Partners make Contact for new season

Published: 9 August 2015
Reporter: David Upton

Hetain Patel in American Boy
Under the Covers from Contact Young Company
Forced Entertainment presents The Notebook

Manchester’s youth-oriented Contact venue promises an autumn season of theatre, dance, comedy and music, featuring major artists and companies, a host of up and coming names, and an array of home-grown talent.

The programme sees collaborations with regional and national partners including The Lowry, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Literature Festival and Southbank Centre.

October highlights include a new show from Hetain Patel, American Boy, co-produced by Sadler’s Wells which explores movie and TV culture, the return of Under the Covers, Contact Young Company’s acclaimed show examining young people’s attitudes to sex, the one–man musical phenomenon Le Gateau Chocolat and theatrical innovator Forced Entertainment presents The Notebook, set during World War Two.

Later in the month, dance innovators New Art Club brings its dance cabaret version of Hercules, just one of several family friendly shows in the programme.

In an important new festival for the city, Contact and London’s Southbank Centre join forces to present WHY? What’s Happening for the Young, taking place in both London and Manchester.

November has a line-up of diverse comedy talent while aerial circus company Ockham’s Razor performs Tipping Point (co-presented at The Lowry). Olivier Award-winning performance provocateur Ursula Martinez brings her new show Free Admission and theatre company Uninvited Guests presents This Last Tempest, a theatrical take on Shakespeare’s iconic last play.

Contact artistic director and chief executive Matt Fenton said: “Contact’s autumn season represents one of the most diverse and provocative performance programmes anywhere in the country.

"What makes it really distinctive is that local young people aged 13 to 30 play a central role in deciding what’s shown on stage, resulting in an exciting and varied autumn programme for all ages.”

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