham REP from Thursday 27 June until Saturday 6 July.