SICK! Festival 2017: 5 must-see shows

SICK! Festival is dedicated to revealing and debating our most urgent physical, mental and social challenges.

Through theatre, dance, film, comedy, art and conversation, the festival embraces difficult topics and this year focuses on issues of identity and belonging – two particularly pressing subjects in a time of mass migration and fraught politics. 

At various venues across Manchester (8-25 March), the programme includes world premieres and brand new commissions and there's loads to see, spanning everything from stand-up comedy to 'on the couch' discussions. 

It's a tough job, but we've whittled down the programme to five absolute must-see shows. Here are our highlights of SICK! Festival 2017. 

SICK! Festival 2017: 5 must-see shows

Michael Essien I Want to Play As You... 

Six West African footballers bring a football-dance-theatre explosion to the stage, confronting the realities of visas, contracts, politics and training that face young African players who come to Europe hoping that football will be their route out of poverty.

Belgian writer Ahilan Ratnamohan wants to raise awareness around the fact that, while the majority of African players championed by the media are on million-dollar contracts, there is a growing underclass of football-aspirants living in harsh conditions in foreign lands, chasing a perhaps impossible dream. 24 March, Contact Theatre, Manchester, 7.30pm

Hiraeth

We're cheating a bit with our list here, as Hiraeth is actually a clutch of three different shows. The word is Welsh for homesickness – tinged with a sadness for the lost or departed – and the trio of performances included in this strand of SICK! Festival all explore themes of home, family history and loss.

First is Daughters of The Curry Revolution, in which Afreena Islam invites you to take a seat around her dinner table as she serves up second-hand stories of her father’s past, present and what little she imagines is left of his future. Following her father's journey to the UK, Islam explores what it means to be his daughter in the context of the anti-immigration rhetoric that surrounds them. 

Next is My Father's Kitchen, where Toni-Dee Paul also investigates her relationship with her father, revisiting their journey 12 years after they became estranged and reflecting on Jamaican history.

Finally, Jamil E-R Keating presents Asteroid RK1, a performance about outer space and the inner city developed in collaboration with men who have slept on Manchester's streets as well as the Mustard Tree charity. All three performances take place 8 Mar at Rethink Rebuild Society & 24 Mar at St Wilfrids Enterprise Centre, Manchester, 2pm & 5pm

Give Me Your Love

Exploring the healing potential in altered states of consciousness, Give Me Your Love is a new work by adventurous theatre group Ridiculusmus based on groundbreaking medical research into the use of MDMA in the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Using real-life testimonials from war veterans, the play is a dark comedy on a serious subject, dealt with frankly in the staging where veteran Zach, upon returning from Afghanistan, has quite literally boxed himself in. 10 & 11 Mar, The Lowry, Salford, 7.30pm

Read our interview with Ridiculusmus about Give Me Your Love.

Five Easy Pieces

Controversial Swiss director Milo Rau brings together young actors aged 8-13 to perform the life of child killer Marc Dutroux, one of Belgium's most notorious criminals. Based on testimonies and reconstructions of true stories, Rau's work aims to break the taboos of our age and probe the limits of an audience’s experience.

Theatrical questions blend with moral issues:  How can children understand the real significance of narrative, empathy, loss, subjection, old age, disappointment, or rebellion? How do we react if we see them acting out scenes of violence or love and romance? In particular, what does that say about our own fears and desires? 25 Mar, HOME, Manchester, 7.30pm

The Game 

Ireland's THEATREclub present an exploration into the act of buying sex and the subculture of prostitution, where five Manchester men will volunteer to take part in 'The Game' – an unscripted performance with levels and consequences that asks us all to think afresh about issues including legislation and how it makes a statement about our values. 15 Mar, Contact Theatre, 7pm

 

Buy tickets at sickfestival.com.

SICK! Festival 
8-25 March, Manchester & Brighton

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