Word of Warning — Weekly Warning

warnmcr: remember, remember...

... the fifth of November... As last night's firework smoke clears to reveal unseasonable sunshine, the irony of locking us down on the anniversary of the most famous attempted act of sedition in English history seems to have been lost - or has it..?

Anyway, since it's all back online, a very quick word: as some of you will have seen via socials, I put out an update flagging that
we have reluctantly postponed Emergency until Spring. It was entirely conceived for live presence, and would make a very poor livestream, so we're not doing that; but we are working on the possibility of some tasters of it, Domestic-style, and will let you know details as we figure them out!

The remainder of HOME's November programme is also going online: Bertrand Lesca + Nasi Voutsas's The End (12-14 Nov). Homemakers continues, with new content.

Liverpool Everyman + Playhouse has Daniel Kitson's Dot.Dot.Dot online (4-7 Nov); while an online version of the Homotopia Double Bill: Sound Cistem + S/he/it happens is tbc).

CLAY's Chasm has Mystical Femmes' A lecture on how to be intimate online tonight, Fri 6 Nov; and Arden School of Theatre is streaming a doublebill made in collaboration with 70/30 Split + Tmesis Theatre also tonight, Fri 6 Nov via their facebook.
Fuel Theatre's The Kids Are Alright runs until 10 Nov. Salford University has Watch Us Dance on Fri 13 Nov.

Not that we're involved at all, but a particular mention goes to Wayne Steven Jackson's From Me To Us on Thu 12 Nov!

Since live performance has gone away again, I imagine this Weekly Warning will go back to being a bit more sporadic... basically it'll pop up when it seems like there's enough to say! As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

It was nice of the Americans to lay on a massive durational piece of Live Art to occupy us in in lockdown - catch it while you can on a news channel near you - no end date announced though it could run and run...

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Date to be confirmed. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

warnmcr: update - tricks, few treats...

So I was wrong - the scary clowns did have an enormous Halloween trick up their sleeves... so just a quick correction and update!

IRL:
HOME has Javaad Alipoor's The Believers Are But Brothers, tonight, Tue 3 Nov and tomorrow Wed 4 Nov. The remainder of their November programme is going online with tickets available from today.

At Liverpool Everyman + Playhouse Daniel Kitson's Dot.Dot.Dot is online (4-7 Nov), while it's not clear what's happening with the Homotopia Double Bill: Sound Cistem + S/he/it happens on Sat 14 Nov).

We have reluctantly had to postpone Emergency until Spring, but will let you know plans for upcoming Domestic-style activity once we've figured them out!

Online: HOME's Homemakers continues, with new content, including Stacy Makishi's Homeward (house) Bound (5-7 Nov, now sold-out)
CLAY's Chasm has Mystical Femmes' A lecture on how to be intimate online on 4 + 6 Nov

Wayne Steven Jackson's From Me To Us is on Thu 12 Nov; Salford University has Watch Us Dance on Fri 13 Nov; and you might want to check out Fuel Theatre's The Kids Are Alright until 10 Nov.

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

Let's hope the Americans have no more tricks for us tomorrow!

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Date to be confirmed. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

warnmcr: no tricks, a few treats...

On this most mischievous of nights, the scary clowns in Westminster haven't imposed any new tricks, so performances in Tier 3 continue. Our own do we, don't we dilemma has come down on the side of going for it, so we've now announced the artists for Emergency; and I'm adopting a Doris Day attitude... which, if you know me, is probably spookier than anything Halloween might bring!

Coming up IRL: This weekend brings your last chance to see Petrichor, a live VR and online experience at The Lowry (until 1 Nov), while Yellow Earth Academy's Signal Fires is also both in town and online on Sat 31 + Sun 1 Nov.
Next week, HOME has Javaad Alipoor's The Believers Are But Brothers (3-5 Nov) and, the following week, Bertrand Lesca + Nasi Voutsas's The End (12-14 Nov)

Since travel between Tier 3s seems to be a grey area, it might be worth mentioning that Liverpool Everyman + Playhouse has Daniel Kitson's Dot.Dot.Dot (4-7 Nov) and a Homotopia Double Bill: Sound Cistem + S/he/it happens on Sat 14 Nov.

