HOME 2015 Opening Season, Manchester

HOME is an international centre for contemporary visual arts, theatre and film, whose opening programme features new commissions and international collaborations as well as off-site and interdisciplinary productions that represent a new and dynamic force in the UK’s arts scene and beyond.

Their future ambitious and international programme will emphasise innovative, visual storytelling and has been devised by HOME’s artistic directors, Walter Meierjohann (theatre), Sarah Perks (visual arts) and Jason Wood (film), who also work with a network of international visiting curators and dramaturges. The multi-disciplinary programme will embrace the full possibilities afforded by HOME’s purpose-built centre, whose modern, flexible spaces allow for the production and exhibition of provocative and dynamic work.

2015 sees 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, 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 again picked up in The heart is deceitful above all things, a group arts exhibition exploring break up, heartache and wider disenchantment.

Also in the visual arts will be the UK première of La Mélancolie des Dragons by HOME’s 2015 international guest artist, Philippe Quesne. A unique cross-art masterpiece combining performance and visual art, the piece sees five metal heads in a broken car, stranded in a snowy wilderness, 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. In addition to this, I must first apologise… comes from Beirut-based artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige and explores the history of online spam and scamming through film, sculpture, photography and installation.

In music, the Music & Film performances pair Manchester’s finest musicians, including Josephine, GoGo Penguin and Robin Richards, with 20th Century silent films, archive footage and artist film; thus the immediacy and energy of live performance is with the magic of the big screen. Finally, visiting productions from companies including Young Vic, Kneehigh, Rosie Kay Dance Company, 1927 and Nanterre-Amandiers will arrive at HOME: an inclusive site for the arts in all forms.

The site is further inclusive in its engagement programme which links to its wider artistic programme, enabling people to get closer to the programme, artists and artforms through artist-led participatory projects, workshops, courses, residencies, commissions, and talent development projects. These projects run throughout 2015, as well as a dense series of music, dance, visual art, theatre and performance.

HOME 2015 Opening Season, beginning 21 May, HOME C/O Cornerhouse 70 Oxford Street Manchester M1 5NH. For more information visit www.homemcr.org

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Credits
1. Doug Coupland install. Courtesy of the artist and HOME.