Flying Solo Festival 2016

Flying Solo Festival 2016

Celebrating the art of the solo performer.

Thu 5 - Sat 14 May 2016

Contact, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA 0161 274 0600 I contactmcr.com/flyingsolo I #flyingsolo2016

WELCOME to Flying Solo Festival 2016 Flying Solo is Contact’s annual festival celebrating what happens when performers go it alone!

The festival features artists from Australia, Holland, Scotland and England (and a whole host of Manchester performers), with shows exploring everything from identity, family and mental health, to politics, race and climate change.

It wouldn’t be Contact without young people, and the festival opens with a brand new Contact Young Company production, Climate of Fear. We’re also delighted to present two new Flying Solo commissions from Ria Hartley and Jenna Watt – alongside a wealth of Contact supported shows.

Closing the festival are two homecoming performances of the Kate O’Donnell and Contact co-production Big Girl’s Blouse. Fresh from an award-winning national tour, Kate also hosts the Flying Solo closing party – a night not to miss!

Artists: Look out for the fantastic masterclasses led by our festival artists. They’re a great opportunity to work with outstanding practitioners, especially if you’re thinking of flying solo! Why not apply for a Flying Solo Commission to receive funding, support and an opportunity to showcase your work at a future Flying Solo Festival. Visit contactmcr.com/flyingsolo for details.

MATT FENTON Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Contact

Book more, pay less*

Mates Rates*

• Book 2 shows, get 10% off your tickets.

• Book 3 shows, get 15% off your tickets.

*T&Cs:

Book more than one show in a single transaction and save some cash!

Groups*

Buy 10 tickets and get your 11th ticket free!

Book 6 tickets for a show in a single transaction and get £1 off each ticket.

Tickets must be booked in a single transaction, offer cannot be applied retrospectively.

Exclusions apply, visit contactmcr.com/ticketoffers for details.

Thank you Contact is a charity dependent on our valued funders, trusts and foundations, and the generosity of individual donors.

Contact Funders

Festival Partners

To find out more about how you can support our work, please contact: emmawigley@contactmcr.com I 0161 274 0657.

Image © Lee Baxter

contactmcr.com • 0161 274 0600

Thu 5 & Fri 6 May, 7.30pm. £11/£6 concessions. Over 14s. 1

CONTACT YOUNG COMPANY: CLIMATE OF FEAR

Devised by the company, in collaboration with poet, writer and director Zena Edwards.

The new show from the award-winning Contact Young Company explores the emotion of anger through themes of climate justice, social inequality, memory and the body. In a series of startling and original monologues, Climate of Fear asks what can our anger teach us about our connection to ourselves and each other? It’s an exploration of an emotion that can be taboo, but is also a compass to guide us, and to cope with the stressful demands of living in the 21st century.

‘Tears up dramatic conventions’ Exeunt on CYC’s Under The Covers ‘A remarkable piece of work’ Andrew Haydon on CYC’s The Shrine of Everyday Things 03

Images © Jose Pope

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL 2016

Sat 7 May, 7pm. £11/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

2

MATT MILLER: STICKING

Commissioned by Contact. Directed by international theatre artist Peader Kirk.

A spoken word theatre show about moving away from home for the first time by BBC Verb New Voice Matt Miller. It is about firsts, lasts, love, fear and sex. Are we stuck with who we are or can we dive into the unknown and become someone else?

Drawing on the artist’s experience of his first months at university, Sticking combines poetry, music and upfront storytelling to create a show which will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever felt lost in a new place.

Supported by Arts Council England, Alphabetti Theatre, ARC Stockton, BBC Verb New Voices, Contact, Gala Theatre, Live Theatre and New Writing North.

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contactmcr.com • 0161 274 0600

Sat 7 May, 8.30pm. £13/£7 concessions. Over 16s.

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STUART BOWDEN: SHE WAS PROBABLY NOT A ROBOT

A lo-fi, DIY, off-beat, sci-fi, storytelling experience; a surreal, soulful comedy about a decomposing world and a cosmic visitor. When the world ends in flood and fire, one man, asleep on his airmattress, floats out of his bedroom window, through burning debris and out to sea to be the sole survivor and last hope for humanity. This is an enchanting tale adorned with simple storytelling and physical comedy. Stuart’s smartly crafted writing, combined with his joyful performance makes for an uplifting tale of loneliness, grief, hope and silliness.

