Flare17, the next incarnation of Manchester's annual festival of new international theatre, has announced a programme of around 60 artists from across Europe and the UK over 5 days at venues including HOME, Royal Exchange Theatre, The Lowry, Contact and The Flare Hub, which will be in the former Cornerhouse building on Oxford Street.
Highlights of the festival include Party from Spanish/Brazilian artists Beaches, an immersive theatre/dance show for an audience of 10, Boose Provoost's Moore Bacon! presented at HOME in almost pitch darkness, Molar by Spanish artist Quim Bigas Bassart, BOG Collective's One in a double bill with K.U.R.S.K's Leopard Murders, Alicia Jane Turner using music to focus on the act of breathing with magician Tom Cassani, Guillem Mont de Palol and Jorge Dutor's interpretation of a popular opera and Turkish-born Enis Turan's Beauty and the Beast with a study of gender norms.
There will be a substantial amount of work from Belgium's theatre scene and Future Flares will provide a platform for provocative student work.
The festival ends with a fictitious tribute band inspired by the troublesome and disturbed character of beat poet Charles Bukowski.
Flare Festival, which will also include workshops, feedback sessions and parties, will take place from 4 to 8 July.