Word of Warning — Weekly Warning

So here we are, the students have landed and we find ourselves just a week from the tumult of the 17th Emergency - check out its full unfeasibility online now..!

But before that, this weekend, you can still catch see the Bryony Kimmings + Brian Lobel penned A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer at HOME (until Sat 24 Sept) or join Democracy Outside in Exchange Square on Sat 24 Sept.

Next week (w/c 26 Sept) gets busy! There's Rachael Young's I, Myself and Me at the Lowry on Thu 29 Sept; or Sh!t Theatre's Women's Hour (29 Sep - 1 Oct) and Jamal Harewood's The Privileged (30 Sep + 1 Oct) both at HOME; or further afield, Furnace Festival at West Yorkshire Playhouse. 

Then of course there's the small matter of the aforementioned Emergency 2016 at Z-arts on Sat 1 Oct... I'm not sure what made me think that 29 pieces in a single day was a good idea, but we will be attempting that very feat, so please do join us for a true free performance marathon!

The following week (w/c 3 Oct) is equally busy with Jamie Wood at HOME, Vincent Gambini at Axis, Crewe, Black Gold Arts Festival - and as if Emergency wasn't enough, we at WoW will be back with Divergency - another 8 works in development!

I'll leave you now to return to the joys of Emergency risk assessments!

best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

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Word of Warning
Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2016
Sat 1 Oct, 12noon-10pm. FREE | Z-arts
EMERGENCY 2016
A free day-out for the curious

Thu 6 Oct, 6-10pm
DIVERGENCY
An evening of the different
6-8.30pm. FREE | Z-arts
Installation
Jamil Keating | Chelsea Morgan | Yvonne Shelton

6pm. £6/3 (very ltd capacity) | Z-arts
Tabletop Trio
Maya Chowdhry | Afreena Islam | Toni-Dee Paul

8.30pm. £6/3 | STUN Studio/Z-arts
Double Bill
Chanje Kunda | Cheryl Martin

Thu 10 Nov, 8pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
MANPOWER
Two Destination Language

Tue 22 — Thu 24 Nov, 8pm. £13/7 | Contact
COMEBACK SPECIAL
Greg Wohead [post-show Q&A Tue 22]

Epic heatwaves and apocalyptic deluges, while the country obsesses about baking... not the synopsis of Emergency but the first week of British autumn... We at Word of Warning prefer our waters calmer - so this weekend are off to the blue calm of the Royal Exchange Studio for Rachel Mars Our Carnal Hearts (tonight Fri 16 + tomorrow Sat 17 Sept) and are mulling a dive across the quays to the Lowry to take a pick from Strawberry Blonde Curls' Tanja (also 16+17 Sept), and Tim Crouch + the Royal Court's Adler and Gibb (ongoing til 17 Sep).  And if you're after a brolly - you could check out Chun Hua Catherine Dong's The Yellow Umbrella at Islington Mill on Sat 17 Sep.

Next week (w/c 19 Sept) the waters seems strangely calm - but you can see the Bryony Kimmings + Brian Lobel penned A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer at HOME (20-24 Sept) or for a bit of hazard-like action: Democracy Outside in Exchange Square on Sat 24 Sept.

The following week (w/c 26 Sept) heats up metaphorically with Sh!t Theatre and Jamal Harewood at HOME; Rachael Young at the Lowry and Furnace Festival at West Yorkshire Playhouse. 
But of course, *you* wouldn't want to watch the unfeasibly jam-packed hothouse that is the 17th Emergency at Z-arts.

Time to return to polishing our very shiny, animalistic new print... keep your eyes peeled for all 4 of the new Word of Warning season cards!

best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2016
Sat 1 Oct, 12noon-10pm. FREE | Z-arts
EMERGENCY 2016
A free day-out for the curious (artists tbc)

Thu 6 Oct, 6-10pm
DIVERGENCY
An evening of the different
6-8.30pm. FREE | Z-arts
Installation
Jamil Keating | Chelsea Morgan | Yvonne Shelton

6pm. £6/3 (very ltd capacity) | Z-arts
Tabletop Trio
Maya Chowdhry | Afreena Islam | Toni-Dee Paul

8.30pm. £6/3 | STUN Studio/Z-arts
Double Bill
Chanje Kunda | Cheryl Martin

Thu 10 Nov, 8pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
MANPOWER
Two Destination Language

Tue 22 — Thu 24 Nov, 8pm. £13/7 | Contact
COMEBACK SPECIAL
Greg Wohead [post-show Q&A Tue 22]

So here we go again... shockingly it's officially Autumn, the schools are back (the students will be soon) and those fortunate enough to have holidays are dragging themselves back to work... it also means that the performance world is waking back up after its caledonian foray...

