Transform 19, which describes itself as “a festival of powerful, international performance” for Leeds, opens 26 April and runs all next week.
Under Creative Director Amy Letman, the event has grown to become an established part of the City’s theatre and cultural scene; but for audiences more used to the offerings at the Playhouse, the Grand, the Carriageworks and the City Varieties, it could be seen as a bit of a challenge.
“Let’s occupy the schools; let’s occupy the theatres. Let’s occupy everything” is the strapline for When It Breaks, It Burns, a production which Amy recommends as a good point of entry to the radical programme.
It’s produced by coletivA ocupação – which is not a typo, but the name for a collective of students from different districts in São Paulo, “working at the edges of art, activism and education” who took over their schools in 2015 and 2016 and have since toured to sellout audiences in Brazil. Next week, they’re occupying the Leonardo Building just off Millennium Square from 2 to 4 May, offering audiences the chance to “get up close to the action and to their extraordinary stories as real life invades the stage”.
It’s not just radical activists who perform in Transform. Marginalised and underrepresented groups get centre stage as well, as with MDLSX at Prime Studios 26 and 27 April. This performance from the Italian group Motus is billed as “an explosive investigation of gender and identities, spilling across boundaries and refusing to be contained” and is inspired by Greek mythology, documentary theatre and historical events.
The full eclectic programme features pop opera from China, an examination of pop culture from a black artist based in Leeds, and the chance to see the City in a completely new light, with a high-tech adventure out on the streets – an experience billed as “part theatre, part game, part spy thriller”.
And with Britain in the throes of the Brexit debate, Oh Europa brings a new perspective on the concept of what it means to be European with a motorhome and a network of “radio beacons”.
The whole programme is curated by Creative Director Amy Letman, who in between urgent phone calls on the eve of launch day, told me some of the things she’s looking forward to most:
One of the features of this year’s Transform is its takeover of unusual spaces, of which Prime Studios on Kirkstall Road between Yorkshire Television and the Snooker Centre is one example; as well as being a performance venue it will also serve as the Festival centre, hosting the Festival’s opening event at 6pm and functioning as an HQ, a club and a chillout space throughout the week.
Full details of Transform 19 can be found online at transformfestival.org and the programme runs from 26 April until 4 May at various venues across Leeds.
Feature photograph – MDLSX Motus by DIANE Ilariascarpa
