Word of Warning — Weekly Warning

Today's equinox marks the Earth’s annual turn towards spring, while the rest of the world continues its own gyrations...

This weekend,  therefore, it's truly all about Turn 2026 tonight, Fri 20 Mar at Contact - 9 pieces of North West dance in 3 spaces across the building, featuring Alice Robinson Moves, Blood Bones Jones,  Clara Selberg, Emmy Jax & Sophia Egan, Hui-Hsin Lu, Joseph Adamson, Joseph Lau & friends, printerror, Sap Dance. Read the programme notes here.

Elsewhere Wigan Arts Festival runs until 31 Mar; and in Leeds, alongside the ongoing Punchdrunk collab (until Sat 21 Mar), Don't Call Me China Doll is at Stage@Leeds on Fri 20 Mar.

Next week (w/c 23 Mar) there's VAMPYR at Gulliver's Lounge on Wed 25 Mar; Bryony Kimmings's Bog Witch and Renad's A Grain of Sand both at HOME (26-28 Mar) and Emergence 26 at New Adelphi on Fri 27 + Sat 28 Mar. 

Get-in! to Eccles has Lowri Evans's Train Dreaming at Eccles station over the next couple of weeks. 

In Leeds, alongside the ongoing Punchdrunk collab (until Sat 21 Mar), Don't Call Me China Doll is at Stage@Leeds on Fri 20 Mar.

Further afield, Lancaster Arts has Verve on Tue 24 Mar and Annie Hanauer Dances' A Space For All Our Tomorrows on Fri 27 Mar and Shakespeare North has a Scratch on Tue 25 Mar.  Leeds Playhouse has Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds (25-28 Mar) and Ontroerend Goed's Handle With Care on Fri 27 + Sat 28 Mar; while Yorkshire Dance has Roadhouse 22 on Fri 27 Mar. At the Unity in Liverpool, Up Next Festival runs 26-28 Mar, including Spinster on Fri 27 Mar and Mr Chubba Chubba on Sat 28 Mar.

The following week (w/c 30 Mar) sees the Easter slow down, but on Tue 31 Mar Joe Kiney Whitmore's The Weight of the Light is at Pier 4 in Wigan; while Payal Ramchandani + Chandenie Gobardhan's Just Enough Madness & Caught In The Net Of Rebirth is at Lowry. fish in a dress's The City For Incurable Women is at HOME 2-4 Apr

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

While today may be the second unlucky Friday 13th in a row, here's hoping that next Friday brings a better Turn. Before that...

This weekend, Mancunia seems a bit quiet, while elsewhere, in Prescot, Malandra Jacks' Census is at Shakespeare North today Fri 13 Mar (2+6pm).

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

Next week (w/c 16 Mar) For us, it's all about Turn 2026 on Fri 20 Mar at Contact - 9 pieces of North West dance featuring Alice Robinson Moves, Blood Bones Jones,  Clara Selberg, Emmy Jax & Sophia Egan, Hui-Hsin Lu, Joseph Adamson, Joseph Lau & friends, printerror, Sap Dance.

Elsewhere in Mancunia, 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 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. 

The following week (w/c 23 Mar) there's VAMPYR at Gulliver's Lounge on Wed 25 Mar; Bryony Kimmings's Bog Witch and Renad's A Grain of Sand both at HOME (26-28 Mar) and Emergence 26 at New Adelphi on Fri 27 + Sat 28 Mar. 

Further afield, Lancaster Arts has Verve on Tue 24 Mar and Annie Hanauer Dances' A Space For All Our Tomorrows on Fri 27 Mar and Shakespeare North has a Scratch on Tue 25 Mar.  Leeds Playhouse has Imitating the Dog's War of the Worlds (25-28 Mar) and Ontroerend Goed's Handle With Care on Fri 27 Mar; while Yorkshire Dance has Roadhouse 22 on Fri 27 Mar. At the Unity in Liverpool, Up Next Festival runs 26-28 Mar, including Spinster on Fri 27 Mar and Mr Chubba Chubba on Sat 28 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

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