Beginning this weekend, PUSH Festival will be showcasing a wealth of creative talent from the north west of England.
The festival will be taking place at Manchester’s HOME, with a mix of theatre, film, and visual art. PUSH 2020 will be presenting new performances, including two specially commissioned theatre productions and a digital commission.
This year, the festival will incorporate The Manchester Open, a major open-entry art exhibition comprising artworks created by people across Greater Manchester, as well as the regular workshops and events for creatives working across all levels of the cultural industries.
PUSH 2020 kicks off with an all-day creative takeover from Manchester-based theatre company Box of Tricks, featuring the work of the next generation of Manchester playwrights. The day comprises a Writers’ Breakfast, three rehearsed readings, and a workshop looking at how to steer a play from the page to stage successfully. The day will also feature Platform Manchester, a night showcasing choreographers and dancers from across the region.
The festival’s two theatre commissions are Sound Cistern from Plaster Cast Theatre, in which two transgender performers invite audiences to their radical dance party; and Tania Camara’s Oreo, an open and interactive show, named after the racial term, looking at micro-aggressions in higher education and employment.
Other highlights will include What Happened to Agnes presented by Nishla Smith, a personal account of the extraordinary life of her Malaysian grandmother; and A Political History of Smack and Crack from Most Wanted Theatre.
There will also be performances of 2 Clowns, 1 Cup, Ugly Bucket Theatre’s riotous show about everything unsexy in sex; and Nina at the NIA from Untold Orchestra, recalling the time when legendary soul singer Nina Simone played at the old NIA Centre in Hulme.
As well as The Manchester Open, visual art is represented at PUSH by Bubbling Pitch, Mike S. Redmond and Faye Coral Johnson’s new exhibition of cartoons and illustrations in HOME’s Granada Foundation Galleries.
On the big screen, HOME’s Artist Film strand is represented by film-maker Paul Daly’s commission I, Dismantled, a series of vignettes exploring working-class Britain. There will also be a programme of films shortlisted for the Film Hub North Polaris Award at Aesthetica Film Festival 2019; and a series of films from the New Creatives North scheme, an exciting talent development partnership scheme run between the BBC and Arts Council England.
When: 18th January – 1st February 2020
Where: HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN
£: Ticket prices vary, depending on the event
More info: homemcr.org/event/push-festival-2020