MIF 2013: Sir Kenneth Branagh And The xx

SIR Kenneth Branagh and Mercury Prize-winning band The xx will be among the headliners of next year's Manchester International Festival.

"We continue to make ambitious and engaged work with some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers..." - Alex Poots

Sir Kenneth, who received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace last week, will play Macbeth in what will be his first Shakespeare play for more than a decade. He will give 17 performances as Macbeth in a new production by Emmy and Tony award-winning director Rob Ashford. The production is set to take place in an as-yet-unnamed former church building in Manchester.

2010 Mercury-Prize winners, The xx, will also play at the festival next July. It has also been confirmed this week, that an old industrial building in Salford will be converted into an agricultural space filled with experiments in sustainable food, technology and design.

The xx

Festival director Alex Poots told the BBC: "We continue to make ambitious and engaged work with some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers, while taking the festival - and our audiences - in new, unexpected and challenging directions."

MIF is held every two years and 2013 will be its fourth incarnation. Bjork, Sinéad O’Connor, Snoop Dogg, Victoria Wood and Damon Albarn were among the star attractions last year. The full programme for next year's festival will be announced in February.

Those early highlights

Macbeth

MIF presents a once in a lifetime event: 17 performances of this new production, staged ina deconsecrated church. Directed by Rob Ashford (Anna Christie, A Streetcar NamedDesire) and Kenneth Branagh; starring Branagh as Macbeth.

The xx
Following the release of their Number 1 album Coexist The xx are in residence at MIF,taking over an enigmatic found space in the centre of the city for the whole Festival. Eachof these specially staged shows will have a capacity of no more than 100, giving audiencesa new relationship with the band’s intimate, atmospheric music.

The Biospheric Project
How can we continue to put food on our tables as climates change and populations riseand become more urbanised? The Biospheric Project sees MIF team up with the Biospheric Foundation, a local community of researchers, scientists and urban farmers, toseek solutions to this most pressing question. Growing out of MIF11’s Vertical Farm study and the Biospheric Foundation’s own research, the team will transform an old industrial building in Salford into an agricultural space filled with experiments in sustainable food,technology and design. 

Tickets for Macbeth and The xx go on sale in January – sign up for ticket alerts at mif.co.uk. The full programme for MIF13 will be announced in February.