Live theatre will return to HOME from October with a programme including world premieres from RashDash, David Hoyle and Robin Richards & Clara Casian. Also returning will be critically-acclaimed artists Javaad Alipoor, Sh!t Theatre and Le Gateau Chocolat, among others.
HOME last presented work in March before the venue was forced to close due to COVID-19, and recently announced it would be reopening on 4th September, with its five cinemas, bar and restaurant the first to come back.
During this closure period, HOME has continued to work online, presenting new artist commissions in theatre and visual art, hosting film streams and director Q&As and supporting artists through digital workshops.
HOME’s 500-seat Theatre 1 has been reduced to a capacity of just 120 to allow space for social distancing, but despite this tickets will be priced at just £10 to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to return to the theatre.
Dave Moutrey, HOME’s Director and CEO, believes it is more important than ever for theatre to be bother accessible and risk-taking. He says: “Following the incredible response to our opening weekend announcement, I’m pleased to be able to unveil a theatre season starting in October that includes brand new work, boundary-pushing ideas and some of our favourite artists.
Don’t Go Back To Sleep by RashDash
“Much has changed since we closed in March, but we must do all we can to bridge the potential growth in social inequality as a result to this pandemic. This is why, despite limited capacity due to social distancing, we will make every ticket available for no more than £10. In addition, we will give equal weight to delivering work online, to ensure that audiences who cannot return just yet can still engage with new, relevant work.”
Dave continues: “The international social and political fabric has been ripped apart in the period since we closed, and it is more important than ever that we provide a platform for great art to reflect this. We are proud to be presenting every one of these works, old and new.”
October
The season will start with a special one-night performance and book launch from HOME’s Resident Artists, Young Identity, and from 21st October, the Fringe First award-winning trio RashDash will present the World Premiere of Don’t Go Back To Sleep, a cross-continental musical collaboration about life in lockdown.
November
In November, Javaad Alipoor returns with The Believers Are But Brothers. Originally co-commissioned by HOME, the show first appeared in Manchester in 2017, with reviewers describing it as “vital” and “a revelation”. It went on to tour the world and win a host of awards, including the Scotsman Fringe First Award.
The Believers Are But Brothers by Javaad Alipoor / The Other Richard
Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas will also return to HOME with The End, their 2019 exploration of the end of their relationship, whose themes of the end of the Earth and ecological crisis feel more relevant than ever.
Beats & Elements’ High Rise eState of Mind, tells difficult to swallow truths through a dystopian lens, using grime, beat boxing, hip hop, live looping and MCing.
The End
And HOME regular David Hoyle, presents another World Premiere, A Grand Auction of My Life where the past is examined and HOME’s theatre space becomes an auction room for the sale of memorabilia and memories.
December
Into December, and the month starts with a third World Premiere, an original live score and feature-length film, The Earth Asleep, directed by Manchester-based visual artist Clara Casian (House on the Borderland) and composer Robin Richards (Dutch Uncles).
House Party
This haunting new travelogue addresses the Oshika Peninsula earthquake and tsunami, and asks if our exposure to extreme live-trauma in the form of rolling news and citizen reportage has resulted in an inability to process grief at a manageable, human scale.
HOME’s own Accessible Music Productions (AMP) will bring House Party, their regular inclusive club night for music lovers, makers, movers and shakers aged 18+ with different abilities and additional needs to the Theatre 1 space for the very first time on Friday 11th December. House Party is renowned for its energy, excitement and enjoyment and features a tantalising and eclectic mix of styles, musicians and moods.
Christmas
Getting into the festive spirit, quite literally, the legendary Ghost Whisperer Séayoncé will take the audience to the depths of the spirit world, in Déjà Voodoo, where past lovers are summoned, and the powers of voodoo are unleashed. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a romcom and so HOME are obliging by treating audiences to Sh!t Theatre’s take on Richard Curtis’s festive tale of infidelity and inappropriate signwriting in Sh!t Actually.
Sh!t Actually by Sh!t Theatre
And for younger audiences, Le Gateau Chocolat brings family-friendly cabaret and tales of not-quite-fitting-in in Duckie, a reworked version of The Ugly Duckling with a message of tolerance and self-acceptance at its core.
Tickets for this year’s shows will go on sale on Friday 18th September.
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