HOME, Manchester's new £25m international centre for arts, film and theatre, have announced their full programme for 2015.
"In this programme we're hoping to give the audience things they'll never have seen or experienced anywhere else"
The new multi-arts centre - formed through a merger between the Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre Company - has been funded by £19m from Manchester City Council and £5m from the Arts Council and sits at the heart of Ask Property's £500m First Street North regeneration project.
"It is amazing," said HOME's director and chief executive David Moutrey at the launch event, "that in the current climate of austerity, the HOME project is even happening."
Home theatre
HOME - due to open on Thursday 21 May - boasts a 500-seat theatre, another 150-seat flexible theatre space, five cinema screens, a 500m² 4m high gallery, digital production and broadcast facilities, a cafe, bar and restaurants.
The inaugural programme features some eight theatre productions, four major art exhibitions, three film seasons and two new dance productions including world premieres, international collaborations, new commissions and an ape called Red Peter.
"In this programme we're hoping to give the audience things they'll never have seen or experienced anywhere else," said HOME's arts director, Sarah Perks. “It's a place where artists can create the type of contemporary work that interrogates and illuminates our existence."
Walter Meierjohann And Sarah Perks, Artistic Directors For Theatre And Visual Art At Home
Highlights of the 2015 include:
- Three HOME theatre productions, including the world première of The Funfair, a new adaptation by Simon Stephens of Ödön von Horváth’s modern European classic Kasimir and Karoline, directed by Walter Meierjohann, which sets the break-up of a youthful romance against the dizzying backdrop of the funfair, The Oresteia, directed by Blanche McIntyre - a radically stripped back version of Aeschylus’ masterpiece ("the Mount Everest of theatre literature", according to Meierjohann), and HOME’s Christmas production Inkheart, the UK première of a new stage adaptation of the bestselling novel by Cornelia Funke, directed by Walter Meierjohann
- The theme of the funfair is picked up in The heart is deceitful above all things, a group exhibition exploring break up, heartache and wider disenchantment, co-curated by Sarah Perks and HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator Omar Kholeif.
- A co-commission with Manchester International Festival, details of which will be announced in Spring 2015.
- The World Premiere of The Bad, a new work by Hofesh Shechter & Friends for five dancers from one of the world's leading dance ensembles set to a dark dub step score.
Melancholie Des Dragons - Photo Credit Pierre Grosbois
- The UK première of La Mélancolie des Dragons by HOME’s 2015 international guest artist, Philippe Quesne, presenting a unique cross-art masterpiece combining performance and visual art. Stranded in a snowy wilderness, five metal heads in a broken car encounter a stranger and begin to build their own version of an amusement park. Wigs, snow spray, bubble machines and gigantic plastic bags are transformed into a visually stunning, humorous world.
- Kafka's Monkey, the 2009 sell-out Young Vic production featuring Olivier Award winner Kathryn Hunter comes to HOME after a hit world tour
- I must first apologise…, a major new exhibition from Beirut-based artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige explores the history of online spam and scamming through film, sculpture, photography and installation.
- Pairing Manchester’s finest musicians, including Josephine, GoGo Penguin and Robin Richards, with 20th Century silent films, archive footage and artist film, the first in the Music & Film series of performances. Lonesome combines the immediacy and energy of live performance with the magic the big screen, forming part of an extensive programme of the best in independent UK and international film.
We’ve got some exciting news to share! Our opening programme is now revealed – ta da! http://t.co/UgQCAVq4et pic.twitter.com/sS5nktlBAM
— HOME (@HOME_mcr) January 14, 2015
You can see the entire 2015 programme and book tickets at homemcr.org
