Word of Warning — Weekly Warning

Against a backdrop best left to the headlines, Westminster discovered dance therapy, musicians discovered politics, and artificial intelligence discovered the national grid.

This weekend, beyond Mancunia, Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds is at Liverpool Playhouse (untl 7 Mar); while Verve 26 is as Riley Theatre and Motionhouse's Hidden is at Leeds Playhouse on Fri 6 + Sat 7 Mar.

Next week (w/c 9 Mar) Mancunia seems a bit quiet, though Lowry has Vortex's Humanhood on Tue 10 + Wed 11 Mar.

Elsewhere, Leeds is busy with IDP X Punchdrunk's The Ministry (12-14 + 19-21 Mar); and Terrarium at Stage@Leeds on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Mar; plus Area Jeune Ballet at the Riley Theatre on Sat 14 Mar.

In Prescot, Malandra Jacks' Census is at Shakespeare North on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Mar.

The following week (w/c 16 Mar) For us, it's all about Turn 2026 on Fri 20 Mar at Contact. 
Elsewhere, RNS Moves with Candoco Dance Co is at RNCM on Tue 17 Mar; The Other Neville is at New Adelphi on Wed 18 + Thu 19 Mar, Dry Bits is at Lowry on Fri 20 and Wigan Arts Festival kicks off (until 31 Mar). 

In Leeds, alongside the ongoing Punchdrunk collab, Don't Call Me China Doll is at Stage@Leeds on Fri 20 Mar. 

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - the rolling call for Social Experiment (April 9 next edition) is open. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

WORD OF WARNING PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME 2026

Fri 20 Mar, 7pm. PWYD | Contact
TURN 2026
A night of new North West dance.
Thu 9 Apr, 6pm–9pm. FREE | Contact

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
A gathering for Live Art and performance.

MR BLACKPOOL
Harry Clayton-Wright
Sat 2 May, 8pm. £15/£12 | Lowry

(PWYD are Pay What You Decide events)

As the BRITs March into town, the city breathes a sigh of relief at the first Green shoots of Spring...

This weekend, Lowry has Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds (until Sat 28 Feb) and Lydia de La Murray's Closure? on Fri 27 Feb. HOME has Kate Ireland's Golden Time (until Sat 28 Feb) and Dance With Us is at New Adelphi on Fri 27 Feb

Next week (w/c 2 Mar) Malandra Jacks's Census is at Billingtons, Oldham on Thu 5 Mar and there's a Bunker Talk with Jamal Gerald at The Salutation on Tue 3 Mar.

Beyond Mancunia, Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds is at Liverpool Playhouse (4-7 Mar); Matt Miller's Fixing is at Barnsley Civic on Thu 5 Mar; and at Slung Low in Leeds on Fri 6 + Sat 7 Mar; while Verve 26 is as Riley Theatre and Motionhouse's Hidden is at Leeds Playhouse.

The following week (w/c 9 Mar) Mancunia seems a bit quiet, though Lowry has Vortex's Humanhood on Tue 10 + Wed 11 Mar.

Elsewhere, Leeds is busy with IDP X Punchdrunk's The Ministry (12-14 + 19-21 Mar); and Terrarium at Stage@Leeds on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Mar; plus Area Jeune Ballet at the Riley Theatre on Sat 14 Mar.

In Prescot, Malandra Jacks' Census is at Shakespeare North on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Mar.

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - the rolling call for Social Experiment (April 9 next edition) is open. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

Just when the headlines felt peak-lurid, a royal brush with handcuffs suggests a form of bondage not entirely by choice. Meanwhile, in parts more whoesome...

This weekend, on Sat 21 Feb, Queer Contact has Graham Clayton-Chance's Less Like Ourselves and More Like Each Other (11-1700) plus, in the evening, Hunter King's A Northern Tr*nny Hootenanny. 

 In Lancaster, Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds is at the Duke's; while in Sheffield, Perfect Show For Rachel is at Sheffield Theatres (both until Sat 21 Feb).