HHHHH Three Weeks HHHH The Scotsman

HHHHH Broadway Baby HHHH Exeunt

HHHHH Edinburgh Guide

stuartbowden.co

Sat 7 May, 10am-12pm. £10/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

WORKSHOP: LED BY STUART BOWDEN

Bowden’s work explores our need for human connection and celebrates our vulnerabilities and insecurities. His performance style is a precisely crafted combination of humour and melancholy that unites his audience in a truly unique and memorable experience. This workshop will explore Stuart’s highly playful approach to theatre making.

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Images © Ria Hartley

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL 2016

Tue 10 & Wed 11 May, 7pm. £11/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

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RIA HARTLEY: UNTOUCHABLE

A Contact Flying Solo Commission.

Off-site location. Limited capacity.

Untouchable is a piece about endurance, resilience and survival. It’s about finding the courage to speak out. It’s about the hidden realities of everyday life that happen behind closed doors. It’s about the impact that domestic violence has on real people, a family, lives that matter. Whilst tender and courageous, this piece has guts and grit. It speaks of an often unspoken reality and looks hopefully at recovery. It examines our health services, our government, Q+A with our value systems and fundamentally questions where our society is failing Jenna Watt its children. and Ria Hartley Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Also supported by the Albany, and Apples and Snakes.

Thu 12 May, 3pm.

Free with workshop ticket.

riahartley.com

Thu 12 May, 1pm-3pm. £10/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP: LED BY RIA HARTLEY

Exploring the transformation of biographical experiences into live performance. Thinking through cultural, social and political contexts and ethics, the performativity of biographical materials, and locating the authentic voice.

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Images © CPOA (Photo) Tam McDonald Crown Copyright

contactmcr.com • 0161 274 0600

Tue 10 & Wed 11 May, 8:30pm. £11/£6 concessions. Over 14s.

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JENNA WATT: FASLANE

A Contact Flying Solo Commission. Edinburgh Fringe Previews.

A hugely powerful and timely insight into the UK’s current nuclear debate.

Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, or Faslane, situated 40 miles outside Glasgow, is home to the UK’s nuclear missile program: Trident. With her family having worked in Faslane with Trident all her life, and with her friends protesting at the gates, Jenna endeavours to understand her relationship to Trident, the wider nuclear debate and activism.

Drawing upon interviews with individuals at the front line of the nuclear debate, including activists and MOD personnel, Jenna navigates her own journey through the politics, the protests, the peace camps and freedom of information requests to find out answers to the questions we should all be asking about our nuclear deterrent.

Supported by Creative Scotland Artists Bursaries, Contact, Cove Park, National Theatre of Scotland.

jennawatt.co.uk

Thu 12 May, 10am-12pm. £10/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

ACTIVISM AND PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP: LED BY JENNA WATT

Bringing you together to talk about activism in performance, how autobiography can be a counterpoint to political rhetoric, and where artists stand on the spectrum of activism.

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Images © Rachel Cherry

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL 2016

Tue 10 & Wed 11 May, 7pm. £11/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

1

LOUISE WALLWEIN: GLUE

Supported by Contact. Directed by Susan Roberts.

A one-woman show mixing monologue, live art and a sound score, Glue tells the true story of Louise Wallwein and her first two meetings with her birth mother, three decades after being put up for adoption. The audience is invited to share a very private first reunion, but also the subsequent more public second meeting.

Louise grew up in care from the age of nine, and Glue shows both her fierce independence and emotional vulnerability.

Born, transferred, placed, discharged, returned…

BSL

interpreted performance Wed 11 May, 7pm.

Commissioned by Z-arts, re-commissioned by hÅb for Domestic II. Supported by the Royal Exchange, Z-arts and Contact.

Wed 11 May, 1pm-3pm. £10/£6 concessions. Over 16s.

WRITING FOR PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP: LED BY LOUISE WALLWEIN

A workshop exploring how to turn your real life experiences into a compelling story and performance art. You will be guided through a series of writing exercises that will make you dig deep and mine yourself for those key events and turning points. We will then storyboard your ideas into sketches for your one person show.

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contactmcr.com • 0161 274 0600 Thu 12 May, 4pm and 7pm. £11/£6 concessions.

Over 16s. 2

IGOR VREBAC: MY FATHER WAS A TERRORIST

Presented by Contact and RIGHTABOUTNOW Inc. Amsterdam.

A solo performance from Amsterdam-based artist Igor Vrebac inspired by the true story of Zak Ebrahim, the son of one of the men that planned the bombing of the New York World Trade Center in 1993.

