First-look images of Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight’s MIF23 show

Maxine Peake rehearsing They

Factory International has released first-look rehearsal images for the world premiere of They, a new adaptation of Kay Dick’s rediscovered dystopian masterpiece adapted by Maxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight.

The production will run from 5 – 9 July as part of Manchester International Festival.

Dick is widely regarded as the first woman director in English publishing, after she became a director at P.S. King & Son in the early 40s. Her career would also take on journalism, writing for the New Statesman for several years as well as variously working as a reviewer for The Times, The Spectator and Punch. She also edited the literary magazine The Windmill, under the pen name Edward Lane.

Her dystopian novel They was published in 1977, but attracted harsh and reportedly sexist reviews, sold poorly and quickly went out of print. It was then largely forgotten until an old edition was stumbled upon in a Bath Oxfam shop by a literary agent in 2020, leading to a Paris Review reappraisal of the “lost dystopian masterpiece” and new print run by Faber and Faber in 2022, accompanied by a celebration event at the British Library as part of that year’s LGBT History Month.

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Knight, Peake and Frankcom rehearsing They
Knight, Peake and Frankcom rehearsing They


The novel – essentially a series of dreamscapes – takes place in a near-future where creative expression is outlawed and art eradicated. For MIF23 the novel is brought to life as a live performance created by Peake, Frankcom and Knight.

The adaptation is their latest Festival collaboration, following The Masque of Anarchy, The Skriker and The Nico Project, which celebrated radical acts and artists. They marks the trio’s first production as the newly-formed company MAAT – a collective adventure to make new work in conversation with Music, Art, Activism and Theatre.

The trio said: “In a climate of escalating culture wars, the erosion of arts in education and a continuing political disregard for the value of creativity in building a fair society, They speaks truth to power. It celebrates the importance of making art as a means of survival and resistance and rich inspiration to make something for the times we find ourselves in right now.”


Knight and Peake rehearsing They
Knight and Peake rehearsing They


Director Sarah Franckom was the long-serving artistic director of Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre from 2008-2019 and is currently director of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Imogen Knight is a choreographer, director and movement director who trained at Manchester’s Northern Ballet School. Bolton native Maxine Peake is an actress and political activist known for her roles in hit shows including Dinnerladies, Shameless and Black Mirror.

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