Love blooms with feathers

Longlisted for the Theatre503 International Playwriting Prize earlier this year, The Thing

With Feathers, by Italian born, Manchester-based Giulia Fincato, premieres in November at the Kings Arms in Salford (November 18-20).

Set in an ambiguous post-apocalyptic world, Emily and Sue, a poet and an artist, have been together for 60 years but while their love is blooming, the world around them collapses.

The play was initially created with the support of the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing, then went through a research and development session and an extract was seen at the the Royal Exchange Studio.

Playing Emily is Fiona Scott (Flamenco or Bust!, Unity Theatre; Lear,HER Productions; Caitlin Thomas, Theatr Clwyd. Screen credits include Doctor Who. Michaela Short plays Sue. Her recent theatre includes a site-specific play in a cash converter shop in Bradford; and she was recently nominated for the best actor award at the OffCut Festival at Manchester's 53Two venue. She was also in TV's Happy Valley and the feature film All This Time).

The company says: "The play is interested in the contemporary discourse surrounding the state of the arts and political attitudes towards creativity and its promotion.

"Following the recent news of the 100 per cent cut to the city of Birmingham’s arts funding, as well as redundancies in the theatre sector, what has been brought into question is the role of the artist and the importance of creative practice.

"The play proposes the hopeful stance that creativity is humanity, and it will always be sought after - even when all else seems to fail.

"The play presents a narrative about two older queer artists without the story being inherently about their queerness or age, but on questions of artistic freedom and artistic agency. Who do we make art for?"

More info and tickets here