Photos: Inside Rehearsal For THEY at Manchester International Festival

Factory International has released rehearsal images for the world premiere of They, a new adaptation of Kay Dick’s rediscovered masterpiece adapted by Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight. The production will run from 5  - 9 July as part of Manchester International Festival.

Imagine a near-future where creative expression is outlawed, all art eradicated and any resistance takes enormous courage. Would it be enough to go on quietly creating for yourself? To memorise your favourite passages before all books disappear? What is art without an audience or a debate?

For MIF23, Kay Dick’s dystopian masterpiece They: A Sequence of Unease, is brought to life as a live performance created by Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight. First published in 1977, the novel went out of print for decades but was recently re-discovered and feels more relevant than ever. Step through the doors of the iconic John Rylands Library, and into a dystopian world – as Maxine performs an afterhours reading of They. 

The adaptation is their latest Festival collaboration, following The Masque of Anarchy, The Skriker and The Nico Project, which celebrated radical acts and artists. They marks the trio’s first production as the newly-formed company MAAT – a collective adventure to make new work in conversation with Music, Art, Activism and Theatre.

Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom, Imogen Knight said: “In a climate of escalating culture wars, the erosion of Arts in education and a continuing political disregard for the value of creativity in building a fair society, They speaks truth to power. It celebrates the importance of making art as a means of survival and resistance and rich inspiration to make something for the times we find ourselves in right now.”

Photo Credit: Tristram Kenton

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