How much pain can one man endure without losing his dignity, or his sanity? How does pain transform you and your thoughts on religion, peace and love?

Image © Sam Ryley

A Flying Solo international exchange.

Fri 13 & Sat 14 May, 7pm. £7/£5 concessions.

Over 16s. 2

BEN MELLOR: KISS IT BETTER

Commissioned by Contact.

Work-in-development.

Award-winning poet and performer Ben Mellor’s new solo show is a playful yet powerful exploration of the placebo effect - informed by current scientific research, medical history, anthropology, and an intimate personal response to the subject.

A potent concoction of stand-up poetry, confessional storytelling and performance lecture, with a bit of ritual, live music and audience interaction thrown into the mix, Kiss it Better explores the complex relationship between our bodies and our minds.

Supported by The University of Manchester’s Arts & Sciences Collaborations Fund. Part of European City of Science, Manchester 2016.

benmellor.net

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Image © fotocad

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL 2016

Fri 13 May, 4.30pm & 9pm. Sat 14 May, 2pm & 4.30pm. £11/£6 concessions. Over 16s. O

CHERYL MARTIN: ALASKA

Supported by Contact.

Off-site location. Limited capacity.

Directed by Darren Pritchard.

‘What it feels like, when the breakdowns start, is that it’s as if I’m frozen as a snow man, then suddenly all these totally out of control emotions break through.’

Alaska is a funny, magical trip to the moon, with singing and dancing thrown in: one woman’s extraordinary story of how she survived growing up with severe depression.

A raw and powerful performance, with humour, heart and soul, in the intimate setting of a city centre flat.

‘A devastatingly beautiful show… people should go.’ Audience Member Commissioned by The Albany, supported by Contact, STUN + Commonword; co-commissioned by hÅb for Domestic II.

cherylmartin.co.uk 10

Images © Lee Baxter

contactmcr.com • 0161 274 0600

Fri 13 & Sat 14 May, 8.30pm. Over 13s.

Standard seating £15/£10 concessions. Cabaret seating (inc. glass of Prosecco) £20.

Post-show talk (Fri 13). Post-show party (Sat 14).

KATE O’DONNELL: BIG GIRL’S BLOUSE

Homecoming shows for the award-winning Contact co-production.

Who knew what being transgender was in the 1970s? Not Kate’s family. To be fair, crispy pancakes had only just landed in the Midlands so she had her work cut out. The path to becoming a woman doesn’t always run smooth and with a lifetime of coming out, Kate has had to use every trick — theatrical and otherwise — to get by. Big Girl’s Blouse sees Kate make a song and dance about her life using humour, music and costume to tell her story.

‘Do not attend if you can’t love.’ David Hoyle Winner of Manchester’s Be Proud Special Achievement Award 2015.

Winner of Brighton Fringe LGBTQ Award 2015.

Winner of LGBT Foundation Role Model of the Year.

BSL

interpreted performance Sat 14 May, 8.30pm.

Presented by Kate O’Donnell and Contact. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Big Girl’s Blouse was originally commissioned by Contact, with support by the Wellcome Collection as part of the Sexology Season.

kateodonnellpresents.com 11

Space 1

Thu 5

Fri 6

Sat 7

7.30pm Contact Young Company

7.30pm Contact Young Company

8.30pm Stuart Bowden

Space 2

7pm Matt Miller

Space 3

10am-12pm Stuart Bowden Workshop

Tue 10

Wed 11

Thu 12

Space 1

7pm Louise Wallwein

7pm Louise Wallwein

Space 2

8.30pm Jenna Watt

8.30pm Jenna Watt

4pm & 7pm Igor Vrebac

1pm-3pm Louise Wallwein Workshop

10am-12pm Jenna Watt Workshop

Fri 13

Sat 14

8.30pm Kate O’Donnell

8.30pm Kate O’Donnell

7pm Ben Mellor

7pm Ben Mellor

4.30pm & 9pm Cheryl Martin

2pm & 4.30pm Cheryl Martin

1pm - 3pm Ria Hartley Workshop

Space 3

3pm Jenna Watt + Ria Hartley Q+A

Off-site

7pm Ria Hartley

7pm Ria Hartley

Contact is a registered charity, 501953.

All info correct at time of going to print. Check contactmcr.com for up-to-date info.

Design by GR! Design grahamedesigns.com Cover image: CYC: Climate of Fear, image by Lee Baxter.