Be nice to people, don’t look at my phone as much, spend less money on crap, don’t mess up. Why do we strive to be better at this time of the year?
Presented by Contact’s renowned ensemble Contact Young Company and outstanding theatre company Common Wealth, How To Be Better is a seasonal show with a difference. The promenade show transforms Contact’s main auditorium into an inspiring and imaginative new world exploring the pressures and complexities of Christmas and asking how we can be our best- not someone else’s best, but our own best.
Experience Contact’s main auditorium as it’s never been seen before, with action occurring in the dressing room, the auditorium, and even backstage. Audiences are invited to structure their own narrative through the decisions they make during the show, choosing where to go, who to follow and what they discover on an immersive journey alternating between playful theatricality and challenging honesty.
Based on the cast’s own experiences and shaped from verbatim interviews from a range of young people, the show illustrates our potential to be better, and to be more. Devised over a period of several months and presented with Common Wealth’s trademark direct approach, How To Be Better is a modern day fable, getting to the heart of the young company’s feelings about the joys and challenges of the festive season.
The show explores the obstacles we encounter on our journey to self-betterment in a world that rewards negative qualities such as greed and selfishness.
After the sell-out success of Contact Young Company’s recent productions and the critical acclaim of Contact and Common Wealth’s previous collaboration No Guts, No Heart, No Glory, which went on tour nationally and internationally and to be televised on BBC4, How To Be Better is an exciting new collaboration for the festive season aiming to empower audiences to stand up for themselves, to stand up to injustice, be kind, be proud and change the world.
Listings information: Contact, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA
Tickets: £13/7 concessions. Guidance: Over 14s.
Dates: Wed 16 Dec, Thu 17 Dec and Fri 18 Dec 7:30pm. Sat 19 Dec 1pm, 4pm and 7:30pm.
Tickets and information: 0161 274 0600 / www.contactmcr.com/howtobebetter
Join the conversation: #howtobebetter