Online: LevyFringe has Janet Charlesworth /Proud + Loud Arts' Article 19 UNCRPD tonight, Fri 30 Oct. Ad Finitum's Where You Are festival runs until 1 Nov; HOME's Homemakerscontinues, with new content, including Stacy Makishi's Homeward (house) Bound (5-7 Nov, now sold-out)
CLAY's Chasm has Mystical Femmes' A lecture on how to be intimate online on 4 + 6 Nov

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

Don't open your doors to any trick or treaters this year - the trick might be more than you bargained for...

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Sat 21 Nov, 12-5pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

warnmcr: poker face...

Welcome to Tier 3, now the topsy turvy government poker game has wound down, the chips are being counted but the stakes are still unclear. To date, it *seems* like the optional extras to close cultural venues haven't been invoked: I've been hitting refresh, but as of 1115am there's no mention of any on gov.uk; but Manchester City Council is still holding off saying anything in the absence of full Govt information!

I'm really hoping that my outing to a real show in an actual theatre - Rash Dash's Don't Go Back To Sleep at HOME (running til Sat 24 Oct) doesn't prove a one-off! The live flurry of the past week seems to have calmed down, but you can still catch Petrichor, a live VR and online experience at The Lowry (26 Oct - 1 Nov), while next up, HOME has Javaad Alipoor's The Believers Are But Brothers (3-5 Nov).

Apologies to anyone reading from beyond Greater Manchester, but since we're now advised not to travel beyond our borders, for now I'm not going to taunt Mancunians with mentions of live performance beyond these realms... I suspect work purposes might lead me to start looking further afield again in the not too distant; so if you're doing something outside Greater Manchester that you think really fits and should be mentioned, then email me!

Online: this weekend it's all about Black Gold Arts Festival (23-25 Oct) including High Rise Theatre's Lil.Miss.Lad and Travis Alabanza's Smashing Down The Doors (both tonight Fri 23 Oct); Mele Broomes 's Surrounding by Listening to Manifestations of Love and Solidarity #4and Cheryl Martin's One Woman (both tomorrow Sat 24 Oct); and The Garden Party Sunday Sessions on Sun 25 Oct.
CLAY's Chasm programme also has Jo Hauge's Kiss and Cry tonight, Fri 23 Oct.
HOME's Homemakers continues, with new content, including Stacy Makishi's Homeward (house) Bound (5-7 Nov - book early it's a one to one phone encounter and very lovely).
LevyFringe is online until 31 Oct, including, on Fri 30 Oct Janet Charlesworth with Proud + Loud Arts' Article 19 UNCRPD (keep scrolling down the bookings list); while elsewhere Katye Coe, performs perch by Amy Voris from her home on Thu 29 Oct .

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

I'm on tenterhooks waiting for the Tier 3 edicts so I can finalise (or not) the Emergency programme... fingers crossed we can do it!

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Sat 21 Nov, 12-6pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

A day out for the curious.

Participating artists to be announced.

warnmcr: dancing with tiers in my eyes...

...Tiers of a Clown or No More Tiers, Enough is Enough - the song-pun potential is endless as the great battle of Manchestier3 rages on. Planning live performance becomes ever more precarious as we try to second guess potential impact - will the optional extras restricting performing arts venues be invoked? Can we ask artists to travel? My programming preoccupations aside, looking at the weeks ahead inevitably, the usual pinch of salt caveat is to be employed...

In the physical world, it should actually be quite a busy week or so: The Lowry has Imitating the Dog's Dr Blood's Old Travelling Show on Sat 17 Oct (also at Lancaster Arts, 20+21 Oct); Circuit - a trio of dance and circus works on Sun 18 Oct; and Petrichor, a live VR and online experience (26 Oct - 1 Nov). HOME has Rash Dash's Don't Go Back To Sleep (21-24 Oct).
Elsewhere Krapp's Last Tape + La Voix Humaine continues at Leeds Playhouse to Sat 17 Oct.