Next week (w/c 23 Feb) Lowry has Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds (25- 28 Feb) and Lydia de La Murray's Closure? on Fri 27 Feb. HOME has Kate Ireland's Golden Time (26-28 Feb) and Dance With Us is at New Adelphi on Fri 27 Feb

In Chester, Malandra Jacks' Census is at Storyhouse on Mon 23 Feb. 
In Sheffield, Dry Bits is at Sheffield Theatres Tue 24 + Wed 25 Feb; while Stage@Leeds has If Words Had Wings on Wed 25 Feb

The following week (w/c 2 Mar) Malandra Jacks's Census is at Billingtons, Oldham on Thu 5 Mar and there's a Bunker Talk with Jamal Gerald at The Salutation on Tue 3 Mar.

Beyond Mancunia, Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds is at Liverpool Playhouse (4-7 Mar); Matt Miller's Fixing is at Barnsley Civic on Thu 5 Mar; and at Slung Low in Leeds on Fri 6 + Sat 7 Mar; while Verve 26 is as Riley Theatre and Motionhouse's Hidden is at Leeds Playhouse.

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - last call for participants for LADA's DIT (formerly DIY)including Jo Hellier's Birth The Musical, which we are co-hosting with Lowry. Deadline is Mon 23 Feb. 
For those of you fresh from last night's Social Experiment, who might want to get involved, the call for the April 9 edition is open. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

…as queer as a Social Experiment joining the Queer Contact programme, with a bill running from line dancing to Cats. But before that: 

This weekend, Queer Contact has Main Character Energy on Fri 13 Feb and You're Not Getting Any Younger on Sat 14 Feb.

In Leeds, at Riley Theatre, Co-Lab 2026 is on Fri 13 Feb and Coalesce Dance Theatre's Mika and The Polar Bear is on Sat 14 Feb.  

Next week (w/c 16 Feb) Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition is on Thu 19 Feb featuring Ariel Hebditch, Ben Hodge, Failed Artist Society, lucy, Maddie Maycock, PHOBIA; and guest Graham Clayton-Chance with a preview of his Less Like Ourselves and More Like Each Other - also 11-1700 on Sat 21 Feb.

Further afield, in Lancaster, Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds is at the Duke's (18-21 Feb) and Ontroerend Goed's Handle With Care is at Lancaster Arts on Thu 19 Feb. In Sheffield, Perfect Show For Rachel is at Sheffield Theatres (18-21 Feb).

The following week (w/c 23 Feb) HOME has Kate Ireland's Golden Time (26-28 Feb) while Lowry has Lydia de La Murray's Closure? on Fri 27 Feb.

In Chester, Malandra Jacks' Census is at Storyhouse on Mon 23 Feb. In Sheffield, Dry Bits is at Sheffield Theatres Tue 24 + Wed 25 Feb

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - The call for participants for LADA's DIT (formerly DIY) workshop programme remains open until 23 Feb, including Jo Hellier's Birth The Musical, which we are co-hosting with Lowry. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

WORD OF WARNING PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME 2026

Thu 19 Feb, 6pm-9pm. FREE | Contact
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: QUEER CONTACT EDITION
A gathering for Live Art and performance.

Fri 20 Mar, 7pm. PWYD | Contact
TURN 2026
A night of new North West dance.

Thu 9 Apr, 6pm-9pm. FREE | Contact
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
A gathering for Live Art and performance.

Sat 2 May, 8pm. £15/£12 | Lowry
MR BLACKPOOL
Harry Clayton-Wright

(PWYD are Pay What You Decide events)

With any luck, next week may see us move away from global sleaze and skulduggery towards people-powered Digging for land. Trouble and struggle in the best way - though the squealing may inevitably continue...

This weekend, Lowry has Ockham's Razor's Collaborator until 7 Feb; while HOME has Company Chameleon's Obscura on Fri 6 Feb.

In Leeds, Ebnflõh's La Probabilité du Néant is at Riley Theatre on Sun 8 Feb.

Next week (w/c 9 Feb) Dickson Mbi's Tell Us is on Mon 9 + Tue 10 Feb at Lowry; where Word of Warning also returns on Wed 11 Feb with Victoria Melody's Trouble, Struggle, Bubble & Squeak, directed by Mark Thomas (Pay What You Decide).

Queer Contact returns with has Main Character Energy on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Feb and You're Not Getting Any Younger on Sat 14 Feb.

