WORLD FACTORY to Play HOME Manchester This December

Delving into the murky history and contemporary reality of the garment industry, World Factory provokes a conversation about consumer capitalism and ethical trade in relation to China. The original production of World Factory was created and produced by METIS Projects in co-production with the New Wolsey Theatre, the Young Vic, and Company of Angels, and first performed at the New Wolsey Theatre and Young Vic in 2015.

Considering that adults make approximately 35,000 decisions per day, World Factory focuses on concrete, real-time decisions based on real-world stories. Through a scenario-based card game, audience members become managers of a Chinese clothing factory, calling the shots on profits, products and workers - and deciding for themselves what success looks like. Which card will you draw? Will you be an ethical factory owner or will profits always come first? In the rag trade, can anyone ever really win?

Interweaving real-life accounts of mass production both here and abroad with a moving score, video and live performance, World Factory has been consciously created as a show for everyone, which means that while 'factories' have to make collective decisions, the level of audience participation is at one's own discretion.

"World Factory pulls the curtains back on how small decisions contribute to a much bigger picture of exploitation," says co-creator and director Zoë Svendsen. "This isn't a show about where you buy your clothes, but rather about the global system in which we all live. "

World Factory has been developed through a collaboration between UK-based theatre company METIS and Shanghai-based Chinese director Zhao Chuan and his company Grass Stage. The set design is by Simon Daw, the lighting design is by Guy Hoare, with sound by Matthias Kispert and additional music by David Paul Jones.

Zoë Svendsen is a dramaturg, director and researcher and Director of METIS. Her credits as a director include 3rd Ring Out (UK tour); Four Men and a Poker Game (The Tron, Glasgow); and Difference Engine (The Gate, London). Zoë is Artistic Associate at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Associate Artist with Company of Angels. Zoë lectures in Drama and Performance at the University of Cambridge, is currently affiliated artist at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, and is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck s Centre for Contemporary Theatre.

Simon Daw previously worked at the Young Vic on The Secret Agent (Young Vic and UK tour). Other recent stage credits include Owen Wingrave (Aldeburgh Festival, Edinburgh International Festival); Widowers Houses and The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (Orange Tree Theatre); Wonderful Tennessee (Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield); Tale, The Daughter-in-Law and Democracy (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield); The Metamorphosis (Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House); DNA/Baby Girl/The Miracle and The Enchantment (National installation/performance commissions include The Competition (Shoreditch Town Hall); 3rd Ring Out (UK tour); Wave Structures, Hopefully it Means Nothing, Sea House (Aldeburgh Festival); and New Town (site-specific).

IF YOU GO:

WORLD FACTORY

Wed 7 December 2016 19:30 (press night performance)
Thu 8 December 2016 19:30
Fri 9 December 2016 19:30
Sat 10 December 2016 14:00, 19:30

At HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN.

Tickets:
£20 (concessions available)
World Factory Team Ticket Deal - Fancy playing World Factory with your friends? Get a team of six people together and save £2 per ticket. Tickets must be purchased together (subject to availability).

HOME, Manchester's centre for international contemporary art, theatre, film and books, opened its doors over the 2015 May Bank Holiday weekend. Designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and featuring a 500-seat theatre, a 150-seat flexible theatre, a 500m2, 4m high gallery space, five cinema screens, digital production and broadcast facilities, a café bar and restaurant, HOME's theatres are a platform for questioning and ambitious artistic projects that involve audiences with new and extraordinary theatrical experiences. The international contemporary visual art programme is dedicated to presenting new commissions by emerging and established artists of regional, national and international significance, with a bold, proactive policy of visual, innovative storytelling with the ability to experiment and explore, probe and provoke, creating a distinct experience for both artists and audiences. HOME's five cinemas showcase the very best in contemporary and classic cinema, screening works by artists and filmmakers both established and new. HOME is a centre for co-production, talent development and artistic creation, dedicated to learning, for people of all ages. A place for new work and playful ideas; of festivals and commissions; of artists and of audience engagement. The patrons of HOME are Danny Boyle, National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner, actress SurAnne Jones, playwright and poet Jackie Kay MBE, artists Rosa Barba and Phil Collins, filmmaker Asif Kapadia, and actress and author Meera Syal CBE. Following World Factory, HOME stages WOW! Said the Owl, for children aged two-five, presented by Little Angel; and in 2017 Narvik, a new play with songs by Lizzie Nunnery presented by Box of Tricks; Blak Whyte Grey, a hip-hop dance triple bill presented by Boy Blue Entertainment; and Paul Auster's City of Glass, presented by 59 Productions, HOME, and the Lyric Hammersmith. www.homemcr.org | @HOME_mcr

METIS is a Cambridge-based performing arts company/network creating interdisciplinary performance projects through rigorous research. A fascination with maps, space, technology, travel and history drives the company's work in a range of media. Our work is characterised by its pursuit of expressive forms that connect with the contemporary world. The tour of World Factory is produced by Artsadmin. Artsadmin enables artists to create without boundaries, connecting bold interdisciplinary work with local, national and international audiences. The advisory service supports artists at every stage of their development with free advice and opportunities. They have established Toynbee Studios as a centre for the creation and presentation of new work. www.metisarts.co.uk | @MetisProjects

Photo Credit: David Sandison