We at Word of Warning are also emerging out of our self-imposed summer hermitry to launch a ferocious (or at least furry) season on the unsuspecting burgers of Mancunia. Kicking off in traditional style with Emergency (it's 17 this year - seriously, would you let this event drive?!), followed hard on by its brand new baby sibling Divergency, then a brief pause before returning with a little manpower and a special comeback.

But before all that, tonight (Fri 9 Sep) you can catch Joey Hateley's diRTy at Z-arts, and the Meraki Collective's TranspireMcr at Islington Mill; or over the weekend Matthew Bellwood + Alison Andrews' The Story Is Not Set In Stone at Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley (Leeds).

Next week (w/c 12 Sept) things pick up pace - with Rachel Mars Our Carnal Hearts at the Royal Exchange Studio on 16+17 Sept, while the Lowry really gets into the swing of things with both Strawberry Blonde Curls' Tanja (16+17 Sept), and, for the more theatrically minded: Tim Crouch + the Royal Court's Adler and Gibb (13-17 Sep).  For something completely different, check out Chun Hua Catherine Dong's The Yellow Umbrella at Islington Mill on Sat 17 Sep.

Coming up the following week (w/c 19 Sept) look out for Bryony Kimmings + Brian Lobel at HOME, or for a bit of hazard-like action: Democracy Outside in Exchange Square.

I'm back to pruning the rare shrub that is the Emergency programme, which is currently looking a little overgrown..!

best

Tamsin

facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Autumn/Winter 2016
Sat 1 Oct, 12noon-10pm. FREE | Z-arts
EMERGENCY 2016
A free day-out for the curious (artists tbc)

Thu 6 Oct, 6-10pm
DIVERGENCY
An evening of the different
6-8.30pm. FREE | Z-arts
Installation
Jamil Keating | Chelsea Morgan | Yvonne Shelton

6pm. £6/3 (very ltd capacity) | Z-arts
Tabletop Trio
Maya Chowdhry | Afreena Islam | Toni-Dee Paul

8.30pm. £6/3 | STUN Studio/Z-arts
Double Bill
Chanje Kunda | Cheryl Martin

Thu 10 Nov, 8pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
MANPOWER
Two Destination Language

Tue 22 — Thu 24 Nov, 8pm. £13/7 | Contact
COMEBACK SPECIAL
Greg Wohead [post-show Q&A Tue 22]

While you all bask in the ferocious dry heat of a Manchester summer(!) we're turning our heads to parts even less clement (if possible)... so here's what you're awaiting with baited breath... our faltering attempt to make some sense of the behemoth that is Edinburgh!

If you're really keen and contemplating joining us in the logistical nightmare of Edinburgh planning, once more I've uploaded our 'long list' below.  Please forgive any errors or omissions - it *is* largely our own planning tool, so it may miss out things we've seen or that we know are coming to Manchester anyway - and we steer clear of internationals as they're beyond WoW's programming paygrade!

For a more digestible version: as ever, we'll be mainly hanging around Forest Fringe (11-20 Aug) and Summerhall and the things taking our fancy include:
At Forest Fringe - please be aware that there is a lot of great revived work, quite a lot of which came to greenroom, (sob) which I'm not going to highlight here. Of the new work I'm intrigued by: Nic Green, Ira Brand, Greg Wohead, Deborah Pearson, Season Butler and Mish Grigor and be sure to check out the just released Microfestival of new artists on 16/17 Aug.

Catching my eye at Summerhall: Annie Siddons, Mamoru Iriguchi, Kieran Hurley, FK Alexander, Rachael Clerke, Hannah Nicklin and (for those for whom this is still a 90's heart flutter: Robert Newman)
DanceBase also has some interesting things - including Navaridas & Deutinger, the Hiccup Project, Gary Gardiner/Ian Johnston/Adrian Howells.

And, of course, the annual mandatory trip to see Mark Thomas's new offering at the Traverse.

