Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight adapt Kay Dick’s rediscovered masterpiece.
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?
These are just some of the questions raised by They: A Sequence of Unease, Kay Dick’s dystopian masterpiece. First published in 1977, the novel went out of print for decades but was recently re-discovered and feels more relevant than ever.
For MIF23, the book is brought to life as a live performance created by Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight. 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.
Step through the doors of the iconic John Rylands Library, and into a dystopian world – as Maxine performs an afterhours reading of They – in one of the last safe spaces left for artists in the city.
They runs from the 5th – 9th July at John Rylands Library – tickets can be purchased here
To enquire about Maxine for voiceovers, email sophie@deanstreetvoices.com