Word of Warning — Weekly Warning

New for Spring 2020 is Emergency StopGap on Thu 27 Feb – an evening micro-version of the ever enduring Emergency at the delightfully decrepit NIAMOS, bridging the gap between gallery + theatre to fill the empty months of winter. (Deadline for proposals Fri 17 Jan)

We also makle a return to the Royal Exchange Theatre on 19-21 Mar for a daring + unapologetic examination of religion, pop culture + black representation with Jamal Gerald’s Idol; and to STUN on 23+24 April for the next development of Tania Camara’s Oreo, exploring the masks we don to achieve success in society. 
Spring rounds off with the annual Works Ahead, this year in sited form at NIAMOS on 21+22 May. Co-produced with Contact and featuring Will Dickie and Ross McCaffrey, this double bill of new mentored performance is a sneak preview of new works at the start of their journeys.

 

Writing from the boutique luxury of the Art B&B in Blackpool, looking out over a very grey sea, as the 'festive' season looms, cooking analogies are seemingly all the political rage and I'm left wondering whether oven-ready is synonymous with half-baked... In performance world, the season is nearly cooked, before we feel the burn of panto...

This weekend Company Chameleon's The Shadow is at HOME on Fri 22 + Sat 23 Nov. In Leeds, SH!T Theatre's SH!T Actually previews at CLAY on Fri 22 Nov; while Uninvited Guests To Those Born Later is at The Holbeck on Sun 24 Nov; and in Sheffield Levantes Dance Theatre's The Band is at the University on Sat 23 Nov 

Next week (w/c 25 Nov) turns the heat up for a final blast - HOME has Bryony Kimmings's I'm a Phoenix, Bitch (26-30 Nov) and Chanje Kunda Plant Fetish (27-30 Nov). Victoria Firth's How To Be Amazingly Happy is at Waterside, Sale on Fri 29 Nov; and Emergence Premiere is at the New Adelphi Theatre, Salford Uni on Sat 30 Nov. Elsewhere, Company Chameleon's The Shadow is at the Arts Centre at Edgehill Univeristy, on Tue 26 Nov; and Amy Vreeke's The Year My Vagina Tried To Kill Me is at the Holbeck, Leeds on Sun 1 Dec. 

Thereafter there's little escaping the festive and election frolics, but if you are looking for an alternative: CLAY, Leeds has That Matt Rogers Project (in)CREDIBLE on Thu 5 Dec and NEWK(ed) (14-15 Dec). You can still contribute, until 11 Dec, to Gillian Jane Lees & Adam York Gregory's Taking The Time, for a 24 hr performance at the Herbarium in Lancaster on 18-19 Dec.

As far as I'm aware, that's kind of your lot for the year. Tempted as I am to run coverage of the election as a performance piece, I'll spare you that misery, so the Weekly Warning will be taking a break until Fri 10 Jan, when I'll be back with details of the Word of Warning's Spring Programme and PUSH Festival at HOME (18 Jan - 1 Feb).

I'll close with the greeting of the season - don't forget to vote, bah humbug!

Best

Tamsin


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Disturbingly, despite the impending electoral shenanigans, the 'festive season' seems to have started even earlier than usual and, watching the tv, you could be forgiven for thinking it was December already. The performance world is still alive and kicking, but make the most the final weeks of November...

This weekend is fairly quiet - tonight Fri 15 Nov you can still catch Forced Entertainment's Out of Order at HOME; or tomorrow, Sat 16 Nov, Mother's Bloomers is at the Royal Exchange. Elsewhere, Truth to Power Cafe is at the Arts Centre at Edgehill University tonight, Fri 15 Nov (and at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool on Sat 16 Nov); while Sheila Ghelani + Sue Palmer's Common Salt is at the Maritime Museum, Lancaster, tomorrow Sat 16 Nov.

Next week (w/c 18 Nov) pace picks up again: Mark Croasdale's Staying In is at Waterside, Sale on Mon 18 Nov; Tribe's Still I Rise is at The Lowry on Tue 19 Nov; and Company Chameleon's The Shadow is at HOME on Fri 22 + Sat 23 Nov.
Further afield, Mark Edward + Co's What Have YOU Done To Deserve This is at the Arts Centre at Edgehill University on Tue 19 Nov; and Spill Yer Tea is at Constellations, Liverpool on Wed 20 Nov.  In Sheffield, Motherland is at Theatre Deli on Wed 20 Nov and Levantes Dance Theatre's The Band is at the University of Sheffield on Sat 23 Nov; while in Leeds Miranda Tuffnell's Pneuma is at NSCD's Riley Theatre on Tue 19 Nov; SH!T Theatre SH!T Actually (an excusable xmas outing) previews at CLAY on Fri 22 Nov; while Uninvited Guests To Those Born Later is at The Holbeck on Sun 24 Nov.