Of course, as a final word we need to give a big mention to Manchester in Edinburgh: two of our own Works Ahead projects - Afreena Islam at Forest Fringe (17 Aug only) and Lucy McCormick at Underbelly, Cowgate - plus, at Summerhall - Josh Coates (10 Aug only) and Jenna Watt (Contact Flying Solo commission).

Please be aware that this is very much my picks, largely from paper - so don't hold it against me! Final tips - please check dates carefully with edfringe.com as you don't want to fall prey to random days off - and my tip is to log-in edfringe.com, and use the favourites facility (so you can then export your favourites as a handy spreadsheet and sort it as you please!)

Enjoy!

Tamsin



facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

So here I am, truly in calm before storm mode - just hoping that the storm is metaphorical rather than meteorological...

Hazard 2016 is almost upon us - tomorrow, Sat 9 Jul, 12-5pm in St Ann's Square.  The office is rammed full of ladders, signage, hazebo feet, A boards, ponchos and t-shirts - and my desktop is full of risk assessments and stern warnings about MI5 threat levels and running with scissors(!)

Whether you happen to be passing, or are making a special trip into town, we do have an extraordinary programme - from the daft to the playful to the thought-provoking. We've tried to make the online programme easy to navigate - just click on the hour that you plan to arrive to see what's on eg: 1-2pm
Amongst the all-afternoon activity you can tick-box game your way through society; take satirical immigration advice; indulge in people-watching writ large; and make a human connection across impossible borders.  There are also two infinitesimally slow collapses; a deflationary dance and your chance to roll the dice of political change.  We've even got our own composting port-a-loo!

Participating artists are Aidan Strudwick, Alex Bradley + Bill Leslie, Ali Wilson + Jessica Gibson, Charlotte CHW, Dominique Baron-Bonarjee, Elena Koukoli + Andreas Papapetrou, Full Circle Arts + Playfuel, Instant Dissidence, Jin Bells, Nathaniel Mason, Output Arts, Sexcentenary, There There, un-earthed collective, Vivian Chinasa Ezugha

And it's not too late to be part of a Hazard piece, we're looking for brightly coloured slow-mobbers... click here for full details.

As promised, though we're paper-free, there's now a sneaky downloadable schedule via hazardmcr.org - with the caveat that it's a plan only and things may not happen that way at all! The City Centre is a beast that defies taming so will inevitably have its own momentum - with our without the intervention of the weather!

I suppose, grudgingly,I should mention our main competition - the opening weekend of Liverpool Biennial! It *is* on for 3 months, so plenty of time to catch it - but this weekend there are some performative events from Denis McNulty, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Elena Narbutaite and Eduardo Costa and Michael Portnoy worth looking out for.

This Weekly Word is going to take a bit of a post Hazard break, but will be back early August with the customary Edinburgh round-up. So, just to round-up the rest of July: for something a bit out of WoW territory, there's Contacting the World, Paradise Lost at the Lowry, or  Pen:Chant's Bastille Day special at Gullivers.  Greater Manchester Fringe is on (til 31 July) and, overwhelming as fringes tend to be,  From the Mill, PopBox Theatre and Jon Coleman might be worth checking out. Further afield, Stephanie Ridings's The Road To Huntsville at the HUB, Leeds on Sun 31 Jul.

I now have a giant pizza order to place (we do have to feed the 77 - yes 77 - people working on Hazard!) Hoping to see lots of you on St Ann's Square tomorrow for some hazardous behaviour!

Best

Tamsin


facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Spring/Summer 2016
                       
Sat 9 Jul, 12noon-5pm. Free | St Ann’s Square, Mcr City Centre
HAZARD 2016
Incidental intervention and sited performance... Cheeky, thought-provoking sprees of eccentricity...
     
Word of Warning Spring/Summer 2016 is brought to you by hÅb
with Derelict, UCLan, the Whitworth, Contact, Dance Manchester, HOME, The Lowry + The Place.

This week sees me transfixed by hazard tape shopping and stripy signage making whilst watching the rapid disintegration of our political system - I'm sure there's a metaphor in there but it eludes me...

