Home

Theatre 1 | Multi award-winning stand-up Alasdair Beckett-King unravels life's shallowest mysteries. A true Renaissance man, Alasdair is 500 years old.

• more info

(14+) Theatre 1 | Approx 75mins. Is it possible to dismantle and rebuild our broken political and economic systems? Senator Bernie Sanders believes it is and at this special live event, he will present his vision of what would be possible if the political revolution took place, and we took an alternative path forward.

Senator Bernie Sanders is the longest serving Independent member of Congress in American history. A vital voice for progressive change, his priorities include leading the fight for free healthcare (Medicare for All in the U.S.A), combatting climate change and building a movement to transform our economy to one that works for all of us and not just the one percent. In his book, the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller It’s OK to be Angry About Capitalism, he takes on the 1% and speaks blunt truths about a system that is fuelled by uncontrolled corporate greed and rigged against ordinary people. Where a handful of oligarchs have never had it so good, with more money than they could spend in a thousand lifetimes, and the vast majority want a better standard of living.

“How can we accept an economic order that allows three billionaires to control more wealth than the bottom half of our society? How can we accept a political system that allows the super-rich to buy elections and politicians? How can we accept an energy system that rewards the fossil fuel corporations causing the climate crisis? How can we let it happen any longer? We must demand fundamental economic and political change. This is where the path forward begins.”

Join us to see Senator Bernie Sanders and host Gary Younge discuss what transformational change would look like.

Gary Younge is an award-winning author, broadcaster and Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester. Winner of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Journalism, his acclaimed books include Another Day in the Death of America; The Speech, The Story Behind Martin Luther King’s Dream and Dispatches From the Diaspora, From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter.

Presented by Manchester Literature Festival in partnership with the Centre for New Writing, Creative Manchester and Penguin.

• more info

The end is nigh, but not that nigh. Have we got time to make one more show? We hope so. Big finish is a show about endings, and beginnings, and middles, and endings… wait… it’s a cycle.

• more info

(12+) Theatre 1

A Wise Children, HOME Manchester, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and York Theatre Royal co-production

Blue Beard
Adapted and directed by Emma Rice

Blue Beard the Magician makes hearts flutter and pupils dilate. With a wink, a stroke and a flick - things just seem to vanish. Cards, coins, scarves… and women.

Puff! Gone. Without a trace. He meets his match when his young bride discovers his dark and murderous secret. She summons all her rage, all her smarts and all her sisters to bring the curtain down on his tyrannous reign. Emma Rice brings her own brand of theatrical wonder to this most beguiling and disturbing of tales. With her signature sleight of hand, Blue Beard explores curiosity and consent, violence and vengeance - all through an intoxicating lens of music, wit and tender truth. When someone tells you not to look, OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!

• more info

Part of Box of Tricks Takeover

Brain Play (working title) by Lekhani Chirwa Nameya struggles with her mental health, she has experienced trauma and is trying to heal. She wants to understand her brain and begins working with therapist Mae, someone that understands her. An exploration of the question, 'Can you ever heal your brain?'. A play surreal comedy and drama about intellectualising trauma and becoming a pro at therapy. How do we align the physical being with the physiological being? Join Nameya as she attempts to get to the top of Maslow's Pyramid of needs and reach actualisation.

• more info

Part of Box of Tricks Playmaker Takeover At the height of the AIDS epidemic a group of four people band together to create the first South Asian gay night club in London. But with all the pressures of a debilitating disease, what comes first, community or yourself?

• more info

Part of Box of Tricks Playmaker Takeover Neverland is a play about growing up, being silly, and those strange little spaces that allow us to find ourselves… if we give them a chance. A group of very different lads find themselves in a drama room with a task ahead of them: to make something. What this needs to be about and why they’re the ones to do it, they aren’t sure. What they do know, is that they’ll have to come together (ugh). But, as the drama games commence and the boys open up, their task starts asking questions they don’t know how (or want) to answer, yet. Plus, they have questions too. Just why are they here? And where exactly is ‘here’ anyway?

• more info

Part of Box of Tricks Playmaker Takeover It's Lola's 21st Birthday. Her family gathers. Secrets uncovered. Memories replayed. Love explored. A room locked. Maybe forgiveness. How do you live in spite of absences

• more info

Manchester based film organisation REELMCR specialise in community based drama, participant-led documentary films and ‘living memory’ social history recording and archiving. REELMCR have recently embarked on the journey of archiving the extensive selection of films they have made. Join us for a nostalgic night of film all about Manchester as we screen these films which will be introduced by REELMCR’s founders and followed by a panel discussion.

• more info

Join artist, Tracy Hill, water dowser Deborah Bell and geologist Ros Todhunter for an exploratory wander through the streets of Manchester to explore and detect the unseen and often forgotten energies of our everyday urban landscape.

This is a unique opportunity to explore central Manchester on foot using traditional dowsing skills to reveal the subterranean springs flowing below our feet.

