Contact Announces New Live Shows For Unexpected Places In Manchester

This summer Manchester's iconic Contact Theatre will be presenting a series of outdoor shows taking audiences out onto the streets and into unusual spaces across the city.

This unique programme begins in June with a performance from the organisation's award-winning Contact Young Company. Saturnalia (Thursday 10 - Saturday 12 June) is an outdoor piece of rave-theatre featuring DJs, MCs, poets, dancers, musicians and storytellers, celebrating the return of live culture to Manchester's streets. More than a party, it's a new kind of show that will transport audiences into an underground world of bass, politics and belonging, against the backdrop of Manchester's stunning Projekt Skate Park. The show will be directed by Dominic Garfield from HighRise Theatre, whose acclaimed grime show Lil.Miss.Lady headlined Black Gold Arts Festival at Contact last October. Tickets on sale now.

Next, Contact teams up with Manchester International Festival to take over Manchester Central for Looking Forward to Tomorrow. One year ago, a group of Greater Manchester residents aged 16 to 70 came together with Contact and MIF to share their hopes, thoughts and ideas about the future. Now, in Equality (Saturday 10 July) and Environment (Saturday 17 July), they'll invite the audience to explore with them what our future holds - and how can we make it better. Tickets will be available from Thursday 20 May.

The 2020 edition of the legendary House of Suarez + Contact Vogue Ball was the last live event Contact produced before lockdown forced venues across the UK to close. Now, the Vogue Ball comes back to Manchester on Sunday 25 July at the newly-announced Homeground, the new outdoor theatre space near First Street. Vogue Houses from far and wide will be bringing their fiercest performers to compete for dance supremacy in a macabre and magical experience at the CarnEviL Ball, hosted by Rikki Beadle-Blair. Tickets for Vogue Ball will be on sale from Tuesday 1 June.

Later in July, Contact invites you to explore parts of Manchester in a whole new light with A Home for Grief (Thursday 29 - Saturday 31 July). This sound-walk will take you from Contact's building on a journey across the city's streets, while listening to the voices of women expressing their stories of grief, loss and renewal. The show has been created by artist Fabiola Santana in response to the complex forms of loss and grief experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tickets on sale now.

This summer season is part of the build-up to Contact's reopening in September. In the meantime, the newly expanded and equipped building continues to host the organisation's long-running music, drama and youth leadership programmes, and provide rehearsal space for early-career artists in Greater Manchester. In particular, they'll be working with projects to look at the connection between art, health and science, including a commission with artist Ali Wilson exploring neuro-diversity.

Contact's Chief Executive and Artistic Director Matt Fenton said: 'As part of our move back to the stunning reopened Contact building, we're taking in some exciting and unique locations across Manchester for performances and events this summer. The events provide an opportunity to reflect on the impact of the pandemic, but also the chance to come together, celebrate and have a party.'