This weekend, however, in a symbiotic moment, on Sat 2 Jun you can catch the even stripier Martin Hamblen's A Congregration of Clades at Preston's Flag Market. For something completely different next week, Die Diana is ongoing at Bandit, Mugger and Thief (3-6 Jul). Looking further ahead, (w/c 11 July) for something a bit out of WoW territory, there's Contacting the World, Paradise Lost at the Lowry, or  Pen:Chant's Bastille Day special at Gullivers.

While the performance world seems to be heading into the summer lull - fear not as you can still join Word of Warning in our biennial city takeover bid: Hazard 2016 on Sat 9 Jul, 12-5pm in St Ann's Square. 

Fifteen pieces ranging from the playful (giant foam scissors, human mini-golf obstacles) to the provocative...  Unsurprisingly, high on the artists' minds is the question of migration, and
we are proud to be premiering Instant Dissidence's Dancing with Strangers: From Calais to England alongside There There's Text Home, both bringing the issue into sharp relief.

Hazard is designed to be 'chanced upon' by the unsuspecting passer-by, but with issues as raw as this presented in the public domain, we'd be more appreciative than ever of your friendly faces! Hazard 2016 is a paper free event: full details are online and there'll be a sneaky downloadable schedule there next Friday.

And finally, if you'd like to actually be part of a Hazard piece, we're looking for brightly coloured slow-mobbers... click here for full details!

I'm off back to the glamour of testing gazebo feet for leaks, completing risk assessments and striping our banners...

Best

Tamsin


facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Spring/Summer 2016
                       
Sat 9 Jul, 12noon-5pm. Free | St Ann’s Square, Mcr City Centre
HAZARD 2016
Incidental intervention and sited performance... Cheeky, thought-provoking sprees of eccentricity...
     
Word of Warning Spring/Summer 2016 is brought to you by hÅb
with Derelict, UCLan, the Whitworth, Contact, Dance Manchester, HOME, The Lowry + The Place.

On this tumultuous political morning any attempt at smart words would seem feeble or inappropriate, so just to crack on... In parts Mancunian, this weekend you can still catch Art with Heart's Declaration (tonight Fri 24 Jun) at the Lowry; or this weekend, the Whitworth's WARP Festival (Sat 25 + Sun 26 Jun). 

Next week (w/c 27 Jun), on Wed 29 June, please do join Word of Warning at the Lowry for Igor & Moreno's A Room For All Our Tomorrows (this morning, somehow, that title seems so much more like poetic irony) - and you could check out Die Diana at Bandit, Mugger and Thief (29+30 Jun, 3-6 Jul).

This weekend (and onwards) our neighbours across the Pennines are bursting into an unfeasible number of festivals. The new Yorkshire Festival 2016 is underway and rather defies signposting (best tip: download the brochure).   There are some interesting looking sound and installation projects (IOU and Invisible Flock amongst others) and The Tetley Weekender in Leeds this weekend might also be worth a look.  In more performative territory, you can still catch Melanie Wilson's Opera for the Unknown Woman tonight, Fri 24 Jun at the LBT, Huddersfield; and next week, if it weren't for a certain clash, I would be hopping across to Selina Thompson's salt on Wed 29 Jun at Stage@Leeds (1400 + 1945).  There is also a host of smaller festivals going on: in Grassington, Holmfirth and Hebden Bridge and things you might look out for in their outdoor programmes are Company Chameleon's Of Man and Beast and Them Two Dance's Random Acts of Kindness, and indoors, Emma Decent in Hebden Bridge on Thu 30 Jun.

The following week (w/c 4 July) of course *the only place to be* is with us in St Ann's Square on Sat 9 July (12-5pm) for Hazard 2016 - 15 acts of eccentric, daft or borderline transgressive behaviour - live artists go play in the streets!

Best

Tamsin


facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Spring/Summer 2016
                  
Wed 29 Jun, 8pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
A ROOM FOR ALL OUR TOMORROWS
Igor and Moreno
For those moments – between coffee and dancing – when harmony abandons us and all that’s left is the desire to scream.
          
Sat 9 Jul, 12noon-5pm. Free | St Ann’s Square, Mcr City Centre
HAZARD 2016
Incidental intervention and sited performance... Cheeky, thought-provoking sprees of eccentricity...
     
Word of Warning Spring/Summer 2016 is brought to you by hÅb
with Derelict, UCLan, the Whitworth, Contact, Dance Manchester, HOME, The Lowry + The Place.