The following week (w/c 25 Nov) Bryony Kimmings and Chanje Kunda are both at HOME; while Emergence Premiere is at the New Adelphi and Victoria Firth is in Sale. Elsewhere, Company Chameleon are in Ormskirk and Amy Vreeke is in Leeds. 

Come December the xmas inevitables really do take over, so next week is likely to be the last Weekly Warning of the year. If you have anything unmissable happening in December or early January, let me know by Thu 21 Nov.

Best

Tamsin

PS. Gillian Jane Lees & Adam York Gregory are asking 1,440 people with a connection to Lancaster & Morecambe, 'what time of day (or night) is important to you and why?'. Contribute your moments to Taking The Time from now til 11 Dec, for a 24 hr performance on 18 Dec.

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After yesterday's deluge, on this unusually clement winter's morning, in these parts there's a feeling of calm after the storm: Word of Warning's season has come to a close, the fireworks have silenced and hopefully the floodwaters are starting to recede. The calm is inevitably fleeting, though, given the tempestuous month ahead - let's just hope it brings a fresh wind of change...

This weekend, The Lowry is full of dance with Kalakuta Republik on Fri 8 + Sat 9 Nov and Emmanuel Gat's Works, also on Sat 9 Nov. At the New Adelphi, Salford, Watch Us Dance is also tonight Fri 8 Nov. Quarantine invite you to Meet The Neighbours on Sat 9 + Sun 10 Nov; plus Neil Bartlett's 24 Hours of Peace is at The Royal Exchange (10-11 Nov).
In Liverpool, Homotopia, at the Unity Theatre, has Oozing Gloop (Fri 8 Nov), Split Britches and Joan (both Sat 9 Nov); while, in Blackpool Gary Clarke's Wasteland is at The Grand on Fri 8 Nov. Over in Sheffield, the Enable Us programme has also kicked off at the University of Sheffield (til 23 November).

Next week (w/c 11 Nov) is quieter, though Mark Thomas 50 Things About Us is at Waterside, Sale on Tue 12 Nov; and Forced Entertainment's Out of Order is at HOME (13-15 Nov).  Further afield Truth to Power Cafe is at the Arts Centre at Edgehill University on Fri 15 Nov and at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool on Sat 16 Nov; while Sheila Ghelani + Sue Palmer's Common Salt is at the Maritime Museum, Lancaster, also on Sat 16 Nov.

The following week (w/c 18 Nov) Mark Croasdale is in Sale; Tribe at The Lowry; and Company Chameleon at HOME. Further afield, Mark Edward + Co are in Ormskirk; Spill Yer Teais in Liverpool; Motherland and Levantes are in Sheffield; and SH!T Theatre and Uninvited Guests are in Leeds.

Best

Tamsin

PS. Gillian Jane Lees & Adam York Gregory are asking 1,440 people with a connection to Lancaster & Morecambe, 'what time of day (or night) is important to you and why?'. Contribute your moments to Taking The Time from now til 11 Dec, for a 24 hr performance on 18 Dec.

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On this All Saints first day of November, we find ourselves still part of Europe, floating on a sea of broken 'promises': Britain didn't explode and Boris isn't dead in a ditch but there's no escaping the promise of a bitter winter, probably of discontent. Meanwhwile, we at Word of Warning plan on keeping our (albeit tricksy) promises with our final show of the season, the almost miraculous Tom Cassani's I Promise You That Tonight.

Before that, it's busy out there! This weekend, tonight Fri 1 Nov there's Michael Pinchbeck's Concerto at the New Adelphi, Salford; and Burtin +Matthews's The Witching Way at the Royal Exchange Theatre; while tomorrow, Sat 2 Nov The People Show's The Last Straw is at The Edge, Chorlton. Javaad Alipoor's Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran also contiues at HOME until 2 Nov.
Elsewhere, Smith + Sveen's Commonism is at the Media Factory, Preston on Fri 1 Nov and at The Holbeck, Leeds on Sun 3 Nov, while the Wit(h)ness Weekender is underway at Theatre in the Mill, Bradford (unitl 3 Nov); as is Light Up Lancaster  (1+ 2 Nov). Over in Liverpool Homotopia(1-10 Nov) kicks off, this weekend including An Evening with Travis Alabanza on Sat 2 Nov.

