SICK! Festival 2019
Let’s Talk About It
SICK! Festival 2019 took place between 18/09/19 to 05/10/19, covering three thematic areas:
WEEK 1: DISABILITY & SOCIETY
WEEK 2: END OF LIFE
WEEK 3: YOUNG PEOPLE
Explore the performances, workshops, symposiums, screenings and parties we delivered below.
THIS GRIEF THING
FEVERED SLEEP
18.09.19 – 05.10.19
This Grief Thing invited people to think, talk and learn about grief, in a shop where people can have conversations, and buy clothes or objects.
GRAPHIC ENCOUNTERS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
18.09.19 – 11.10.19
Graphic Encounters brought together leading female comics artists with women experiencing health problems related to social inequalities in Manchester.
DEATH & BIRTH IN MY LIFE
MATS STAUB
18.09.19 – 05.10.19
Which deaths and which births have influenced and changed my life so far? What has happened to me in the process?
LET’S TALK ABOUT DIS
CANDOCO/ HETAIN PATEL
18.09.19 – 19.09.19
Candoco Dance Company, the company that created a sensation last year on Strictly Come Dancing, presented Let’s Talk About Dis by Hetain Patel.
A FAMILY OUTING – 20 YEARS ON
URSULA MARTINEZ
18.09.19
20 years ago Ursula Martinez made a theatre show with her parents.
20 years later, Martinez, now in her 50’s, attempts to recreate this show, without her dad, who passed away in 2009, and with her Mother, who can no longer remember her lines.
UNLIMITED CONNECTS NORTH
UNLIMITED & ATTENBOROUGH ARTS CENTRE
19.09.19
Not all disabled artists use the same terms, and not all those labelled ‘disabled’ by others self-identify that way. How different are the practices described as ‘arts and disability’, ‘disability arts’ and ‘inclusive arts’? What role does self-definition play?
AN IRRESPONSIBLE FATHER’S GUIDE TO PARENTING
LAURENCE CLARK
19.09.19
Laurence Clark starred in BBC1’s documentary ‘We Won’t Drop the Baby’ and the show was recently uploaded to YouTube. The response it received worldwide was at times inspirational and uplifting – at others, derogatory and incredibly personal. Laurence explores these reactions, and questions his role as a father.
THE NATURE OF WHY
BRITISH PARAORCHESTRA
21.09.19
Playfully fusing contemporary dance with a cinematic live-score by Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory, The Nature of Why smashed the divide between musicians, dancers and the audience, in a performance bursting with passion and joyous intensity.
RADIO LOCAL- DISABILITY & SOCIETY
Hunt & Darton
20.09.19
Radio Local is a pop-up radio station built with, and for, those local to it and broadcasting live over the airwaves of Reform Radio for the duration of a whole day. Join us for our six hour marathon radio show, made and inspired by Salford’s residents and addressing the festival’s considerations around disability.
THE HUB
SICK! Festival
19.09.19 – 20.09.19
Presented alongside UNLIMITED CONNECTS NORTH, we present a host of interactive artworks, workshops and audio visual projects which offer bold and engaging perspectives on disability.
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT: DISABILITY & SOCIETY
VARIOUS SPEAKERS
20.09.19
We began with the question ‘What is the value of a life?’
In a series of public conversations, developed with Manchester Metropolitan University we invite the audience to join us in reflecting on issues including the economics of care, media and representation, technology, genetic screening and health outcomes for people with disabilities.
STILL NO IDEA
LISA HAMMOND AND RACHAEL SPENCE
20.09.19 – 21.09.19
2 friends searching for drama, action, & a story to tell. Part-verbatim theatre, part comedy sketch show with a bit of singing & dancing thrown in. What did the British public say when Lisa & Rachael asked them: “What sort of play do you think we would be in?”
THE DIRECTOR
LARA THOMS – APHIDS
25.09.19 – 26.09.19
The Director is a performance starring charismatic ex-funeral director, Scott Turnbull, and artist Lara Thoms.
DYING TOGETHER
LOTTE VAN DEN BERG
26.09.19
Dying Together asks if moments of collective death can tell us something about how we relate to each other in life. Does the way we experience these moments through the media reveal differences in the way we value the lives and deaths of others in the world?
