KENNETH BRANAGH: Manchester Interational Festival to Feature Kenneth Branagh, Rob Ashford, Robert Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Mikhail Baryshnikov By Mark Shenton 28 Feb 2013 (PLAYBILL)

Kenneth Branagh

Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging

This year's Manchester International Festival will feature newly commissioned productions from actors and directors that include Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford (co-directing Macbeth starring Branagh), Robert Wilson (directing Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Old Woman) and Maxine Peake and Sarah Frankcom, who will collaborate on Shelley's epic poem The Masque of Anarchy.

Macbeth will run July 5-21 in a deconsecrated Manchester church, for which details of the meeting place will be revealed to ticket holders beforehand. Kenneth Branagh, who last appeared in Shakespeare in the title role of Richard III at Sheffield Crucible in 2002, will play the title role, and co-direct with Rob Ashford. During the run, there will also be a one-off live relay on a big outdoor screen at the NCP Bridgewater Hall Car Park July 20.

READ MORE: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/175428-Manchester-Interational-Festival-to-Feature-Kenneth-Branagh-Rob-Ashford-Robert-Wilson-Willem-Dafoe-Mikhail-Baryshnikov