HOME Manchester—even before its new premises open next year—next week presents the world première of Angel Meadow, the first in a series of site-specific productions taking place around the city in the lead-up to the opening of the £25m centre for theatre, film, and art in spring 2015.
Hailed by The Irish Times as the company responsible for “the most searing and provocative works of the past decade”, the multi award-winning Dublin-based ANU Productions places the audience at the centre of its work.
Their latest production is inspired by the 19th century experience of Irish migrants escaping poverty and famine for a better life in industrial Manchester. A raw enactment of the lives of the Irish community settling in Ancoats, the audience is brought on an immersive journey in contemporary Ancoats, an area now undergoing extensive regeneration but once described as ‘Hell Upon Earth’ by Friedrich Engels, co-author of the The Communist Manifesto.
Angel Meadow will take place in a disused pub.
“The name conjures up an image of fresh air and sunshine,” said director Louise Lowe, “but our research tells us it was anything but. We know from archives and oral histories that life here was overcrowded and dangerous. Gangs of scuttlers roamed large, and territorial combat was a way of life.”
It runs from Tuesday June 10 to Sunday June 29. For more information, see the HOME web site.