Next week (w/c 4 Nov) remains busy. The Lowry has the aforementioned Tom Cassani's I Promise You That Tonight on Wed 6 Nov; plus dance in the form of Dicskon Mbi's Enowate on Thu 7 Nov, Kalakuta Republik on Fri 8 + Sat 9 Nov and Emmanuel Gat's Works, also on Sat 9 Nov. At the New Adelphi, Salford, Watch Us Dance is also on Fri 8 Nov. Quarantine invite you to Meet The Neighbours on Sat 9 + Sun 10 Nov; plus Neil Bartlett's 24 Hours of Peace is at The Royal Exchange (10-11 Nov).
Further afield, in Liverpool, Homotopia has Harry Clayton-Wright's Sex Education (Tue 5 Nov), Rachael Young's Nightclubbing (Wed 6 Nov), Oozing Gloop (Fri 8 Nov); Split Britches and Joan(Sat 9 Nov) all at the Unity Theatre.
Liz Agiss's The President's Wife Is Still Dancing is at the Arts Centre at Edgehill University on Wed 6 Nov; and Gary Clarke's Wasteland is at Blackpool Grand on Fri 8 Nov.

The following week (w/c 11 Nov) things start to quieten down, though Mark Thomas is in Sale; Forced Entertainment are at HOME; while Truth to Power Cafe is in Ormskirk.

Hoping to see you at The Lowry on Wed 6 Nov for our final PWYD outing of the season - a touch of trickery and deception with Tom Cassani's I Promise You That Tonight.

Best

Tamsin

PS. Gillian Jane Lees & Adam York Gregory are asking 1,440 people with a connection to Lancaster & Morecambe, 'what time of day (or night) is important to you and why?'. Contribute your moments to Taking The Time from now til 11 Dec, for a 24 hr performance on 18 Dec.

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Information for artists: www.habmcr.org
Been to one of our events recently?

Spread the word that #CultureMatters

So I find myself writing en route to a damp, dark, resonant cave in Bristol as part of IBT's The Summit...

Back in Mancunia, this weekend, Igor + Moreno's BEAT is at The Lowry, tonight Fri 11 Oct; Rash Dash's Mary vs Elizabeth is at the Royal Exchange Theatre (til 12 Oct); while Journeys Festival pops up around the city until 13 Oct.
Further afield, Russell Maliphant's Silent Lines  is at Lancaster Arts on Fri 11 + Sat 12 Oct.

Next week (w/c 14 Oct) there's a slowing of pace, though Reckless Sleepers's Negative Spaceis at Salford University's New Adelphi Theatre on Thu 17 Oct; and Igor + Moreno's Andante is at The Lowry on Fri 18 Oct. Elsewhere, Search Party's Storm is at the Media Factory, Preston on Wed 16 Oct. I hear Ron Athey at CLAY in Leeds on Fri 18 Oct is sold-out - but you can still see him in Manchester on 23 Oct. Much, much further afield, Fierce Festival is in Birmingham (15-20 Oct).

The following week (w/c 21 Oct) pace picks up again: with Scottee and Javaad Ali Poor at HOME; Gameshow + HushHush at The Lowry and Kate Adams at Salford University. Gracefool Collective and Yael Karavan are in Ormskirk; Luke McDonnell in Sheffield; Leo Burtin and Ema Boswood in Leeds. Of course, from a Word of Warning perspective, the event of the week is the aforementioned Ron Athey's Acephalous Monster in the decaying grandeur of NIAMOS.  It's one night only (Wed 23 Oct) and selling fast, so you might want to look a bit lively!

Best

Tamsin
 

With the dawning of October things have really taken an autumnal turn and even the festival leaves are starting to drop from the schedule trees...

This weekend, you can catch the last falling leaves: SICK! has Kim Noble's WildLife FMtonight, 4 Oct at Z-arts and Hunt & Darton's Radio Local in Hulme Park and Takeover Party at NIAMOS (both Sat 5 Oct); while HOME has Queens of Sheba + Pizza Shop Heroes (both til Sat 5 Oct).
Elsewhere, Louise Orwin's Oh Yes, Oh No is at CLAY, Leeds tonight, Fri 4 Oct; while on Merseyside, LEAP Festival takes the festival reins with New Art Club's Cupid's Revenge tonight, Fri 4 Oct, and Seke Chimutengwende + Alexandrina Hemsley's Black Holes tomorrow, Sat 5 Oct, both at the Unity Theatre.

