Freedom, Fringe and Al-Fresco Fun: Refract Festival returns to Waterside
In the wake of “Freedom Day” we’ve seen controversy, irrationality, and rightful anxiety. But, “pingdemic” or not, there’s no denying that a long-awaited festival season is truly upon us:
Deansgate shut down for a large-scale interpretative dance. Piccadilly Gardens was taken over by an inescapably huge structure of ‘Big Ben Lying Down’. Any slither of brownfield land has sprung to life with outdoor seating and stages - from Homeground at First Street to Hope Fest in Ancoats. The city is abuzz (excuse the bee pun) with cultural offerings, drawing us out of isolation and back into the audience.
MIF may have closed its doors and slipped into another fallow year, but, looking beyond the city centre, we find the bright lights of another great arts festival springing into action. Now in its fourth year, Refract is back!
There are very few places where you can switch, in the blink of an eye, from full frontal clown nudity in an ambiently-lit cabaret club, to a sultry string quartet in the erudite oak-panelled council chambers. As I discovered on Thursday’s opening night, Waterside, Sale, is one such place.
As inclusive, “something for everyone” events go, Refract truly lives up to its claims.
An Opening Night of Clowns and Quartets
Kicking off the eclectic festival line up were a pair of clowns in a cardboard world. Coulrophobia, from Opposable Thumb Theatre, drags us into the nostalgic atmosphere of a (slightly disturbing) children’s birthday party. Dik and Adam are sardonic and silly in equal measure. One minute they’re giving a sock puppet masterclass, the next, they’re giving you the finger.
This is 80 minutes of classic clowning from two masters of physical comedy… classic, only with sinister puppets, swearing, rum cocktails, and actual cocks.
I’ve never been part of an audience so eager to engage in audience participation. This opening event was the very spirit of “Freedom Day” as we were all liberated by a barrage of only loosely-connected silliness.
After refreshing our drinks and moving upstairs, we embraced the folksy harmonies of Seamus Óg and his newly formed quartet. With tinglingly beautiful voices and a resonant double bass, this band are masterful storytellers and music makers at once. Drawing the evening to a close, Alf Whitby plugged his debut album release of soulful songs, written from a place of emotional catharsis. Alf and his accompaniment lulled the audience into a swaying singalong to wrap up a truly eclectic evening.
COVID and the arts
Of course I can’t avoid mentioning the c-word (though not the c-word I would’ve liked - see my love-letter to c*nt in an earlier article!). Though restrictions may have eased, Covid remained very much a part of the production.
The clowns of Coulrophobia embedded flamboyant hand sanitising into the show, and, whilst audience participation was mandatory, so was the complimentary PPE. Meanwhile, the first of the upstairs gigs housed a group of musicians who met online during lockdown, at one point even singing about lockdown. And the star of the latter gig was just so hyped to be back on a real stage that he momentarily forgot his own lyrics amongst all the excitement!
The venue staff at Waterside have put measures in place to make the festival truly inclusive, with outdoor events, reduced capacity audiences, and some digital performances.
What’s Still to Come
The Refract festival line-up promises a host of weird, wonderful and wow-factor events, during its ten-day run from 22nd - 31st July 2021.
Outdoors, there will be aerial and acrobatic dance performances. For comedy enthusiasts, there’s set to be plenty more clowning, alongside musical comedy from The Noise Next Door and even a recital of the entire 10 series of Friends told by one man in Friend (The One with Gunther).
There’ll be family fun from improv to self-proclaimed “jungle rhythms” - a far cry from the folksy line-up of musicians throughout the festival.
At Refract, I wasn’t there as a feminist theatre critic seeking political poignancy. I was there as an avid enthusiast for all live performing arts and the people who make them possible.
Onwards from the ‘support local business’ and ‘clap for heroes’ community spirit, I feel compelled to protect and promote those people who bring cultural colour into our lives.
“After a challenging year for artists and arts organisations, we are so thrilled to be welcoming so many back through our doors and working with new ones to build on the success of the first three years of Refract. Our focus has been on creating a really exciting and uplifting season of unforgettable experiences to bring much needed creative energy, joy and lively entertainment to audiences of all ages who have not been able to experience any live arts for the past few months. Now more than ever, we all need fun things to look forward to and culture is the perfect way in which to bring people together, to bring the wonder and excitement back into our lives and back through the doors of this wonderful local venue.”
Producer of Refract, Darren Adams
Refract: 21 runs at Waterside from Thursday 22 - Saturday 31 July.
Visit the Refract website for tickets and more information.
