For the second year, the highlights of Birmingham’s BE FESTIVAL 2013 will embark on a national tour, introducing three more emerging European theatre companies to U.K. audiences. The festival places a strong emphasis on collaboration, participation and exchange, and each of the pieces presented have been selected for their capacity to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries. The tour will take in Liverpool on October 22nd.
Winner of both the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at BE FESTIVAL 2013, Out of Balanz (Denmark) presents Next Door, combining intimate storytelling with high octane physical theatre to explore what really connects people.
Tao Te by Ferenc Fehér (Hungary) won the ACT Arriaga International Touring Prize: fusing freestyle dance and martial arts, it presents two men who are dragged through a series of conflicts and struggles in search of a harmonious and virtuous life. Completing the touring trio is Al Cubo by Betti Combo (France), a heady mix of circus and mischievous theatre as three buffoons help and defy each other in equal measure striving to create the tallest construction and attain perfect balance.
BE FESTIVAL Co-Director Mike Tweddle said, “These companies brought the house down and charmed the jury at a sold out BE this year. We’re thrilled to be launching the tour at the Barbican and adding new venues to the schedule such as Cast Doncaster, Derby Theatre and two Spanish venues. As programmers we felt the pieces represented a diverse, innovative, challenging and exciting snapshot of the festival. It’s a small but illustrative picture of the best new European theatre being made.”
At a time when financial instability dominates public discourse on Europe, BE FESTIVAL aims to build meaningful connections between artists and audiences from a diverse range of backgrounds, bringing people together in unique and imaginative ways. Acknowledging the racial and cultural tensions that are so often associated with periods of economic crisis; the festival hopes to recognize the shared values and experiences that unite people from across Europe, while providing space to debate the existing problems and the potential future of the continent.
Tickets are priced at £10 with concessions available at £8. Tickets are available to purchase from the Unity Theatre Box office on Hope Place, by telephone on 0844 8732888 or online at www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk.