As the smoke clears from Bonfire Night here and from the political bonfire across the pond, there may be just a glimmer of light on the horizon. Meanwhile, in performance world, the explosive barrage continues...
This weekend, it's all go in Mancunia. On Fri 6 Nov, Action Hero’s A Song & Dance is at New Adelphi (sold out), while Arnold & Komarov Travelling Theatre’s LOVE**WORK is at Lowry on Fri 6 + Sat 7 Nov. £5 tickets available here.
SICK! Festival’s CPR, Beat Two continues with Merel Smitt’s The Bureaucratic Escape Room on Fri 6, Wed 11 + Fri 13 Nov; and Michael Betteridge’s Birthed from Rain and River on Thu 12 Nov.
On Sat 7 + 21 Nov, Florence Peake’s Your Meaning Not Your Materiality activates at HOME; and on Sun 8 Nov, Lula Braimbridge and Martha Barr’s Building, Tearing, Repairing is at Rogue Artists’ Studios.
In Leeds, Compass Festival gets properly underway with Moi Tran’s The Text is Restless at Leeds Art Gallery from Fri 6-Sun 15 Nov; Ema Boswood’s You Don’t Have to Cover Your Eyes at Meanwood Valley Urban Farm on Sat 7 + Sun 8 and Sat 21 + Sun 22 Nov; and Matt Allen and Jack Sibley’s LSRPG on Sat 7 + Sat 21 Nov.
On Merseyside, Homotopia opens on Sat 7 Nov with Thick & Tight’s Natural Behaviour at Unity Theatre.
Across Yorkshire, Hassan Mahamdallie’s Punk Days is at Theatre in the Mill, Bradford on Fri 6 + Sat 7 Nov; and Laura Kenyon/WomanEwer’s We Are Not Beautiful is at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio on Sat 7 Nov.
Much further afield, KUNSTY concludes at London’s Southbank Centre on Fri 6 Nov with Fag Packet’s DYKE Systems Ltd; while UNREAL opens at Battersea Arts Centre on Sat 7 Nov and runs until Sat 14 Nov.
Next week (w/c 9 Nov), at Lowry, Lewys Holt and Eleanor Sikorski’s Double Booking is on Thu 12 + Fri 13 Nov.
For something a lot more theatrical, there are a limited number of £10 tickets available for Actors Touring Company and Bush Theatre’s Darkling at HOME from Wed 11-Sat 14 Nov. Use code DARKLING10.
On Sun 15 Nov, Maddie Maycock’s Torso is at Rogue Artists’ Studios.
On Merseyside, Annabel Little’s Live Acts: Performance, Practice and Archives is at Bluecoat on Tue 10 Nov; Liverpool Scratch Network is at the Everyman on Thu 12 Nov; Homotopia’s QueerCore Showcase is at the Playhouse on Fri 13 Nov; and Young Homotopia’s OUT LOUD is there on Sat 14 Nov.
In Sheffield, Forced Entertainment’s Selected Works: Table Top Shakespeare is at the Playhouse from Tue 10-Thu 12 Nov (sold out); and in Lancaster, Seke Chimutengwende’s The Last Quartet is at Lancaster Arts on Fri 13 Nov.
The following week (w/c 16 Nov), Word of Warning is back in action with Social Experiment at Contact on Thu 19 Nov: a free, informal gathering for Live Art and contemporary performance, with participating artists to be announced.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, Lost Dog’s Juliet & Romeo is at Oldham Sixth Form Gallery on Tue 17 Nov. HOME has Mark Thomas’s 40 in Stand-Up Years on Wed 18 Nov; and Louise Orwin’s FAMEHUNGRY on Thu 19 + Fri 20 Nov.
Waterside’s PRISM brings Ed Grimoldby’s Lumen Array and sub_bar’s Subworks to Sale from Thu 19-Sat 21 Nov. On Sun 22 Nov, Lula Braimbridge and Agnes Meier’s Soft Matter is at Rogue Artists’ Studios.
In Yorkshire, PCK Dance’s The Panic Room is at Sheffield’s Octagon Centre on Mon 16 Nov. On Tue 17 Nov, IN BED WITH MY BROTHER’s PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is at Leeds Playhouse; DeNada Dance Theatre’s Edward IIis at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio; and Forced Entertainment’s Selected Works: Table Top Shakespearebegins a three-night run at Barnsley Civic. Imogen Reeve & Co.’s Mother Computer: Folk Dances From the Future is at Sheffield’s Octagon Centre on Wed 18 Nov.
Compass Festival continues in Leeds with Small Acts’ People, Place and Porosity: 15 Years of Small Acts on Tue 17 Nov and Faceback from Thu 19-Sat 21 Nov, followed by Yorkshire Dance’s Wild Hope Reimagined from Fri 20-Sun 22 Nov. Also at Yorkshire Dance, No Dress Code offers an evening of dance works-in-progress on Fri 20 Nov; while Fag Packet’s DYKE Systems Ltd is at Leeds Playhouse on Fri 20 + Sat 21 Nov.
On Merseyside, Fag Packet’s DYKE Systems Ltd is at Unity Theatre on Thu 19 Nov; followed by Fatt Butcher’s Congregational at Liverpool Philharmonic on Fri 20 Nov.
Much further afield, CEREMONY Fest begins in London on Fri 20 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.
Notes for Artists: Social Experiment remains open for proposals for future editions, with the next deadline on 25 Jan, midday.
Best
Tamsin
@WarnMcr: Bsky | Fb | Insta | X | YT
Information for artists: habmcr.org
No. 591/ FY 23
WORD OF WARNING PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME 2026
Thu 19 Nov, 6pm-9pm. FREE | Contact
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
A gathering for Live Art and performance.
Participating artists to be announced.
