Max HeyraudA new stage show celebrating the life, voice and political legacy of Sinéad O’Connor will premiere in Manchester this summer.
Titled The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor, the work is directed and choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, the Tony Award–winning choreographer behind Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The piece will debut on June 25 at The Hall, Aviva Studios, as part of Factory International’s Spring 2026 programme.
Described as a “meditation on voice, protest and the courage to live a life that defies the norm”, the production combines O’Connor’s music with spoken excerpts from her 2021 memoir, Rememberings. The work will be performed by an all-female cast of dancers whose collective presence, Tayeh says, challenges conventional ideas of ageing in contemporary dance.
Tayeh added that O’Connor’s music carries an emotional and psychological weight that translates powerfully into movement. “Joy and grief, strength and sorrow, faith and family, her music asks you to pour everything out and see what’s left.”
The production arrives amid renewed interest in O’Connor’s life and work, following reports that a biopic has been in development since the release of Kathryn Ferguson’s 2022 documentary Nothing Compares.
