Exciting news! – Thursday 21 May 2015 will kick off our opening Bank Holiday weekend of world premiere theatre, new visual arts commissions, and a unique film and music project which will introduce Manchester and the world to our spaces and truly contemporary artistic vision.
Our opening production, The Funfair, provides the inspiration for the inaugural programme and the conceptual thread which links the work presented across the building. Highlights of the opening weekend exemplify the ambitious, international and interdisciplinary nature of our programming across visual art, theatre and film. We have emphasis on innovative, visual storytelling that encourages engagement and dialogue between audiences, artists and artforms.
Opening weekend highlights include:
- THEATRE: The Funfair, the world premiere of Simon Stephens’ new version of classic play Kasimir and Karoline by Ödön von Horváth. Following his critically acclaimed debut production of Romeo & Juliet at Victoria Baths, our Artistic Director of Theatre Walter Meierjohann will direct, supported by in-house dramaturg Petra Jane Tauscher. Ti Green (Romeo & Juliet, Orlando for the Royal Exchange) returns as designer.
- VISUAL ARTS: The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, a group exhibition exploring the dark side of the funfair, co-curated by Sarah Perks and Omar Kholeif. The exhibition includes new work from artists including Jeremy Bailey, Declan Clarke, Basim Magdy, and Jessey Tsang, and features existing work from Douglas Coupland and Wu Tsang, amongst others.
- FILM: The launch of the year-long Music and Film project, featuring Manchester’s finest musical talent performing original scores alongside artist film, archive footage and silent film. Dutch Uncle’s Robin Richards will perform at the opening weekend and other confirmed musicians include Mercury Prize 2014 nominees Gogo Penguin, and Mancunian singer-songwriter Josephine. The Music and Film project is produced in partnership with the Royal Northern College of Music and BFI Film Hub North West Central.
Ahead of the the opening, you will be invited to experience a trailblazer world premiere performance by internationally acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Shechter (Winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for best choreography, 2008 and Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells), 30 April – 2 May. The performance, of The Bad (working title), which will inaugurate our largest theatre space, forms one part of a new three-part evening of short works, in creation by the artist for his company throughout 2015. The Bad is co-commissioned by HOME, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Theatre de la Ville – Paris, Les Theatres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Festspielhaus St Pölten (including a working residency), Berliner Festpiele – Foreign Affairs and Staatstheater Darmstadt (including a working residency).
The opening weekend programme will be supported by our Oglesby Inspire scheme, which provides very low cost tickets to specific community groups. It forms part of an ambitious engagement and creative learning programme that will inform all aspects of the programme at HOME. The scheme is made possible through the generous support of The Oglesby Charitable Trust.
‘This gives a little taste of our artistic ambition for HOME when it opens in May next year,” says Dave Moutrey, Director and Chief Executive. “We’ll be a HOME for everyone, staging challenging and critically engaged art, yet connected with our city and communities. Our opening will introduce audiences to new and extraordinary experiences of outstanding art and show off to the world just what is possible in our beautiful new building.’
The full 2015 programme will be launched in Manchester and London in January 2015.