We're busy getting quite excited about Blysh at WMC this summer. Highlights include Silvia Mercuriali's new piece And the Birds Fell From the Sky, Port of Amsterdam, inspired by the rich history of Cardiff Bay's docks, and the 40-odd free events.  Here's some info...

A 30-foot long inflatable pink pig and a pair of video goggles are two of the essential pieces that will play their part in Wales Millennium Centre’s annual summer festival this year.

Now in its third year, Blysh Festival takes inspiration from cabaret, vaudeville comedy and theatre. Its aim is to present a fun and entertaining programme, most of which is free, located in and around the Centre. Building on the Festival’s previous successes, this year’s Blysh Festival has been extended from one week to four weeks, with events happening throughout the whole of July.

THEATRE AND CABARET

Taking up residence outside the Centre, under its famous inscription, ‘PIG’, is a purpose-built, oversized porcine theatre where the performance is played out inside the animal’s enlarged belly. Audiences watch the cast perform a series of vignettes through windows lined up on the outside of the ‘PIG.’ Up to ten people can watch each performance which last for ten minutes. [‘Pig' 23 July times vary]

Audiences to Blysh Festival may find themselves becoming the central character as part of a new interactive piece of theatre, ’And the Birds Fell from the Sky’. Participants are placed centre stage as they are given video goggles to wear and instructions to follow relayed to them from a set of headphones. As the video plays in front of their eyes and the story unfolds, fact and fiction merge as audiences are physically taken on an imaginary journey and given tasks to fulfil.

Wales Millennium Centre has translated the production into Welsh, meaning that audiences can enjoy ‘And the Birds Fell from the Sky’ in the language of their choice.  [‘And the Birds Fell from the Sky’ 5-10 July times vary]

The Centre’s Weston Studio will be transformed into a backstreet world of shady delight for ‘The Port of Amsterdam’, an intimate experience inspired by Cardiff bay’s rich dockland history. The show introduces a host of dock life characters in a performance that mixes circus and cabaret. [‘The Port of Amsterdam’ 22-23 July 7.30pm]

WORKING WITH RESIDENT ORGANISATIONS

Two of the Centre’s resident organisations will also be performing at Blysh Festival.  Literature Wales brings ‘In Chapters’ an improvised mix of music, literature and film based on the theme of carnival. Taking part will be musicians, novelists and poets from Wales and beyond, including Gorky’s Zygotic Monkey’s Richard James and John Williams from The Cardiff Trilogy. [‘In Chapters’ 21 July 7.30pm].  Inclusive theatre company Hijinx present The Snooks Brothers, turning the Centre’s Glanfa stage into a dark, small and old-fashioned Snook Brother’s Bank [‘The Snooks Brothers’ 7 July 6.30pm]

Other Blysh Festival highlights include:

• Top Shelf Jazz deliver a heady mix of crooning melodies, swing and plenty of banter; [22 July 6.15pm]
• Learn a few tricks of the trade in a series of circus workshops with Cardiff-based No Fit State Circus. [9 -10 July 12pm and 3pm]
• Dead Cat Bounce will perform everything from hip-hop slow jams to 1980s stadium rock anthems. Expect screaming guitar solos, smoke machines and leopard-print pants for an evening of high energy comedy rock [‘Too Fast for Love’ 29 July 7.30pm]
• Naughty duo Bourgeois and Maurice return with their outrageous new show ‘Can’t Dance’, an antidote to all the dance shows currently on television. They combine laugh-out-loud songs, film and astonishing outfits - with very little dance. They will be joined by Le Navet Bête’s latest production. Mixing athleticism with humour ‘Napoleon: A Defence’ is based on four clowns deciding that Napoleon was innocent of all charges. [‘Can’t Dance’ and ‘Napoleon: A Defence’ 30 July from 7.30pm]
• Street Arts crew SWICA and their 50-strong troop of performers deliver outdoor carnival theatre for the family on a big scale, dressed in flamboyant costumes [‘The Last Royal Wizard’ 24 July 3 pm]

Gareth Lloyd Roberts, Blysh Festival Producer said: ‘Blysh is Wales Millennium Centre’s annual summer festival were the emphasis is on providing a fun and entertaining programme, much of which is free of charge.  Audiences to the month-long festival can expect a mix of vaudeville, cabaret, comedy and theatre that is slightly provocative and naughty in places. It’s the perfect way to enjoy the summer.’

Blysh Festival runs from 5-31 July. For further information and full listings, please visit www.wmc.org.uk/blysh or contact the Ticket Office on 029 2063 6464.