The cultural superpowers of China and India go head-to-head in The Accountants, a high-tech, multimedia stage production about navigating cultural expectations and finding one’s own path in life.
Factory International presents the World Premiere of Keith Khan’s The Accountants (7-11 May) a brand new stage production combining dance choreographed by global dance icons Terence Lewis and Xie Xin, transnational soundscape, and innovative video design, at Aviva Studios, the landmark new cultural space now open in Manchester.
An exchange played out in text and voice notes tells the story of Kash, voiced by Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street), and Liam, voiced by Josh Hart, who help each other navigate the cultural expectations surrounding their two disparate but connected British Indian and British Chinese heritages.
Against the backdrop of this intergenerational friendship, another story unfolds on stage. 12 dancers from the internationally renowned Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company (Mumbai, India) and Xiexin Dance Theatre (Shanghai, China) embody two competing accountancy firms and interpret, through movement, the desire to assess, compare and quantify the world around us.
The Accountants is a high-tech stage spectacle about two cultural superpowers set to a soundtrack by the ARIAS-nominated sound artist Somatic, and moving images on large on-stage screens animated by Manchester-based studio idontloveyouanymore.
Exploding stereotypes of these two powerhouse nations, the show explores cultural expectations, career choices and communication through technology, but its central question is simple: how, when navigating all of these things, do you find your own path in life?
One of India’s most renowned choreographers and well-known as a judge on Dance India Dance and India’s Best Dancer, Dr Terence Lewis, alongside the company’s Creative Head and Chief Choreographer Mahrukh Dumasia, have been instrumental in raising the bar of contemporary dance in India over the last 25 years as founders of both the Contemporary Dance Company of India and the Institute for Dance Education.
Xie Xin meanwhile is an international rising star in the contemporary dance world who last year presented When I am facing U at La Biennale di Venezia, a specially commissioned project by Wayne McGregor, and became the first female Chinese choreographer to be commissioned by Paris Opera Ballet with Horizon.
This brand-new Factory International production is created by Keith Khan, a multi-disciplinary artist known for his cultural work from Notting Hill Carnival to the London 2012 Olympic Games. He has collaborated with Mark Fisher, Robert Lepage and Peter Gabriel, and in 2002, created the Golden Jubilee Celebration Commonwealth Parade for the Queen and was Director of Design of the Commonwealth Games Manchester. His Alladeen won an Outstanding Production Obie Award in 2002-4.
Keith Khan said: “I’m very interested in exploring form – this collusion of dance, sound and video in a seamless way. The Accountants is not one thing or the other. It’s not a theatre play. It’s not a dance show. It’s this hybrid form of art. I hope it makes people question all sorts of things to do with identity, but also, I hope they are dazzled.”
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International said: “I’m very proud indeed to see this intercontinental collaboration come to life on our beautiful new stage at Aviva Studios. I have long been a huge fan of Keith Khan’s work. From the early days of his legendary company Moti Roti, through massive street parades, to today’s production, he has had the rare capability to combine cutting-edge techniques and big social questions with an enormous sense of fun, colour and joy. International understanding is at the heart of our work, and this show is a particularly vibrant example of the rewards that a wide-ranging cultural collaboration can bring.”
The Accountants will Premiere at Manchester’s landmark new cultural space Aviva Studios, from 4th May to 11th May 2024. Book your tickets at factoryinternational.org now.