With the looming of the week in which we are forced to make decisions about our european-ness based on a load of inflammatory partisan speculation,  if you want to try and get to grips with some facts, you could do worse than spend an evening Knowing EU at Hope Mill Theatre (tonight Fri 17 Jun). 

In more theatrical territory, ongoing is ANU Productions' On Corporation Street at HOME (til 25 June); or further afield, on Sat 18 Jun there's Re:Con's Unexpected Items audio tour in Bury Market; and Jamal Gerald's FADoubleGOT at Bradford Theatre in the Mill; while on Sun 19 Jun Proto-type Theater's A Machine They're Secretly Building is at the HUB, Leeds.

Next week (w/c 20 June) look out for founding Egg, Lydia Hirst's Apocaplypse Wow on Mon 20 Jun at Islington Mill;  Art with Heart's Declaration (Thu 23 + Fri 24 Jun) at the Lowry; and Melanie Wilson's Opera for the Unknown Woman (Wed 22 + Thu 23 Jun) at the LBT, Huddersfield.

The following week (w/c 27 Jun) you could check out Die Diana at Bandit, Mugger and Thief, but partisan as I may be, *the* place to be is at Igor & Moreno's A Room For All Our Tomorrows at the Lowry on Wed 29 June which Word of Warning is co-promoting.  For those of you who were at Emergency Accommodation or 'Poolside Emergency 2013 - you might just remember Moreno's extraordinary lip-syncing of Nessun Dorma...

In other news, as I stare at a disturbingly leaden sky... the outline Hazard 2016 programme is now online... save the date (Sat 9 Jul) for the (un)usual spree of strange behaviour in the centre of Manchester!

Best

Tamsin


facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Spring/Summer 2016
                  
Wed 29 Jun, 8pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
A ROOM FOR ALL OUR TOMORROWS
Igor and Moreno
For those moments – between coffee and dancing – when harmony abandons us and all that’s left is the desire to scream.
          
Sat 9 Jul, 12noon-5pm. Free | St Ann’s Square, Mcr City Centre
HAZARD 2016
Incidental intervention and sited performance... Cheeky, thought-provoking sprees of eccentricity...
     
Word of Warning Spring/Summer 2016 is brought to you by hÅb
with Derelict, UCLan, the Whitworth, Contact, Dance Manchester, HOME, The Lowry + The Place.

As the unusually summery weather fades to grey and I start looking ahead to rain contingencies for July's Hazard, tonight you can still catch Sophie Willan's On Record at the Lowry (Fri 10+ Sat 11 Jun) and RITE at Islington Mill (Fri 10 Jun) and tomorrow, Unfinished Business + Baba Israel's The Spinning Wheel at Contact (Sat 11 Jun).

For the more theatrically inclined in Manchester there's ANU Productions' On Corporation Street at HOME (10-25 June); or, for something completely different and highly topical, check out Knowing EU at Hope Mill Theatre (12, 16 +17 Jun). 
In more familiar WoW territory, next weekend on Sat 18 Jun there's Jamal Gerald's FADoubleGOT at Bradford Theatre in the Mill; and Re:Con's Unexpected Items audio tour in Bury Market; while on Sun 19 Jun Proto-type Theater's A Machine They're Secretly Building is at the HUB, Leeds.

The following week (w/c 20 June) look out for Art with Heart at the Lowry; and Melanie Wilson at the LBT, Huddersfield.

I'm now off to trade the basement of Contact for the murky depths of our annual reporting (albeit offline!)...

Best

Tamsin


facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | Word of Warning Google calendar
Information for artists: www.habarts.org
Been to one of our events recently? 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.

Spread the word that #CultureMatters | Watch and share the new ACE video

Word of Warning
Performance Programme Spring/Summer 2016
                  
Wed 29 Jun, 8pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
A ROOM FOR ALL OUR TOMORROWS
Igor and Moreno
For those moments – between coffee and dancing – when harmony abandons us and all that’s left is the desire to scream.
          
Sat 9 Jul, 12noon-5pm. Free | St Ann’s Square, Mcr City Centre
HAZARD 2016
Incidental intervention and sited performance... Cheeky, thought-provoking sprees of eccentricity...
     
Word of Warning Spring/Summer 2016 is brought to you by hÅb
with Derelict, UCLan, the Whitworth, Contact, Dance Manchester, HOME, The Lowry + The Place.