The world premiere of  Heiner Goebbels’ epic Everything that happened and would happen (10–21 October) opens this evening Wed 10 October. A performance which incorporates live music, sound, movement and film to explore European history since the outbreak of World War I.

This indescribable new work takes place in Mayfield, an atmospheric former railway depot near Piccadilly Station aimed at surprising the audience as much as Heiner himself through extraordinary visuals and sounds.

The Guardian‘s Kate Connolly spoke to artist and composer Heiner Goebbels about what audiences can expect from Everything that happened and would happen.

From bombsites to Usain Bolt: Manchester relives 100 years of war and peace
He is famous for overloading the stage with vivid, unsettling images – and his monumental new show aims to encompass an entire century. Why are audiences being told to wear sturdy shoes?

“Dancers in black jumpsuits twist and turn through hundreds of delicate beams of light. They reach up from their prison cells to clasp at daylight and bound about nervously on all fours. Then they morph into figures pumping iron in a gym, before becoming first world war soldiers in trenches going over the top.”

Read the full article here.

Our CEO and Artist Director John McGrath said:

“We are thrilled to be working with Artangel again, as well as 14-18 NOW, to premiere Heiner Goebbels’ extraordinary new work in Manchester. As a meditation on European history, presenting it within the wonderfully atmospheric space of the Mayfield, historically a site of passage and connection, seems highly apt. For audiences, it will offer a hint of the exciting work that will be made and experienced when we open The Factory.”