MIF Rewind > Party Skills at the End of the World

MIF Rewind > is here every Friday night for the foreseeable future. Rejoice as Manchester International Festival treat us to some of the highlights from their back catalogue – and what a back catalogue it is!

What would you do as the world as you know it was ending? Despair? No: celebrate – or so said Shunt Collective, the creators of Party Skills at the End of the World for Manchester International Festival 2017. It would a bit of stretch to say we have experienced anything close to the end of the world, but our current brush with you-know-what has suggested that might not have been too far off the mark.

Away from the tragedy which has affected too many of us in recent weeks, the story has been about distraction – how we’ve been connecting together online and on our doorsteps. From smashing pots and pans with our neighbours in recognition of key workers to just getting smashed with our mates on Zoom.

This bold, immersive theatrical performance – originally staged at the RIBA Award-winning Centenary Building in Salford – came from the ‘most innovative theatre company in Britain’ (as hailed by the Guardian back in 2006) and argued that as the collapse of civilisation closes in, we should look at the good things that fear stops us from enjoying.

Now, exclusively for MIF Live, they’re attempting to squeeze their genre-defying show into the tiny digital portal that connects all of our isolated worlds during lockdown.

MIF Rewind > takes place every Friday, usually on MIF’s YouTube or Facebook Live channels, but this week you will need to book a free ticket in advance and join in on Zoom.

Over the past decade and a half, Manchester’s biennial celebration of performance, art, music and theatre has premiered countless new commissions here in Manchester.

Though we would all like the circumstances to be a little bit different, we’re excited to kick back in the comfort of our homes and rewind with the world’s first festival of original work and special events.