It will be an evolving experience; exploring how walking reconnects us to seeing through touch, to expand and change our experience of the urban spaces we live and how we feel when walking them. Programmed to coincide with the exhibition, A Fine Toothed Comb.

Please bring sensible walking shoes and waterproofs in case of rain.

Max capacity 10 people.

• more info

(16+) Theatre 1 | 70-75mins - no interval. DJ Paulette.

These words by the acclaimed Maxine Peake illuminate the extraordinary life and career of DJ Paulette.

Join us for a revelatory evening celebrating the launch of "Welcome to the Club: The Life and Lessons of a Black Woman DJ" by the legendary Manchester DJ and icon, DJ Paulette.

As one of Haçienda's pioneering female DJs, DJ Paulette has soared to the heights of the music industry. Her electrifying performances have captivated audiences spanning the globe, leaving an indelible mark on dance music history. Yet despite the hedonism and success, her experiences of EDM and house music have been fraught with difficulty and prejudice.

In Welcome to the Club, DJ Paulette offers a candid and compelling perspective as a Black woman navigating a world riddled with exclusion, misogyny, racism, and classism, whilst simultaneously championing the powerful women who thrive within this creative space. With a career spanning three decades, DJ Paulette shares the soaring highs, the profound lows, and the invaluable lessons she has gleaned along her musical journey.

Part biography, part call to action: DJ Paulette's debut book is not just a remarkable story; it's a manifesto for our times.

DJ Paulette will be in conversation with a special guest (to be announced), with time allowed for audience questions. Following the event, join us in the HOME lobby for a book signing, where you can meet DJ Paulette and take home a signed copy of Welcome to the club.

• more info

(14+) Theatre 2 | 90mins (no interval) China Plate presents.

About diplomats, activists, and a journey to change the world. If nuclear weapons could wipe out all our tomorrows, then why aren’t we all talking about them today?

• more info

Rifco Theatre Company bring you a contemporary musical, inspired by true stories of British women transported into the biggest film industry in the world.

From her council estate upbringing, Frankie is thrust into the dazzling Bollywood machine when she lands a role in a big budget movie. As she rises up the ladder, she discovers that the dreams Bollywood sells are a far cry from reality. Challenging misogyny and carving out a voice for women in the industry, she also has to reckon with the lengths she will go to for success.

About the show: Bollywood is an industry obsessed with beauty and romance in a country where most people are still denied the right to fall in love. Many British hopefuls discover why they are really there - for their beauty and their complexion alone. Behind the glitter and vibrancy, they’re alone and objectified, which is the reality behind many Bollywood dreams.

• more info

Theatre 1. Running Time TBC

Thoughts on the show from Hofesh…

England to me is a complicated place - rich of opportunities, rich of conflicts and paradoxes, multi layered. It’s an open and generous place, conflicted with its dark history and powerful attachment to old traditions. The privileged live amongst the poor, the strictly organised and educated give birth to raging classes and artists whom inspire the planet. This is a love letter to this beautiful England, this complex and twisted place, this searching and ever seeking to better itself England, the self enquiring soul searching England. Performed to the most beautiful compositions of exclusively English composers and presenting their music in its glory, along side and clashing with raging rock with echoes of choir, electronics and avant-garde cacophony.

Education is at the heart of the English system, from fairy tales to behavioural codes, the dancers seek a way to be themselves inside this tide and mass of contradicting values and messages.

From England with Love can also be seen as a ‘Dear John’ letter… a goodbye letter to all its friends and enemies, giving a peak into the heart and soul, beauty and complexity of England.

• more info

Theatre 1. FANE productions. 90mins + interval.

Join the ever-tasteful, often hilarious, always readable writer and broadcaster Jay Rayner as he celebrates 25 years as The Observer’s award-winning restaurant critic with the publication of Nights Out At Home, a memoir-in-recipes. Throughout his quarter of a century eating professionally in some of the world’s best (and frankly worst) restaurants, Jay has always reverse-engineered his favourite dishes; now he’s ready to share with you those brilliant recipes and his memories of the restaurants that served them.

In this joyfully greedy show Jay answers the questions we’ve always wanted answered, put to him by a host of virtual star interviewers: what expertise does a restaurant critic need? What’s the best way to roast a chicken? Is he just an utterable snob? And if he’s so bloody clever, why doesn’t he just open his own damn restaurant? And you’ll get to ask your questions too.

• more info

Join artist from A Fine Toothed Comb and invited guests for an evening to explore sonic practices with listening sessions and conversations on the role of arts centres. The event will include A Fine Toothed Comb artists Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska, Christine Eyene, historian and curator, Sofia Dati, visual and audio visual curator at Beursschouwburg, Brussels, and Clarissa Corfe, Creative Producer, Visual Art. Programmed to coincide with the exhibition, A Fine Toothed Comb

• more info

115mins approx

The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and have been cited as one of the most successful duos in UK music history Captured live at Copenhagen’s Royal Arena, the exhilarating performance features a lavish stage show, full back-up band and mesmerizing visual backdrops, in front of an exuberant, sold-out audience This brand-new concert film includes all of Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits including West End Girls, Suburbia, Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money), Always on My Mind, What Have I Done to Deserve This and It's a Sin.

