For those of us old enough to remember 1976, the weather this week brought back some more innocent and less portentous memories... Now the heat crisis has abated, however temporarily, the prospect of seeing work is maybe a little more palatable, just in time for festival flurries...
IRL:
Next week (w/c 25 Jul) Mancunia is in mini festival mode: Greater Manchester Fringe continues with Leo & Hyde's Double Life at Whitworth Locke (until 28 Jul); Refract Festival is at Sale Waterside until 30 Jul with John Osborne's John Peel's Shed on Wed 27 Jul; Superfan Performance's Just Like Animals on Thu 28 Jul; Off the Jacket's Withered Optimism on Fri 29 Jul and Ermini/Van Huynh's Glam and Facades on Sat 30 Jul. Castlefield sees the return of Streets Ahead with Castlefield Follies on Sat 30 + Sun 31 Jul.
Meanwhile Contact has CYC with Gob Squad's While we were waiting something changed (28-30 Jul).Further afield Unity Liverpool has Alex Roberts's No Place Like Home and The Holbeck, Leeds has Holly Beaseley-Garrigan's Opal Fruits.
Into August I've not spotted a lot to write about close to home. We at Word of Warning will be taking to the streets with Proud & Loud's Gambit on Sat 20 Aug... though you might want to check out Xhi Ndubisi's The Grand Pear Supper at Lonsight Art Space on Wed 17 Aug and Spill Yer Tea at Tapestry in Liverpool on Sat 20 Aug.
Beyond that it's a case of travelling - there's Stockton International Riverside Festival (4-7 Aug) for more outdoor arts or, in Leicester, there's Journeys Festival (12-14 Aug).
Then of course there is the behemoth that is Edinburgh...
First up, unusually, is Edinburgh International Festival with our own Mandla's As British As A Watermelonand Akeim Toussaint Buck's Windows of Displacement.
Moving on to more familiar territory - the Fringe (5-29 Aug). Possibly unsurprisingly I'm finding it quite a funny year and failing to recognise many names, which may be a good or a bad thing, and makes my list even more of a lucky dip than usual. I also did my research a couple of weeks ago so there may be latecomers I've not scrutinised.
Timing-wise my tip would be w/c 22 Aug - largely because, for (relatively) safe bets, there's the Horizon Showcase (which replaced the British Council event). Beyond that, as ever, I'm focusing attention on Summerhall,Zoo + Pleasance, and tbh, the most interesting things I've spotted feel like they're at DanceBase.
For my own 30 hour whistlestop, on the shortlist is: emma + pj, Sarah Hopfinger w/ Alicia Jane Turner, Liz Lea, Yolanda Mercy, Marikiscrycrycry, Sung Im Her, Dan Daw,Emma Martin, Jo Fong + George Orange, Haley McGee, Aidan Moesby, Liv Ello, Victoria Melody, Craig Manson and I would see the vacuum cleaner if I was there on the right day. Do the math... it doesn't leave much time for sleep! ;)
A tip for Edinburgh newbies: what I do is sign into my EdFringe account, and go through the site, finding by category + genre; and then by key venues. Any show that might be interesting I add to My Favourites - then I export them all as a longlist spreadsheet from which I can plan. That longlist is below - both as pdf and Excel (so you can edit and sort as you please).
Online:
Edinburgh Fringe also has an online programme which I'm yet to really study.
Greater Manchester Fringe Festival has an online programme you might want to check out, alongside the ongoing youtube.com/c/WordofWarning, Lowry Digital, HOMESCREEN, MIF Watch On Demand, Unity Online, Sadlers Wells Digital Stage or CPT Digital.
Keep checking our News + Information page for more pointers to opportunities and show videos online, and @WarnMcr on Twitter for short-notice performances and a reminder that the Emergency (1 Oct) call for proposals remains open until 5 Aug.
Unless something unmissable pops up the Weekly Warning might take a bit of a break in August (though expect a Gambit reminder!).
Best
Tamsin
facebook/WarnMcr | @WarnMcr | youtube.com/c/WordofWarning
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COMING SOON
GAMBIT
Proud & Loud Arts.
Sat 1 Oct | Contact
EMERGENCY 22
A day out for the curious.
