Manchester’s Contact Thestre has announced its highly anticipated 2023 Autumn Season, featuring a heady combination of shows that will challenge perceptions, platform today’s most exciting artists and advocate for a brighter tomorrow.
This season embodies Contact’s vision for the future, following a year of reflection on the organisation’s 50th anniversary. With a renewed energy, Contact is sprinting into the future, pushing boundaries and igniting curiosity.
Keisha Thompson, Contact’s Artistic Director and CEO, expressed her excitement for the upcoming season:
“This exceptional lineup represents Contact’s unwavering commitment to creative risk-taking, amplifying diverse voices, and engaging with urgent societal issues. Our 2023 Autumn Season is a love letter to the themes that make Contact one of the most exciting venues in the UK; themes of humanity, resilience, empathy, experimentation and connection. As we look to Contact’s next 50 years, we can’t wait for audiences to join us on this exhilarating journey”.
Contact’s Autumn Season features two groundbreaking world premieres. First up is Census, a brand new Contact commission by Malandra Jacks. Contact, along with hÅb, will work with Malandra Jacks to create a digital-led theatre show that celebrates their North Manchester heritage, brimming with Moston spirit, and asks questions about what class means today.
Next, Keisha Thompson will premiere her brand new play, in partnership with the National Football Museum, the hotly anticipated 14%. Set against the frenzy of the Lioness’ success, this multi-sensory show invites you on a journey inside the confines of a post-match train carriage. Follow British footballer Nadia and her unnamed, unborn Baby. Prepare for a layered audio-visual experience where internal and external pressures rise.
Building on the success of the critically acclaimed production, Brown Boys Swim, in Edinburgh, Contact welcomes the powerful show to their stage. This poignant play, hailed by The Guardian as a triumph, will leave audiences moved and inspired. With themes of friendship, resilience, and overcoming adversity, Brown Boys Swim by Karim Khan takes a brave and honest look at the issues faced by young people.
Celebrated playwright Tim Crouch will bring his audacious act of collective imagining – Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel – to Contact. In this virtual adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Crouch offers a fresh perspective on power, truth and art. Witness Crouch’s mastery of storytelling and immerse yourself in this transcendent theatrical experience.
Half Moon will also present Hot Orange, an immersive exploration of friendship and the moment you fall in love, by Amal Khalidi and Tatenda Naomi Matsvai. Hot Orange follows Amina and Tandeki as they navigate what it takes to sustain love and friendship beyond childhood idealism, and reflects Contact’s decades-long commitment to platforming LGBTQIA+ experiences.
Contact are also excited to be collaborating with Manchester Literature Festival to present an array of spectacular events with Zadie Smith, Max Porter and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
During Autumn, Contact will also be laying the groundwork for the launch of Re:Fute, a brand-new festival refuting the past and evoking conversations around a shared vision for the future.
And, Christmas at Contact is shaping up to be a magical one, with tickets to Cinderella, presented by eight-freestyle and Contact Young Company, flying out the door.