In Leeds, at Riley Theatre, Co-Lab 2026 is on Thu 12 and Fri 13 Feb and Coalesce Dance Theatre's Mika and The Polar Bear is on Sat 14 Feb.  

The following week (w/c 9 Feb) We're once more in action with Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition on Thu 19 Feb, while, also at Contact, Graham Clayton-Chance's Less Like Ourselves and More Like Each Other runs 11-1700 on Sat 21 Feb.

Further afield, in Lancaster, Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds is at the Duke's (18-21 Feb) and Ontroerend Goed's Handle With Care is at Lancaster Arts on Thu 19 Feb.
Perfect Show For Rachel is at Sheffield Theatres (18-21 Feb).

Not content with shows in Mancunia on consecutive weeks, from 23 Feb Word of Warning also has a hand in the tour of Malandra Jacks' Census - coming to Chester, Oldham, Prescot and more very soon. 

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - The call for participants for LADA's DIT (formerly DIY) workshop programme remains open until 23 Feb, including Jo Hellier's Birth The Musical, which we are co-hosting with Lowry. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

As January draws to a close, it’s been a week thick with documentaries, from Take That to Paris, the monarch to Melania, life paused, framed, and narrated. Meanwhile, pressing play on the live world:

This weekend, HOME x Malandra Jacks' The Home We Made runs until Sat 31 Jan. Lowry has Motionhouse's Hidden on Fri 30 Jan; and The Kings Arms has Under The Lamp Post on Sat 31 Jan.

Further afield at Lancaster Arts, Adam York Gregory + Gillian Jane Lees's BALANCE is on Sat 31 Jan (daytime).

Next week (w/c 2 Feb) Lowry has Dance Consortium's MÁM on Tue 3 + Wed 4 Feb and Ockham's Razor's Collaborator 5-7 Feb. HOME has Company Chameleon's Obscura on Fri 6 Feb.

Beyond Mancunia, Matt Miller's Fixing is at Storyhouse, Chester on Wed 4 Feb; while Ebnflõh's La Probabilité du Néant is at Riley Theatre, Leeds on Sun 8 Feb. 

The following week (w/c 9 Feb) Dickson Mbi's Tell Us is on Mon 9 + Tue 10 Feb at Lowry; where Word of Warning also returns on Wed 11 Feb with Victoria Melody's Trouble, Struggle, Bubble & Squeak, directed by Mark Thomas (Pay What You Decide).

Queer Contact returns with has Main Character Energy on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Feb and You're Not Getting Any Younger on Sat 14 Feb.

In Leeds, at Riley Theatre, Co-Lab 2026 is on Thu 12 and Fri 13 Feb and Coalesce Dance Theatre's Mika and The Polar Bear is on Sat 14 Feb.  

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - last call for Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition (19 Feb) call (closes on 2 Feb).
Just launched is the call for participants for LADA's DIT (formerly DIY) workshop programme, including Jo Hellier's Birth The Musical, which we are co-hosting with Lowry. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

Information for artists: habmcr.org
No. 560 / FY 31

WORD OF WARNING PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME 2026

Wed 11 Feb, 8pm. PWYD | Lowry

TROUBLE, STRUGGLE, BUBBLE & SQUEAK

Victoria Melody (dir. Mark Thomas)

Thu 19 Feb, 6pm-9pm. FREE | Contact

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: QUEER CONTACT EDITION

A gathering for Live Art and performance.

Fri 20 Mar, 7pm. PWYD | Contact

TURN 2026

A night of new North West dance.

Thu 9 Apr, 6pm-9pm. FREE | Contact

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

A gathering for Live Art and performance.

(PWYD are Pay What You Decide events)

It’s been a week of ‘family’ fall-outs: the Beckhams playing it out via gossip and pop charts, NATO soothing a toddler tantrum, and a Westminster whisper of the return of a prodigal son...

This weekend, you can catch the final pieces in Future Flares, this afternoon (Fri 23 Jan) with Pinchbeck & Smith and Arts and Humanities students, alumni, Jenny Baines & Brigid McLeer.

Also tonight, Fri 23 Hope Mill Theatre has Marm's Spotlight.

Further afield, in Leeds, the Riley Theatre has PCK Dance's Into The Light on Sat 24 Jan.

