PUSH Festival returns in the New Year for our annual celebration of North West creative talent. Over four weeks, our stages, screens and spaces will be dedicated to showcasing fantastic works from around the region, as well as offering opportunities for creatives to meet industry professionals, share ideas and inspiration and develop their skills.
This year’s festival includes newly commissioned works across a range of artforms, including theatre from Isabella Leung and Liam Rees, a new digital work by Anna West, a visual arts commission by Tara Collete that will be presented in our Granada Foundation Galleries, and Artist Films from Katie Mason and Suzy Mangion, Martha Jurksaitis, and Steve Oliver, presented as part of the Spit That Out Film Programme that will screen at HOME on Sat 28 Jan.
As part of this year’s festival we are also presenting a range of programmed work, including performances by Box of Tricks, Ink and Curtains, Monkeywood Theatre, Mothers Who Make, Darren Pritchard, Ugly Bucket, Panoptical, Josh Coates, Amy Lowcock, sound installation by Jenny Gaskell, and a new digital work from idontloveyouanymore.
PUSH Festival 2023 will also include a series of workshops and other artist development opportunities. We look forward to making further announcements about this soon!
PUSH Festival 2023 full line-up:
Previously in this Festival
event
Filmmaking 101: Casting
Get a rounded understanding of all you need to know to cast your film project solo or with the help of a casting professional.
event
Presented by Dan Thorburn and Max GrahamFilmmaking 101: Making Your Film Cinematic
Join Director Dan Thorburn and Director of Photography Max Graham as they go through the best way to make your film pop on screen visually.
Exhibition
Tara Collette: Gentrification is Class War
Artist Tara Collette presents a brand-new solo exhibition that explores the impact of gentrification and the lack of affordable housing in our city.
Theatre
Josh Coates presentsSunday Morning
Sunday Morning is a digital performance you can experience on your own devices which acts as a walking tour of the internet, connecting histories of private…
Theatre
Isabella Leung presentsA Bouffon Play About Hong Kong
There is a silent disco over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour tonight. The bouffons emerge to tell us something - a story perhaps - just for…
Exhibition
The Confessional
Online. A pile of wooden crates, nails in each corner, suddenly cascade to the ground. Each crate, a confession. At HOME, a live feed of…
event
Presented by Grant Archer & Katie ScottExploring Stories Through Design
Have you got a story to tell? Do you have a vision for how to do it, but not sure where to start? Join us for…
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Directing for TV: deconstructing an episode of Waterloo Road
An illustrated talk that will give you an insight into how a director approaches a TV project
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Filmmaker Meet Up PUSH 2023
An informal social where you can meet other members of the filmmaking community and reconnect with old friends and collaborators.
Theatre
Liam Rees & co presentsThe Enlightened Live Stream
A ‘true’ crime story, unfolding online and in person, in the UK and India.
Theatre
Liam Rees presentsThe Enlightened
A ‘true’ crime story, unfolding online and in person, in the UK and India.
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Presented by Liam ReesHow Technology Can Tell a Story
A workshop with Liam Rees on how to use digital tech in theatre, ensuring it's embedded in the dramaturgy/concept, and exploring how different tech platforms…
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Presented by idontloveyouanymoreDigital Dramaturgy with idontloveyouanymore
Award winning art and performance company idontloveyouanymore will be hosting a digital dramaturgy drop-in for artists and makers of all skills and abilities.
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A Beginners Guide to Sound Design for Film
A conversational workshop that explores how to create music and sound design within films composer Andrew Heath and artist Lowri Evans.
Theatre
Panoptical presents#BlackBoyJoyGone: REALISE
New commisioned cross arts works by 10 UK Black male, men, and transmasc artists will premiere alongside the docu-poem film #BlackBoyJoyGone to tell stories of…
event
Writing for TV: the inside story of Waterloo Road
Join Cameron Roach, Executive Producer, and Lindsay Williams, Series Producer on Waterloo Road as they discuss how to create a series for television.
Cinema
Telenovela binge watching session and Q&A
Join artist Lowri Evans for a binge watching session of her online soap opera Telenovela, followed by a Q&A with the team behind the project.
Theatre
Debbie Productions presentsAfter The Tone Podcast Live
Join the not-award-winning After The Tone as they bring you a very special live edition of their cult podcast-cum-pub
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Getting into TV in partnership with Wall to Wall North
A chance to get a glimpse behind the scenes of Waterloo Road and meet some of the people who make TV in Manchester
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Open Set: Waterloo Road
Discover all the different roles that are involved in making a TV series on the actual set of Waterloo Road.
Theatre
Alexa Vox presentsAlexa Vox: Patron Saint of Cabaret
A show full of stories and songs that tells the story of Alexa’s life. From scat clubs to parenthood to transition. You will be then invited…
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Presented by Monkeywood TheatreAm I still Young? Your Story Your Way
This workshop will explore the development process behind Cathy and Hazel’s new play Am I Still Young? and give young writers the tools to tell…
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Super 8 Hand Painted Collective Film Workshop
A hands-on collective workshop where everybody works on creating a hand-painted abstract Super 8 film using DIY analogue techniques
Theatre
Propel: Mothers Who Make presentsTest The Waters
Mothers Who Make is a monthly social network for artists of all disciplines who happen to also be mothers. Test The Waters is a scratch…
event
Spit That Out 2023: North-West Artist Film Programme
Discover a selection of recent work from artists who are living in, working in, hailing from or have studied across the North West.
Theatre
Monkeywood Theatre presentsAm I Still Young?
A script in hand sharing of a hilarious, moving and truthful new play by Cathy Crabb and Hazel Gibson, following a mother and daughter through…
event
Tea and Taxes
Are you a freelance artist? Do you still have to complete your tax return for this year? Maybe you’ve done yours, but just want to…
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Cross Art Producer panel + Producers Get Together
Join producers working in theatre, film, multi art events and interactive art as they discuss their journey into producing and what their role involves
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Telenovela
An online soap opera set between Brazil and the UK by artist Lowri Evans
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Presented by Box of TricksPlayMakers: BoxFresh
Join us for rehearsed readings of extracts from work-in-progress scripts fresh off the page.
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Presented by Box of TricksPlayMakers: Queer Here Now
Our panel of local LGBTQ+ playwrights and theatremakers will explore queer voices, queer stories and what it means to be creative and queer in the…
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Presented by Box of TricksPlayMakers Masterclass: Writing for unusual spaces
Join Box of Tricks’ Associate Playwright Becky Prestwich for a practical workshop exploring writing theatre for non-theatre spaces.
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Presented by Box of TricksPlayMakers Culture Café: Local writers and offstage creatives
Hear all about our latest playwright initiatives and newly launched PlayMakers Offstage programme and add your voice to our ever-evolving plans.
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Presented by Box Of TricksPlayMakers Takeover
Brace yourself for the thrill of the new: a jam-packed day of creative conversations, insightful workshops, impassioned panel discussions and our first ever BoxFresh showcase…
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Presented by Granada Foundation GalleryTara Collette: Gentrification is Class War Preview
Join us for the preview of the new Granada Foundation Gallery exhibition by artist Tara Collette.
Exhibition
Hopelessly Devoted
Set in an era not too long before now, Hopelessly Devoted is an intimate audio story for one.