THE DARK ROOM WITH JOHN ROBERTSON | Gorilla | Fri 24 July | £10
Described as 'the future of gaming', The Dark Room is the world’s only live-action videogame - an interactive and 'insane' combination of improv comedy and retro gaming fused into a deranged rock'n’roll game show. Originally an interactive YouTube series, The Dark Room went viral in 2012 with 4,000,000 hits. After a live debut at the Edingburgh film festival the show has grown into a full tour spectacle.
FUTURE MAKERS EXHIBITION | Manchester Art and Craft Centre | Sat 25 July
Manchester Craft & Design's resident makers are leading this celebration of talent by featuring new graduate artists from a variety of disciplines in their studios throughout the summer. Look out for the Future Makers signs in the studios to discover the newest craft and design talent. This year's Future Makers are: Sabira Silcock, Jessica Ip, Lucy Gresley, Stephanie Lawton,Hannah Sulek and Daisy Lee-Overton.
Manchester Craft & Design Centre - Northern QuarterMANCHESTER COMIC CON | Manchester Central | Sat 25 - Sun 26 July
Any fans of nerd-fest sitcom The Big Bang Theory will know that Comic Con, a yearly convention held around the world gathering comic, action and film fanatics, is a very big deal. Expect hundreds of people dressed in colourful comic hero/villain garments as they meet with special guests from big Hollywood blockbusters and buy the very best from the world of movies, anime, manga, TV, comics, trading cards and actions figures. This is bonkers...
Manchester Comic ConTHE SKRIKER | Royal Exchange Theatre | Until 1 August
A stand-out performance from this year's Manchester International Festival continues until August. The Skriker is a stage adaptation of Caryl Churchill’s work that brings together the old and the new. It stars fellow Northerner Maxine Peake as an ancient shape shifting creature who leaves her world to pursue two young women who are living in contemporary urban London.
Skriker24:7 THEATRE FESTIVAL BIG WEEKEND | Various locations | Fri 24 - Sun 26 July
A highlight on Manchester's theatrical calendar, the yearly 24:7 Theatre Festival returns with a strong line-up of comedies, dramas and workshops for budding thespians and theatre lovers in events around the Martin Harris Centre and Manchester University. To kick off the weekend, the festival is offering all inclusive weekend ticked for seven of the ticked shows for £30 - around £4 a show.
24-7 festivalA CLOSER LOOK TOUR : SPIES AND RESISTANCE | Imperial War Museum | Until Fri 31 July
Discover personal stories of extraordinary bravery during the Second World War in this 20-minute tour of the Main Exhibition Space. Hear the story of undercover agent Noor Inayat Khan, the first female wireless operator to be dropped into France, and learn how WAAF Flight Officer Yvonne Cormeau supported the work of the French Resistance. Find out about the astonishing secret campaign launched by surrealist artist Claude Cahun to demoralise German soldiers based on occupied Jersey, and hear about the crucial code-breaking work of scientist Alan Turing.
INALA | Manchester Opera House | 24 – 25 July
Following a 2014 sell-out tour and an invitation to appear on the Royal Variety Show last year, Inala portrays an exciting visual display of South African song and culture at the Manchester Opera House. The show incorporates both classical and contemporary dance with a musical score, put together by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mark Baldwin.
Inala
SHAUN OF THE DEAD LIVE | Dancehouse | Until Sat 24 July
Almost Legal Productions present this satirical theatre adaptation of Simon Pegg’s film Shaun of the Dead at the Dancehouse Theatre. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know it combines comedy with a darker storyline that sees Shaun’s monotonous life ripped to pieces by a zombie invasion. What's more... he’s trying to get his girl back. With audience interaction, it’s a not-so-scary show that literally lifts you from your seat.
WEBB ELLIS CUP VISITS MANCHESTER | National Football Museum | Sat 24 July
The National Football Museum’s Summer of Play is about to kick off with a very different kind of football this weekend – rugby. As part of the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour, the famous Webb Ellis trophy will be at the museum this Saturday (July 25), offering visitors the chance to have their picture taken with it for free. Sale Sharks and Manchester City Football Club, whose Etihad Stadium is the only venue outside London to host an England game in this year’s Rugby World Cup, will also be at the museum on Saturday.
TERRY CHRISTIAN'S NAKED CONFESSIONS FROM A RECOVERING CATHOLIC | The Dancehouse | Sun 26 July
From the streets of inner-city Manchester to the boulevards of Beverly Hills, Terry Christian's debut stand-up show, The Naked Confessions of a Recovering Catholic takes a snapshot of life, overlooked by an all-seeing, and often unforgiving, God. Sounds heavy - but Terry Christian promises a hilarious romp 'through the guilt-ridden and occasionally dark realms of life'.
Terry Christian