• more info

Dir Jeanie Finlay/GB 2023/96 mins

Acclaimed director Jeanie Finlay charts the rise of Aubrey Gordon. Shot over six years we see Aubrey go from anonymous blogger Yrfatfriend to New York Times best seller and beloved podcaster with an audience of millions.

Her aim? A paradigm shift in the way that we view fat people and the fat on our own bodies. The world may be listening, but her family have a way to go in understanding her work.

A film about fatness, family, the complexities of change and the messy feelings we hold about our bodies.

Event/ This preview screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Jeanie Finlay and Aubrey Gordon.

• more info

A number of producers have expressed that they would benefit from a space to come together and share experiences and skills with other producers.

The evening will be in 2 parts:

• 6pm - 8pm: Producer Meet Up & Upskilling
• 8pm - 9pm: Producer Support Group

• more info

(14+) Theatre 2 | 80mins.

Rita is really confused. She can’t understand why the deaf education system she’s tirelessly championed throughout her teaching career is getting worse and worse, or why there is only one care home in the whole of England that looks after people in her language. On the Isle of Wight.

She’s also confused about where her family is, and why she can’t remember where the milk goes…

This striking world première from the nationally acclaimed British theatre company Deafinitely Theatre (The Vagina Monologues, Everyday and 4.48 Psychosis) is inspired by the extraordinary experiences of deaf people living with dementia.

• more info

(16+) Theatre 2 | Ephemerol Ensemble. 60mins runtime.

Rewind pieces together a scientific examination of a crime secretly buried. In a whirlwind of visceral music, energetic movement, puppetry, projection and and innovative lighting, the show reveals an intimate backward journey into the life and death of Alicia, a young woman who dared to resist against authoritarianism. The multi-award winning show is inspired by recurring facts from human rights abuse in Latin America and draws from Forensic Anthropology, the first science in history to investigate human rights violation

• more info

Theatre 2 | Criptic Arts.

Self & Other is the culmination of the 2023 CRIPtic Arts Launchpad Development programme. Over 1 year, 4 artists have developed original solo shows, which are coalescing into a single play of four parts, where the major themes being drawn out are around concepts of internal-external, interior-exterior, inside-outside, private-public, secret-open.

• more info

(12+) Theatre 2 | 90mins.

Drawing on the personal narratives of its company of refugee actors, Phosphoros Theatre’s ‘Tender’ explores the true cost of the migration journey. With no safety net, no right to work and debts to pay, how do they focus on building a future? When it’s a choice between going to college or earning money, what gives? Vibrant, revealing, curious and bold, ‘Tender’ shines a light on one of the most pressing issues of our time

• more info

For a tactile exploration of items such as set, props and costume please attend the Touch Tour prior to the event. Touch tour Time is 6:00. Please gather in the Box Office area and Anne will be there to greet you.

• more info

Dir J. Lee Thompson/GB1954/88 mins Glynis Johns, Diana Dors, John Gregson. Starring a youthful Diana Dors and partly based on the experiences of writer Joan Henry, herself an ex-prisoner, The Weak and the Wicked is something of a serious-minded exploration of the lives of a number of women who have found themselves in prison.

• more info

We’re All Just Wasps in Glass Houses, is a devised piece of theatre by HOME’s exciting Young Company. Since the beginning of October they have been working together alongside Kao Hove, and Rory Aaron, in building a world which tinkering on chaos. Come and join them on this thought provoking journey into Manchester’s apocalyptic streets, where you will laugh, cry, riot and even dance.

• more info

The School for Wise Children is offering a unique opportunity for theatre makers aged 18+. The School for Wise Children Taster is a free, day-long workshop, run by Blue Beard Assistant Director Tom Fox and Musical Director Stephanie Hockley. In this practical workshop members of our show team will introduce participants to the Wise Children method. You will play games, learn songs and devise. You will experience first-hand how Wise Children builds an ensemble and creates their critically acclaimed shows.

• more info

Zog, super keen student turned air-ambulance, still lands with a crash-bang-thump. Together with his Flying Doctor crew, Princess Pearl and Sir Gadabout, they tend to a sunburnt mermaid, a unicorn with one too many horns and a lion with the flu. However, Pearl’s uncle, the King, has other ideas about whether princesses should be doctors, and she’s soon locked up in the castle back in a crown and a silly frilly dress!

With a bit of help from some friends and half a pound of cheese, can Pearl make her uncle better and prove princesses can be doctors too?

Based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s bestselling sequel, Freckle Productions (Zog, Stick Man, Tiddler & Other Terrific Tales, Tabby McTat) bring the creative team behind Zog, Emma Kilbey and Joe Stilgoe, back together for this truly modern take on the classic fairy tale.

Most suitable for ages 3+ but all ages welcome. Approx 60mins no interval.

• more info