Zenobia, a city of joy. Beersheba, a celestial city of gold. Isadora, a city of promise, seduction and desire. City by unseen city, the young explorer conjures from the ether a vast and spectacular empire – all for the benefit of its emperor, his master, who may never get to see it for himself…
Leo Warner, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lolita Chakrabarti, 59 Productions and Rambert bring to life a series of fantastical places in this world-premiere production. Centred on the edgy relationship between Kublai Khan, the volatile head of a vast empire, and explorer Marco Polo, who must transcend a language barrier to describe it for him, this spellbinding mix of theatre, choreography, music, architectural design and projection mapping imagines a succession of alternative worlds – and reimagines what is possible in live performance.
Opened July 2019
Manchester International Festival & Brisbane Festival
A phantasmagorical production of Italo Calvino’s fantastical travelogue is an inspired international festival project… Set in a huge disused and near derelict rail station, Invisible Cities becomes less a play, more a staged sculpture… quietly profound
In a feat of production design, the stage – around which the audience, like compass points, is divided into four distinct phalanxes – morphs from throne room to temple, encampment to shopping mall, and even to a Venetian canal, complete with water, gondola and bridge.
Invisible Cities is a mesh of contemporary dance, projections, spectacular staging and a thumping score set within the imposing Mayfield building. This Manchester International Festival world premiere is a mesmerising production, an intercontinental adventure for the Game of Thrones generation
Invisible Cities is an interrogation of humanity through the medium of cities." That is a conversation pertinent across the globe, certainly not least in fast-changing Manchester.
Composers Dustin O’Halloran & Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie of A Winged Victory for the Sullen
Stage Designer Jenny Melville
Video Designer Nicol Scott
Costume Designer Laura Hopkins
Lighting Designer Fabiana Piccioli
Sound Designer Gareth Fry
Casting Director Sam Jones CDG
Creative Advisor Benoit Swan Pouffer
Assistant Director Rebecca Hanbury
Produced by Manchester International Festival, 59 Productions, Rambert and Karl Sydow.
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Brisbane Festival, Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival, Sadler’s Wells, SMG Live, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Centre (JACC) and Karl Sydow.