Online: CLAY's Chasm programme runs through October and November, including Ellie Harrison's Loose Ends tonight, Fri 16 Oct, Nando Messias's Aurora on Mon 19 Oct and Jo Hauge's Kiss and Cry on Fri 23 Oct.
In more discursive territory, celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Pan African Congress in Manchester (until Sun 18 Oct) are happening at See My World Festival (Sunday's programme has more performative work); and at PAC@75 - including Tania Camara's Poetics of Freedomaudio work.
HOME's Homemakers continues, with new content, including Stacy Makishi's Homeward (house) Bound (5-7 Nov - book early it's a one to one phone encounter and very lovely).
LevyFringe goes online 22-31 Oct, while elsewhere Katye Coe, performs perch by Amy Voris from her home on Thu 22 + 29 Oct .
Next weekend (23-25 Oct) sees Black Gold Arts Festival including Cheryl Martin, High Rise Theatre, Mele Broomes and Travis Alabanza.

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

Right, back to trying to piece together a reasonably achievable Emergency programme without too many tiers.

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Sat 21 Nov, 12-6pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

A day out for the curious.

Participating artists to be announced.

Image: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0d0b9e09079cc9204f77cb396/images/f3f03fd9-baa8-4d39-bd1e-24ec79881177.jpg

warnmcr: HOME not from home...

So once more we find ourselves teetering on the brink of some kind of new lockdown - since they seem to be holding off til Monday to confirm what that might look like, you might just have to take anything about live work with a pinch of salt! Following a zoomtastic week (14 hours in one day is too much) I've been a little too preoccupied to trawl the websites, so apologies for brevity or omissions!

In the physical world, next week HOME reopens its doors to live performance on 16 Oct with Young Identity's Working from Home; while Imitating the Dog's Dr Blood's Old Travelling Show lands at The Lowry on Sat 17 Oct (also at Lancaster Arts, 20+21 Oct).

Krapp's Last Tape + La Voix Humaine (2-17 Oct) are ongoing at Leeds Playhouse; then the following week, HOME has Rash Dash's Don't Go Back To Sleep (21-24 Oct).

Online: you can catch We Dance Our History on Sat 10 Oct; Journey's Festival enters its final week (til Sun 18 Oct). CLAY's Chasm programme runs through October and November, including Ellie Harrison's Loose Ends on Fri 16 Oct, Nando Messias's Aurora on Mon 19 Oct and Jo Hauge's kiss+cry on Fri 23 Oct. Dante or Die's User Not Found continues and Black Gold Arts Festival runs 23-25 Oct, including Cheryl Martin, High Rise Theatre, Mele Broomes and Travis Alabanza.

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

As a single person household, having just tried to book a solo ticket, it's painful... so a plea to venues: we know it's hard for you, but blocks of 4 aren't selling, so please make some more single tickets available and don't add theatre to the long list of things that those of us who live alone in Manchester can't do!

I'm off to see what this afternoon's Emergency application deadline might bring!

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Sat 21 Nov, 12-6pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

A day out for the curious.

Participating artists to be announced.

Image: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0d0b9e09079cc9204f77cb396/images/f3f03fd9-baa8-4d39-bd1e-24ec79881177.jpg

warnmcr: kitchen sink drama...

This week, either my senses are dulled or we seem to be less on tenterhooks awaiting Govt regulations, so I'll take a punt on a more normal mailing time!

After a very lovely Sunday afternoon in the garden doing actual live performance in front of physically present people last weekend, as the evenings close in, we find ourselves firmly ensconced back in our homes for the next Domestic on Wed 7 Oct (booking open now). We have contributions from friends old and new: Ali Wilson, Elly Rutherford & Fanis Sakellariou, Helena Ascough, Jane Munro, Madame Zucchini, Maryam Hashemi, Michael Pinchbeck & Ollie Smith and Victoria Firth, all hosted by Peader Kirk.

