THE Belfast International Festival has just revealed its programme for 2024.
Running for five weeks from October 16 to November 23 across more than 30 venues, the 62nd edition of the city-wide festival will live up to its name with a line-up featuring artists from 16 different countries.
THEATRE AND DANCE
A selection of new theatre shows lead the festival’s opening, including premieres for The Tragedy of Richard III, a Lyric Theatre production of the Shakespearean tragedy adapted by Michael Patrick and Oisín Kearney; Yerma, a re-telling of Lorca’s tragedy set in contemporary Ireland, adapted and directed by Patrick J O’Reilly for Tinderbox Theatre; Aurora: A Modern Myth by Dominic Montague for Prime Cut Productions, a new work which challenges audiences to rethink their relationship with nature; and The Vanishing Elephant by Cahoots, an epic tale of friendship and adventure featuring on-stage puppetry that comes to the Festival fresh from a hugely successful off-Broadway run.
The festival’s first major showcase of theatre and dance will also feature Touch, Hear, Feel, a new project by dancer/visual artist and current festival artist-in-residence Helen Hall which “invites audiences to reimagine the way we experience art”, and Michael McEvoy’s The Gate House, “a journey through three generations of Belfast stories”.
From farther afield comes an evening of performance from Palestine exploring the trauma of war through movement and sound in a double bill of Losing It from Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre and In Between by Esam Sultan, in partnership with Féile an Phobail.
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Luail, the new all island dance company makes its Northern Ireland debut with Impasse by Mufutau Yusef, whilst free performances of the acrobatic Wild from Motionhouse will take place at CS Lewis Square as part of a wider programme strand of free performances and community engagement called Embrace.
MUSIC
As part of this year’s music programme, BBC Introducing Live returns for its second year with a line-up that includes local stars Le Boom, Cherym, Dea Matrona and Tramp.
Singer/songwriter Ciaran Lavery will meld his distinctive sound with musical theatre in an immersive live music experience that follows the artist’s battle against crippling creative self-doubt, all-female west African supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique will fuse African heritage with contemporary pop to champion the rights of women and girls, and blues legends Paul Jones and Dave Kelly will join forces with Irish singer-songwriter Freddie White to present an evening of Blues & Ballads, with special guests the Ulster Orchestra.
WORDS AND VOICES
The festival’s Talks & Ideas strand brings together international and local writers, including local star Michael Longley, who celebrates his 85th birthday this year, and The Damned Utd author David Peace, whose forthcoming novel Munichs will be the third entry in his football-themed trilogy. The festival also welcomes three celebrated writers from Trinidad and Jamaica to Belfast: Passiontide author Monique Roffey, Hungry Ghosts author Kevin Jared Hosein, and Safiya Sinclair.
EXTENDED PLAY
This year’s festival schedule will be extended into mid-November to include several special events celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, including talks from Colin Davidson, Alice Maher, an evening of reflections on the enduring legacy of German artist Joseph Beuys in Northern Ireland from Dr Sandra Johnson and Anna Liesching, and Mixtape #1, a new collaboration with one of Belfast School of Art’s most acclaimed graduates, Phil Collins, hosted by Outburst Queer Arts Festival and Ulster Presents.
WINDOW TO THE WORLD
Festival chief executive and artistic director Richard Wakely says: “Belfast International Arts Festival is a window to the world. This year’s programme is hugely diverse, which we believe really reflects a contemporary, cosmopolitan Belfast and embodies our mission to bring people together, to promote international understanding and social cohesion, and to celebrate diversity through the creative arts.
“In partnership with our many creative and community partners, we’ve worked to create, produce and present an autumn season of inspiring artistic experiences that highlight the very best of our city and country and we hope to see audiences embrace all that this year’s bumper festival has to offer.”