Next week (w/c 7 Oct) things quieten down somewhat. RashDash's Oh Mother! at the Royal Exchange Theatre has actually been replaced with their Mary vs Elizabeth (10-12 Oct); Igor + Moreno's BEAT is at The Lowry on Fri 11 Oct; while Journeys Festival enters the fray (4-13 Oct around the city).
Further afield, the Arts Centre at Edgehill University has Cade + McCaskill's Moot Moot on Tue 8 Oct and Ashleigh Owen's Hip Hip I'm Gay! on Thu 10 Oct. Dance is big: LEAP has Rosie Kay's Fantasia on Tue 8 Oct at Capstone Theatre + Frances Disley's Tripleflex on Thu 10 Oct at the Bluecoat in Liverpool; Gracefool Collective's This Is Not A Wedding is at Stage@Leeds on Tue 8 Oct; and Russell Maliphant's Silent Lines  is at Lancaster Arts on Fri 11 + Sat 12 Oct. To get a bit more live-arty, you'll need to travel - try IBT's The Summit in Bristol (11-13 Oct).

The following week (w/c 14 Oct) seems strangely quiet - though Igor + Moreno bring a second show to The Lowry and Reckless Sleepers are at Salford University. Search Party are in Preston; and Ron Athey is in Leeds (also coming to Manchester on 23 Oct). If you're looking for a longer live art roadtrip, Fierce Festival is in Birmingham (15-20 Oct).

Best

Tamsin
 

I'm still somewhat reeling after a mega-Emergency: residual adrenalin conflicting with physical weariness - the only upside is that my relative weirdness makes the general state of the world seem a touch less surreal. Meanwhile, the autumnal festival fandango continues around us:

This weekend Orbit at HOME has YES YES NO NO's The Accident Did Not Take Place(tonight, 27 + tomorrow, 28 Sep) and SH!T Theatre's Drink Rum with ExPats (also til 28 Sep). SICK! Festival has Joanna Rosenfeld's We Need to Talk About Death at The Yard (27 + 28 Sep). Also tomorrow, 28 Sep, Catherine Graindorge's Before The End is at Z-arts; plus there's Hunt & Darton's Radio Local (28 Sep + 5 Oct).
RashDash's Oh Mother! continues at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 12 Oct; while Neal Pike's Five Years is at Theatre Deli, Sheffield, tonight, Fri 27 Sep.

Next week (w/c 30 Sep) unbelievably, Word of Warning is back in action again on Wed 2 Oct with Lauren Hendry's Tetra-Decathlon directed by the very excellent Jenna Watt at The Lowry (which also has Azara Meghie's Just Another Day and Night on Thu 3 Oct). 

In this final week of the Orbit/SICK! head to head, Orbit has Jamal Harewood's Word on Mon 30 Sep + Tue 1 Oct; plus Queens of Sheba (1-5 Oct) + Pizza Shop Heroes (4+5 Oct). SICK! has Theater Degasten + CYC's Baby Fever, 1-3 Oct at STUN; Amy Vreeke's The Year My Vagina Tried to Kill Me, 2 + 3 Oct at the Martin Harris Centre; and Kim Noble's WildLife FM 3 + 4 Oct at Z-arts.

Elsewhere, Company Carpi's The Stumbling Block is at the Arts Centre at Edgehill University on Tue 1 Oct; Avital Raz's My Jerusalem is at the New Continental in Preston on Wed 2 Oct; Dancing with Words is at Kala Sangam, Bradford on Thu 3 Oct;  Louise Orwin's Oh Yes, Oh No is at CLAY, Leeds on Fri 4 Oct; while on Merseyside, LEAP Festival joins the festival-off with New Art Club's Cupid's Revenge on Fri 4 Oct, and Seke Chimutengwende + Alexandrina Hemsley's Black Holes on Sat 5 Oct, both at the Unity Theatre.

The following week (w/c 7 Oct) things quieten down somewhat, though Journeys Festival enters the fray at HOME; while Cade + McCaskill and Ashleigh Owen are in Ormskirk. Dance is the big story with Igor + Moreno at The Lowry,  Rosie Kay + Frances Disley in Liverpool; Gracefool Collective in Leeds; and Russell Maliphant in Lancaster.
For those looking for a further-flung weekend of art, activisim and discussion: IBT's The Summit is in Bristol (11-13 Oct).

I'm off to see if a day of book-keeping will finally drainthe surplus adrenalin - hope to see you at The Lowry on Wednesday for Lauren Hendry's Tetra-Decathlon.

Best

Tamsin