Manchester's Contact Theatre will collaborate with regional and national partners including The Lowry, Whitworth Art Gallery, SICK Festival, Word of Warning, Manchester Literature Festival, Manchester Pride/Superbia and Southbank Centre during its autumn season.
Hetain Patel brings his new show American Boy, which humorously explores movie and TV culture, to Manchester in a co-production with Sadler's Wells. Forced Entertainment will return to Contact with The Notebook, a retelling of the novel by Ágota Kristóf set during WWII. New Art Club brings its dance cabaret version of the story of Hercules in Hercules – A Dance Cabaret.
A collaboration with Whitworth Art Gallery will bring a new performance from Canadian company PME-ART based on stories of their love of vinyl records, and Contact will also join forces with the Southbank Centre to present WHY? What’s Happening for the Young Festival, taking place in both London and Manchester.
In November, Comedy Winterfest will showcase new comedy, Stacy Makishi will present her striking new work Vesper Time, aerial circus company Ockham’s Razor will perform Tipping Point (co-presented at The Lowry), Ursula Martinez will bring her new show Free Admission and Uninvited Guests will present This Last Tempest, a new take on Shakespeare’s last play.
In, December, local writer and performer Ben Mellor will host Pen:Chant, an evening of poetry and music, and regular queer cabaret favourite Mother’s Ruin will return with a Christmas special.
Contact’s 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.
"The season builds on fantastic local and national partnerships to present major artists alongside a wealth of emerging talent, and features three shows created by outstanding young performers from the city."