The Flare International Festival of New Theatre 2015, with works from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Georgia, Netherlands, Slovenia and Poland, opens this week in Manchester, running from 13 to 18 July.
FLARE15 promises to bring "the most daring and innovative theatre being made today" in a series of works at four Manchester venues: the Royal Exchange Theatre, Z-arts, the Martin Harris Centre and the Royal Exchange Theatre.
The festival will be opened by writer and broadcaster Lemn Sissay MBE, recently appointed chancellor of the University of Manchester, and there will be a launch reception at the Royal Exchange hosted by the Lord Mayor of Manchester on Tuesday 14 July at 1:30PM.
There will be 23 performances including 10 UK premières plus discussions and workshops with Andy Smith, Sleepwalk Collective and Thomas Martin, Feldenkrais lessons with Teresa Brayshaw and daily feedback sessions. The opening performance by Sleepwalk Collective, As the Flames Rose we Danced to the Sirens, the Sirens, will be live-streamed by The Guardian on its web site from 8:40PM on Monday 13 July.
One of the performing groups selected to take part, New Collective from Georgia, was turned down for a visa to perform in the UK by the Home Office with no right of appeal, but they will join Sissay by Skype to open the festival.
Flare's artistic director Neil Mackenzie said, "it’s been a pleasure to see the sheer breadth of vision in the proposals we received. Whittling it down to just 23 performances has been a challenge, but we’ve selected what we consider the very best works.
"These are shows that challenge the conventions of theatre and encourage audiences to reflect on the very act of being an audience today. If you love theatre and are open to new experiences, FLARE15 will certainly have something for you."