In the physical world, if you are up for a trek, Leeds Playhouse has Krapp's Last Tape + La Voix Humaine (2-17 Oct) plus Imitating the Dog's Dr Blood's Old Travelling Show (7+8 Oct) - also going to The Piece Hall, Halifax (9+10 Oct), The Lowry (Sat 17 Oct) and Lancaster Arts (20+21 Oct). HOME reopens its doors for actual live performance on 16 Oct with Young Identity's Working from Home plus more WoW-like work thereafter.

Online: Dante or Die's User Not Found continues; The LBT has a trio of streamed danceworks(28 Sep - 12 Oct) and Journey's Festival (28 Sep - 18 Oct) is underway - look out for a new video version of Avital Raz's My Jerusalem on Thu 8 Oct. Coming up later in October there's also the first online Black Gold Arts Festival (23-25 Oct).

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

Hoping to see you in a Zoom window for Domestic next Wednesday and for anyone looking to perform, the deadline to apply for Emergency is on Fri 9 Oct.

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Wed 7 Oct, 8pm. Donations welcome | Online

DOMESTIC

Sat 21 Nov, 12-6pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

A day out for the curious.
Participating artists to be announced.

warnmcr: glory of the garden...

The new normal appears to be waiting with bated breath on a Friday for a rule update to see whether anything planned can go ahead in parts Mancunian... Seemingly we are still permitted out of our homes, so here's a somewhat hasty word - largely because I'm simultaneously working on two selection processes and a live event, and my head is not really on the wider world, beyond the strangely nostalgic BCV* Mancunian pastime of watching the weather; and hideously current métier of watching the Government! (*Before CoVid).

This Sunday, 27 Oct, we at Word of Warning are presenting Botanic - a series of performance encounters in Hulme Community Garden Centre with Christian Asare, Chanje Kunda, Jade Williams, Jamil Keating, Maya Chowdhry and Shkiesha. As it's outdoors, it's free, no booking, stay as long or as little as you like but please wrap up warm and remember social distancing and the 'rule of six'. There is a café, and one (composting) toilet (I know how important these things have become in these times!)

Thereafter we are back on screen for the third Domestic on Wed 7 Oct - booking opening soon and you can visit our YouTube for all our online work this year.

Beyond the end of my own nose, Leeds Playhouse is back up and running - including Krapp's Last Tape + La Voix Humaine (2-17 Oct) plus Imitating the Dog's Dr Blood's Old Travelling Show (7+8 Oct) also going to The Piece Hall, Halifax (9+10 Oct), The Lowry (Say 17 Oct) and Lancaster Arts (20+21 Oct).

Online: Dante or Die's User Not Found continues; The Lowry has Rambert's Drawn From Within (until Sat 26 Sep); and The LBT has a trio of streamed danceworks (28 Sep - 12 Oct). Journey's Festival (28 Sep - 18 Oct); and later in October there's Black Gold Arts (23-25 Oct).

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

Hoping to see you, for real, at Botanic on Sunday!

Best

Tamsin

For those of you not as old as me - Glory of the Garden is both a Kipling poem and was the name of an Arts Council report from the 80s bemoaning the inequalities between London and the regions - that we spent the end of that decade dissecting! Plus ça change?

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Sun 27 Sep, 12-4pm. Free | Hulme Com. Garden Centre

BOTANIC

Wed 7 Oct, 8pm. Donations welcome | Online

DOMESTIC

New work, live from home.
Participating artists to be announced.

Sat 21 Nov, 12-6pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

A day out for the curious.
Participating artists to be announced.

warnmcr: hands, knees and boompsadaisy...

Better late than never... on this sunny autumnal Friday, I have been holding back to see if the icy fingers of added lockdown restrictions were about to grip us, potentially making redundant anything I might be about to say, but to date no word from our lords of misrule of six so it seems like Mancunia may be going unchanged for now and we just carry on hands, knees and boompsadaisy fashion....

