Bookkeeping with a bang: Manchester’s stage spectacular The Accountants – in pictures
A world premiere presented by Factory International, The Accountants combines one tale of two auditing firms with another of friends who have connected British Indian and British Chinese heritages
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The Accountants gives both Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company and Xiexin Dance Theatre their UK debuts
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It is choreographed by Terence Lewis, Mahrukh Dumasia and Xie Xin and created by Keith Khan, who both directs and provides the set design
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The show explores the superpowers of China and India
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The Accountants is the latest dance production at Manchester’s new Aviva Studios which opened in 2023 with Free Your Mind, a version of The Matrix directed by Danny Boyle
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The friendship of Kash and Liam will be voiced by Shobna Gulati and Josh Hart
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Meanwhile a dozen dancers will portray two competing accountancy firms, exploring our desire to quantify the world around us
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There is video design by Manchester-based studio idontloveyouanymore
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The score is by Somatic and the dramaturg is Jude Christian
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Khan says: ‘I’m very interested in exploring form – mixing 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’
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Khan adds: ‘I hope it makes people question all sorts of things to do with identity, but also, I hope they are dazzled’
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John McGrath, Factory International’s artistic director, says Khan has ‘the rare capability to combine cutting-edge techniques and big social questions with an enormous sense of fun, colour and joy’
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‘International understanding is at the heart of our work,’ adds McGrath. ‘This show is a particularly vibrant example of the rewards that a wide-ranging cultural collaboration can bring’
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The lighting design is by Simon Corder
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Khan was head of culture for the London 2012 Olympic Games
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The Accountants is at Aviva Studios, Manchester, until 11 May