ISLAND
Steven Eastwood
26.09.19
Filmed over 12 months on the Isle of Wight, Island is a life-affirming reflection on the phenomena of dying, portraying the transition away from personhood and observing the last days and hours of life and the moment of death.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DEATH
Joanna Rosenfeld
27.09.19
We need to talk about Death is a deep dive in which Joanna Rosenfeld guides us into autobiographical stories, historical recordings and tender reflections about deaths she encountered in her family. Playfully she invites us to contemplate our relationship with dying and our own mortality, while questioning: what is too much.
IN CONVERSATION: MATS STAUB & PROF. MAHESH NIRMALAN
MATS STAUB & PROFESSOR MAHESH NIRMALAN
28.09.19
The creator of Death & Birth in My Life will talk about the origins of his deeply moving new installation with Mahesh Nirmalan, Professor of Medical Education and Consultant in Critical Care Medicine at Manchester Royal Infirmary.
RADIO LOCAL – DEATH
Hunt & Darton
28.09.19
Hunt & Darton are your unflinching hosts for six hours of broadcast radio, live from the heart of Manchester and taking over the airwaves and building live radio with you.
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT… DEATH, GRIEF…
VARIOUS SPEAKERS
28.09.19
In this day of conversation and discussion, we invite you to join clinical practitioners, academics, artists and those with profound personal experiences of end-of-life care, to explore the emotions and ethical dilemmas that they have to address when confronting death head on.
RAINBOW DEATH CAFÉ
LGBT FOUNDATION
28.09.19
A Death Café with a difference, our special “rainbow” edition is a chance to talk openly about death and dying.
BEFORE THE END
CATHERINE GRAINDORGE
28.09.19
On the 19th April 2015, Michel Graindorge passed away. The politically committed lawyer and public figure was also the father of the actor and violinist Catherine Graindorge. A man dies, a daughter loses her father.
BABY FEVER
THEATER DEGASTEN/ CONTACT YOUNG COMPANY
01.10.19 – 03.10.19
If happiness can be bought, are milestones the new currency? Created by Contact Young Company in collaboration with Theater DEGASTEN
THE YEAR MY VAGINA…
Amy Vreeke
02.10.19 & 03.10.19
New commission taking a frank and funny look at a life-altering disease. SICK! Festival Catalyst Commission Premiere.
WILDLIFE FM
KIM NOBLE & POL HEYVEART
03.10.19 – 04.10.19
This show is not going to be what you expect. It’s not a play. It’s not a gig. It’s also both of those things.
TAKEOVER WORKSHOPS
SICK! Festival
04.10.19
SICK! Festival took over the legendary NIAMOS Centre with a host of events giving voice to young people in the city.
LIVING LIBRARY – YOUNG PEOPLE
ONE-ON-ONE EXPERIENCE
04.10.19
Living Library gave participants opportunity to meet young people with unique, often challenging stories, and others who work with them. Visitors of the Living Library had 15 minutes for frank and open conversation, to listen, ask questions and reflect.
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
SAMARA HERSCH
04.10.19 – 05.10.19
Body of Knowledge: a new performance work exploring all the different ways teenagers and adults talk about their bodies (including, pain, ageing, pleasure, grief, shame, sexuality, boundaries and consent.)
18%
Young Identity & Urban Woorden
05.10.19
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.
TAKEOVER PARTY
SICK! Festival
05.10.19
From the grand auditorium to hidden studio spaces, TAKEOVER PARTY presented a vibrant and packed evening of performances, spoken word, music, provocations, digital exhibitions, artistic interventions and immersive experiences, by, for and about young people.
SIGN OF THE TIMES WORKSHOP
SICK! Festival
05.10.19
As part of our weekend TAKEOVER of Hulme, Bernadette Russell & Rob Kennedy will be hosting a Sign of the Times workshop workshop and installation, open and suitable for all ages.
RADIO LOCAL – YOUNG PEOPLE
Hunt & Darton
05.10.19
Hosted by the deadpan duo Hunt & Darton, Radio Local is exactly: local. Built with, by and for local people, telling their stories, sharing their news and playing their jingles. Broadcasted live over the airwaves of All FM.