We at Word of Warning continue to entertain ourselves, and hopefully you, through this weird time. Next weekend, on Sun 27 Sep, if regulations still allow, we are tiptoeing back IRL - the actual physical world - with Botanic - a series of performance encounters in Hulme Community Garden Centre. Then we return to our couches for the third Domestic on Wed 7 Oct; and finally, we are attempting the 21st Emergency, live at Contact on Sat 21 Nov. The artist calls for both Domestic and Emergency are both open now and you can visit our YouTube for all our online work this year (please subscribe so we can get it a sensible URL!)

Having been down the rabbit hole of 80+ venue and festival websites, I've spotted a few chinks of light: the galleries have started to reopen, including most recently The Whitworth and Castlefield Gallery; and a handful of theatre venues are testing the water with live shows, albeit most not in Word of Warning territory. Chester Storyhouse and The LBT in Huddersfield are back up and running with shows, and a few more join them next month - most notably, HOME's forthcoming season, due to take to a physical stage in mid October. Imitating the Dog are also touring Dr Blood's Old Travelling Show to venues throughout the North in October, including The Lowry.

Online: Dante or Die's User Not Found is hotly tipped; you can support The Lowry by watching Mark Thomas's The Red Shed on Thu 24 Sep and Rambert's Drawn From Within (24-26 Sep); and The LBT has a trio of streamed danceworks (28 Sep - 12 Oct). There's also Stan's Cafe's For Quality Purposes; plus Journey's Festival (28 Sep - 18 Oct); and later in October there's Black Gold Arts (details coming soon); plus there's more discoverable via the Guardian's guide.

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances.

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2020

Sun 27 Sep, 12-4pm. Free | Hulme Com. Garden Centre

BOTANIC

Wed 7 Oct, 8pm. Donations welcome | Online

DOMESTIC

New work, live from home.
Participating artists to be announced.

Sat 21 Nov, 12-6pm. Donations welcome | Contact

EMERGENCY

A day out for the curious.
Participating artists to be announced.

warnmcr: special measures...

While Greater Manchester+ languishes in its own mini-lockdown like some under-performing school put in special measures; and the tantalising tease of indoor performance has move further out of reach; I'm taking the opportunity for an ad hoc mail as we at Word of Warning are sticking our heads above the virtual parapet again, with the second Domestic.

Happening on Wed 12 Aug at 8pm, it features Andrew Neil Hayes, Daniel & Clara, Dominique Savitri Baron-Bonarjee, Kellie Colbert, melissandre varin, Niya B, Sebastian H-W and is hosted by Peader Kirk. It's our first open call online event and we think this one will have a more meditative feel - please do remember Domestic is a beta-test to try out new things on limited resources!

Elsewhere on the internet, the massive Electric Dreams festival continues until Sun 16 Aug; or for a global experimental dive into Shakespeare there's What You Will on Sat 8 Aug.

While we might not be making the annual pilgrimage north to Edinburgh; there is a plethora of digital content emanating from what's being called Edinburgh Reimagined. To be absolutely frank, I haven't fully got my head round it, especially when it comes to crossovers and duplications. There seems to be a mixture of pre-recorded and live streamed content and you might want to check out the Ed Fringe site itself as an overview (to narrow it down I've searched 'theatre' for you); and have a good look at Zoo Festival (17-22 Aug); and especially SHEDINBURGH - live streamed from sheds (I think from Fri 14 Aug, programme tba tomorrow).

New recordings online: Online@TheSpace starts Sat 8 Aug; while ongoing: HOME's Homemakers, BBC's Performance Live on demand programmes and Hester Chillingworth's The Caretaker all continue. You can also still 'watch again' our work with Tania Camara and Will Dickie; plus the first Domestic.

As ever keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances. Hope to 'see' you at Domestic!

Best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr

Information for artists: www.habmcr.org

Been to one of our events recently (even virtually)? Please help us by taking a few minutes to fill out our online survey , a joint project with Live Art UK & The Audience Agency learning about national audiences for live art.

Performance Programme Summer 2020

Wed 12 August, 8.00pm. Donations welcome | Online.

DOMESTIC