Theatre
Whether it’s contemporary theatre led by young people at Contact or the traditional art deco interiors at The Dancehouse, the Oxford Road Corridor hosts a number of the city’s performance venues.
From Laurel and Hardy and Judy Garland in the early 1900’s to more recent notable performances such as the Book of Mormon and Les Miserables, The Palace Theatre is the city’s largest theatre space.
A short distance away is The Dancehouse, which held the world’s first twin cinema and continues to grow its reputation as a distinctive venue for dance, comedy and theatre. In 2015 HOME opened its doors to the public, merging the former Cornerhouse with the Library Theatre Company to provide theatre, gallery, cinema and education space, alongside digital broadcast facilities, a café bar, restaurant, offices and workshop spaces.
Contact brings game-changing theatre and multidisciplinary art to Oxford Road. Seeking to enable young people to change their lives through the arts, the venue presents a diverse and accessible artistic programme of exciting new shows for audiences of all ages. A leading national theatre and arts venue, Contact places young people at the heart of its mission. Company members aged 13-30 work alongside staff in deciding the artistic programme and making staff appointments, as well as acting as full Board members. The result is a unique and diverse programme of art that challenges and inspires, working to change the face of UK culture.
Grosvenor East Theatre at Manchester Metropolitan University is a fully equipped and flexible theatre space that seats 180 audience members in several configurations including thrust, flat floor and in the round. Manchester School of Theatre was originally established to provide acting lessons for opera singers at the Royal Northern College of Music but is now rightly recognised as one of the elite drama schools in the UK and one of only 20 classical conservatoire-style acting schools. It also sits among a community of artists, writers, filmmakers and other creatives within Manchester Metropolitan’s Arts and Humanities faculty.
Upcoming Shows
Based on the 1992 American comedy, the Broadway and UK smash-hit musical Sister Act is coming to Manchester’s Palace Theatre this Summer.
Performance-art meets theatre in Vice Versa, a one-woman combining 3D sound design with stunning visuals and physical/verbal storytelling.
Time & Again take on Shakespeare’s joyous comedy Much Ado About Nothing featuring deck chairs, dancing, and their ever distinctive vintage costumes.
Here & Now mischievously re-examines the pact between audience and performer and celebrates the beautiful ‘here and now’ of live theatre.
A sort of dance show about flab, double chins & the men they are attached to.
Alfie’s First Fight is a funny and heart-warming show that packs a punch for children aged 5+ and their grown-ups.
Ted Hughes Award winner Hollie McNish is a poet whose live readings are not to be missed.
Arōōr/ǎ is an Afro-Futurist project that tries to imagine the possibilities of a Somali future. Part of Salaam Festival at HOME.
Join Joe Lycett doing what he does best: talking at a room of people at The Palace Theatre in a queer and comedic fashion.
Muguwa (rope, Luganda) explores the duality, fluidity and anchoring within man’s journey. Part of Salaam Festival at HOME.
A show about freedom, a journey into foolishness, and a perspective that takes you across the world.
Sofie Hagan returns to her craft of devastatingly brilliant joke writing and storytelling with Fat Jokes at Contact.
12 Last Songs constructs a fleeting portrait of society. There are no actors. It’s a live exhibition of people taking place over 12 hours.
Prepare to be moved to the core by Gecko’s hypnotising beauty, compelling global soundtrack, and unbarred emotion. Look inwards and ask ‘Who am I, and where do I belong?’
A brilliantly unique meeting of hip hop and theatre, Spoken Movement’s Family Honour asks how far one would go to uphold family expectations.
A new production of New Dawn Fades: A Play About Joy Division and Manchester celebrates its 10th anniversary at RNCM.
Join the Not Your Circus Dog collective in an evening of shameless sexy punk crip cabaret.
The world’s most famous ballet returns to cast its spell in English National Ballet’s stunning production.
Be immersed in lights, lasers and video, and era-defining and defying original beats. Prepare to leave it all on the dance floor… get ready to GROOVE.
LOB is a tennis, poetry bonanza about moving through sporting spaces as a queer body, written and performed by Roma Havers.
Dave Gorman, the man behind hit show Modern Life Is Goodish as well as Are You Dave Gorman? and Googlewhack Adventure, is back on the road with a brand new live show.
Long before she was Carole King, the chart-topping music legend, she was an ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent.
Award-winning writer and comedian Adam Kay’s debut book, This is Going to Hurt, is a literary sensation now brought to the stage.
Candid, ferocious, funny and loud, Glowing debunks the myths that pregnant women are having the time of their lives and new mothers spend their days softly singing nursery rhymes to sleeping babies.
Fuelled by an emotional energy, this triple bill pairs the concentrated physicality of select hip-hop dance styles with the rhythmical groove of music and moves evoking Africa.
Set against the majesty of the Serengeti Plains and to the evocative rhythms of Africa, Disney’s multi-award-winning musical is a unique theatrical experience you can experience at Manchester’s Palace Theatre.
Vinay Patel reimagines Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard for 2022 and beyond, in a world premiere production directed by James Macdonald.
Award-winning artist Scottee uncovers what it is to be embarrassed about where you’re from, how you can pretend to be posher than you are and why you should never answer the door.
A magical mix of puppetry and music as we discover more about our animal friends and what we can do to help.
Fresh from his BBC Radio 4 series Rob Newman On Air, the a comedian’s new show comes to HOME.
Gloriously unhinged yet bizarrely life-affirming, this brand new show is a high-energy homage to hedonism in all its filthy, fabulous glory.
Marty and the Party is an adorable and cheeky show for young audiences and their grown-ups.
A lyrical, theatrical journey that spans continents and lives, Too Much World at Once is an urgent coming-of-age story for our times.
The star of BBC2 stand-up special Sara Pascoe: LadsLadsLads is back with a brand-new stand-up show.
Yusra Warsama takes Lorca’s classic ‘The House of Bernada Alba’ as inspiration for this powerful new production, as she exports Lorca’s language to a Moss Side home.
The international, award-winning smash-hit musical The Bodyguard returns to The Palace Theatre.
The smash-hit musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory based on Roald Dahl’s classic story.
