Projects
Let’s Talk About It!

MINDSCAPES
MINDSCAPES is a 2-year programme of co-operation and co-production between cultural institutions in The Netherlands and Manchester. Working with artists and arts organisations spanning performance, visual arts and digital media, the project explores the impact that...

DEATH & BIRTH IN MY LIFE
MATS STAUB Death and Birth In My Life invited the audience to listen in on a series of intimate conversations about the most moving and challenging experiences in life. Developed with staff from the Intensive Care Unit at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Mats Staub’s...

GRAPHIC ENCOUNTERS
KAISA LEKA (FINLAND), TIITU TAKALO (FINLAND), JAMIE SQUIRE (UK), UNA (UK) SICK! FESTIVAL COMMISSION Graphic Encounters discussed the experiences of women in Manchester through a series of compelling illustrated narratives presented in poster-sites across Greater...

A FAMILY OUTING – 20 YEARS ON
URSULA MARTINEZ SICK! FESTIVAL CATALYST COMMISSION CO-COMMISSIONED BY THE BARBICAN, SICK! FESTIVAL AND PERTH FESTIVAL Twenty years after bringing her parents onstage in the sublime A Family Outing, Ursula Martinez attempts to recreate the show, without...

THE YEAR MY VAGINA…
AMY VREEKE SICK! FESTIVAL CATALYST COMMISSION CO-COMMISSIONED WITH CONTACT In 2016 stand-up comedian and theatre-maker Amy Vreeke was diagnosed with endometriosis. Now she relives twelve years of misdiagnosis, toilet-based mishaps and failed one-night stands....

18%
URBAN WOORDEN & YOUNG IDENTITY In January 2019, a YouGov survey for the Prince’s Trust revealed that 18% of young people in the UK believe ‘life is not really worth living’. More than 25% of those surveyed felt that their life had no sense of purpose. Providing a...

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
SAMARA HERSCH Body of Knowledge is an intimate conversation piece created by a group of teenagers and a team of artists, initiated and directed by theatre-maker Samara Hersch. In Body of Knowledge, you are invited to join a conversation. This is a conversation between...

SICKOS
Jackie Hagan is a live artist who was diagnosed with a rare and variable disease. Most commonly ‘sufferers’ live for 5-15 years after symptoms show. This was 6 years ago. She has coped by embracing uncertainty, covering her life in pompoms and mainly – Ignoring it. In...

BABY FEVER
THEATER DEGASTEN & CONTACT YOUNG COMPANY SICK! FESTIVAL CATALYST COMMISSION In Autumn 2019 Contact Young Company worked with multidisciplinary performance-makers Theater DEGASTEN. Co-produced by SICK! Festival, this show addressed the main question proposed by...

FOUR DHOLIS AND A DIVORCE
HAFSAH BASHIR SICK! FESTIVAL CATALYST COMMISSION Four Dholis and a Divorce is a new performance by poet and performer, Hafsah Bashir. The project will explore how South Asian women suffer from psychological and somatic symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression, and...