Next week (w/c 26 Jan) The End Times is at RNCM on Tue 27 Jan; then HOME x Malandra Jacks' The Home We Made runs 28-31 Jan. Lowry has Motionhouse's Hidden on Fri 30 Jan; and The Kings Arms has Under The Lamp Post on Sat 31 Jan.

Further afield at Lancaster Arts, Adam York Gregory + Gillian Jane Lees's BALANCE is on Sat 31 Jan (daytime).

The following week (w/c 2 Feb) Lowry has Dance Consortium's MÁM on Tue 3 + Wed 4 Feb and Ockham's Razor's Collaborator 5-7 Feb. HOME has Company Chameleon's Obscura on Fri 6 Feb.

Beyond Mancunia, Matt Miller's Fixing is at Storyhouse, Chester on Wed 4 Feb; while Ebnflõh's La Probabilité du Néant is at Riley Theatre, Leeds on Sun 8 Feb. 

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Notes for Artists - the Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition (19 Feb) call closes on 2 Feb.
Just launched is the call for participants for LADA's DIT (formerly DIY) workshop programme, including Jo Hellier's Birth The Musical, which we are co-hosting with Lowry. 

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

As 2026 ‘normality’ struggles to establish itself, ten years after David Bowie’s death The Man Who Fell to Earth reads less like metaphor and more like a CV — an unpredictable billionaire dominating the news cycle with a platform in meltdown, AI embarrassment and a spacecraft forced back to Earth — while elsewhere loyalty collapses into spectacle, Westminster running its own season of The Traitors...

This weekend, for fans of contemporary circus, Sadiq Ali Company's Tell Me is at Lowry tonight Fri 16 and tomorrow Sat 17 Jan. 

Next week (w/c 19 Jan) things pick up in earnest with Future Flares  (21-23 Jan) including Will Dickie, Anemone Valcke & Verona Verbakel, Brigitte Jurack, Peader Kirk, Jérémie Cyr-Cooke, Pinchbeck & Smith and Arts and Humanities students, alumni, Jenny Baines & Brigid McLeer.

Also on Fri 23 Hope Mill Theatre has Marm's Spotlight; and The Kings Arms has Varnish (also on Sat 24 Jan).

Further afield, to the West, Unity has Sober Scribbles: Scratch Night on Wed 21 Jan and The Old Electric, Blackpool also has a Scratch Night on Thu 22 Jan. To the East, in Leeds, the Riley Theatre has PCK Dance's Into The Light.

The following week (w/c 26 Jan) The End Times is at RNCM on Tue 27 Jan; then HOME x Malandra Jacks' The Home We Made runs 28-31 Jan. Lowry has Motionhouse's Hidden on Fri 30 Jan; and The Kings Arms has Under The Lamp Post on Sat 31 Jan.

Further afield at Lancaster Arts, Adam York Gregory + Gillian Jane Lees's BALANCE is on Sat 31 Jan (daytime).

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Artists take note - the Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition call closes on 2 Feb.

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

With the cold settling in and another social experiment in dickensian hardship unfolding, there's a faint whiff of seasonal humbug in the air...

This weekend, Malandra Jacks' (award-winning) Census continues tonight, Fri 21 Nov and tomorrow Sat 22 Nov at HOME. 
Elsewhere in Mancunia, Perfect Show for Rachel is at Contact (until Sat 22 Nov); Night People's Bloom After Dark is at Sale Waterside (until Sat 22 Nov); and Uplift is at Company Chameleon tonight, Fri 21 Nov. For something a bit different, in the afternoon of Sat 22 Nov, Graham Clayton-Chance's Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede premieres at Aviva Studios, along with a talk and social country and western dancing. 

In Sheffield, Imogen Reeve & Co's We Are The World is at the Drama Studio on Fri 21 Nov. Also on Fri 21 Nov, in Leeds, there's the No Dress Code Scratch at Yorkshire Dance; while in Lancaster, Ali Matthews's Mushroom Language is at Lancaster Arts. In St Helens, Ugly Bucket's Good Grief is at Chester Lane Library on Sat 22 Nov. 

