Eclectically higgledy-piggledy with something for everyone — from an intense tale of family ties (now sold-out) to an equine evening, by way of a cuckoo in the nest + a ‘right nice caff’! Oh, and a seventh round of physical exuberance

Brought to you by hÅb with Contact, Dance Manchester, The Lowry, SICK! Festival, University of Salford + Z-arts, we look forward to seeing you at some or all of Spring 2015; a greenroom legacy project. If you want to check out what happened last season take a look at our Autumn/Winter 2014 archive.

What is Word of Warning + where did it come from?

Simply put, Word of Warning is a one-stop shop for the bonkers, the beautiful and the bizarre of new live performance — an attempt to keep alive the best of the 25 year greenroom legacy and to introduce new people to the possibilities of seeing live work in Manchester + beyond.

We take live work very seriously — but we don’t take ourselves seriously at all. In 2012, alongside funny, thought-provoking, beautiful work by the likes of Third Angel, Ellie Harrison, Levantes Dance Theatre, Action Hero, Richard DeDomenici and many more, we served the audience gin + satsuma jello shots and drenched them in confetti. 2013’s whirlwind of work included Lowri Evans, Hetain Patel, the vacuum cleaner, Leentje Van de Cruys and Stacy Makishi, a bonkers day of live art for all ages (Haphazard) and a performance festival for a 70s block of flats (Domestic). 2014 included Proto-type Theater, Ira Brand, Rachel Mars, Two Destination Language, Selina Thompson and Michael Pinchbeck, with a fifth wave of bizarre behaviour unleashed upon Manchester’s city centre (Hazard) ranging from a manual fairground ride to beautiful and transgressive images from Nicola and Kris Canavan.

Curated by the ever-impressive Word Of Warning…
The Guardian’s Lyn Gardner, on Domestic (2013)

Who’s it for? Anyone looking for a different night (or day) out.

We don’t want to put you off by talking labels – yes there’ll be theatre, live art, dance – the aim is to be anything but elitist or po-faced. So if you like comedy, music, gaming or just a friendly, stimulating evening – there’ll be something you might want to take a chance on.

What our audiences have said about the shows (2014)

One of the best shows I’ve seen in ages! (& I’ve seen bloody loads!) I could see the effort and passion… clever, moving, funny!!!
A journey of highs and lows, secrets and disclosures, laughter, sorrow and all the emotions in-between… An amazing swing from light-hearted to the gut-wrenching.
Wow! Beautiful, big, brave, sad, poignant, playful, happy, exuberant, engaging, poetic, visceral, intimate. Visually and emotionally very powerful and challenging.
Great to stumble across the event, spontaneously… Brings life to the city.
Really creative and great to see such different work from emerging artists…

What our audiences have said about us (2014)

I have been a fan of Hazard for years but just discovered more of Word of Warning, signed up to the mailing list — my life has been improved since. Been to some amazing performance on your recommendation — thank you.
Consistently finding, supporting and showcasing the most brilliant and beautiful experiences I have the priveledge to witness.
Always pushing boundaries and testing the waters. An important part of Manchester’s artistic make-up.
Word of Warning’s programme continues to intrigue and challenge me.

Who is Word of Warning?

My name’s Tamsin Drury and I run an organisation called hÅb, which was greenroom’s partner for over a decade. You might not know hÅb but you might know some of our events – like Emergency (Manchester’s free marathon of live work with up to 40 shows over 3 venues) and Hazard (random sprees of eccentricity in Manchester’s City Centre).

I’ve been around a while, a really long while… and in that time, I’ve been responsible for making the Arndale Tower flash, wrapping Cathedral Gardens in 7km of hazard tape and encouraging a mass audience conga and a glitter-cannon Hallelujah chorus! On the less eccentric side, over the years hÅb has also worked with literally hundreds of young NW artists to help them create new pieces of theatre + dance.

Please send programming enquiries to me at info@habarts.org

I’m joined in this lunacy by John Franklin, greenroom’s long time programme co-ordinator. Often spotted in a hat or proffering a variety of bizarre refresh-ments, John is the friendly face greeting you and eliciting your feedback at many of our events. We are also grateful for the support of a growing band of current and former interns — to date Tom Burford, Afreena Islam, Catherine Shaw + Jamil Keating.

Performance Programme Spring 2015

5 — 7 Feb, 7.30pm. £13/7 | Queer Contact
Sister (all performances sold-out)
Tue 24 Feb, 7.30pm. £12/10 | The Lowry
HORSE | Whoaaaaa Steady!
Wed 25 Feb, 8pm. £19 | The Lowry
Cuckooed
Sat 28 Feb, 12noon-4pm. FREE | Z-arts
Haphazard
5 — 25 Mar (Wed-Sun only) | SICK! Festival
Hunt & Darton Cafe
27+28 Mar, 7.30pm. £9/5 (£11/6both) | Contact
Turn 2015