Next week (w/c 24 Nov) Things look like they're quietening down for the festive lull, but we're still active for our final burst of the year - this time at Contact on Thu 27 Nov for another Social Experiment.
Elsehwere, trialled at July's Social Experiment, now developed, Rachel Smith's Mother Dark is at 53Two on Wed 26 Nov; or for something more discursive, Roberto Sifuentes of La Pocha Nostra is giving a presentation at MMU, also on Wed 26 Nov (afternoon). 

Further afield, Unity has a Scratch Night on Wed 26 Nov, and Main Character Energy is at Sheffield Theatres on Fri 28 + Sat 29 Nov. 

Thereafter we really do dive towards the December deadzone — and, as the original Scrooge, I’m all for hibernation… If, however, you fancy a twisted take on Dickens, there's Uncurbed Collective's Tiny Tim (formerly Proud & Loud Arts) at Contact on 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13 + 16 Dec; or in Salford, there's Debut Festival at New Adelphi on Tue 9 Dec.

Further afield, on Fri 12 Dec Eggs Collective's Dark Nights is at Bradford's Loading Bay and Eleanor Sikorski + Lewys Holt's Roadhouse #21 is at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds. 

This mail is going to go into seasonal hibernation now until probably mid January - but you might want to put a 'save the date' in your diaries for Future Flares  (21-23 Jan).

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances. 

Artists take note -  the Turn 2026 call is now open (deadline 16 Jan), and the Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition call closes on 2 Feb.

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT

As the Traitors reach No10 and selective editing trends, closer to home Census finds quieter change — unspun and human...

This weekend, tonight, Fri 14 Nov Lowry also has Corinne's The Severed Wing; while Ali Matthews's Mushroom Language is at New Adelphi. On Fri 14 and Sat 15 Nov, Seren Marimba's Letsby Avenue is at NIAMOS. Also on Sat 15 Nov, in Heywood, Rowland Hill's SET YOU FREE: A Eurotrance Deep Listening Event is at St Luke's Church as part of the Xmas Lights Switch on!

To the east, Rhythmosaic Dance Company's Shattered Silence is at Yorkshire Dance on Fri 14 Nov and Nyako's Roots of Lives is at Riley Theatre on Sat 15 Nov. In Bradford, Theatre in the Mill has New Work Festival (until 15 Nov). 

To the west, in Liverpool at Homotopia, Unity has Harry Clayton-Wright's Mr Blackpool's Seaside Spectacular on Fri 14 Nov and An Evening With Dross on Sat 15 Nov.  In Southport, Rowena Gander's Woman | Women is at The Atkinson on Fri 14 Nov; while in Huyton, Ugly Bucket's Good Grief is at Huyton Library on Sat 15 Nov (and Sat 22 Nov)

Next week (w/c 17 Nov) We find ourselves at HOME for 3 days with Malandra Jacks' (award-winning) Census (20-22 Nov).

It's a busy week as, elsewhere in Mancunia, Perfect Show for Rachel is at Contact (19-22 Nov); Hasbian is at the New Adelphi on Wed 19 Nov; Night People's Bloom After Dark is at Sale Waterside (20-22 Nov); and Uplift is at Company Chameleon on Fri 21 Nov.

In Sheffield, Matt Miller's Fixing is at the Playhouse on Wed 19 Nov and Imogen Reeve & Co's We Are The World is at the Drama Studio on Fri 21 Nov. Also on Fri 21 Nov, in Leeds, there's the No Dress Code Scratch at Yorkshire Dance; while in Lancaster, Ali Matthews's Mushroom Language is at Lancaster Arts. 
 
The following week (w/c 24 Nov) Things look like they're quietening down for the festive lull, but we're still active - this time at Contact on Thu 27 Nov for another Social Experiment. Trialled at July's Social Experiment, now developed, Rachel Smith's Mother Dark is at 53Two on Wed 26 Nov; or for something more discursive, Roberto Sifuentes of La Pocha Nostra is giving a presentation at MMU, also on Wed 26 Nov (afternoon). 

Elsewhere, Unity has a Scratch Night on Wed 26 Nov, and Main Character Energy is at Sheffield Theatres on Fri 28 + Sat 29 Nov. 

Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter (X if you must) for short-notice performances.  

Best

Tamsin

@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT