Contact Theatre work with ‘Old People, Children and Animals’
Last year saw the sell out success of Susan & Darren. This year, Manchester based Quarantine are embarking on their most ambitious project yet – to tackle the old show businesses chestnut “never work with….”
Their new show has been created with, and will be performed entirely by, over 60s, under 18s… and their pets. Featuring (amongst others) a live all-female indie band, a parrot, and ballroom dancing, it will take you on a poignant journey through modern life.
The show began life with a series of open call-outs that started appearing around Greater Manchester last year. These invited members of the public who matched certain descriptions to take part in a unique new theatrical event. Auditions and rehearsals at Contact followed.
The result is a cast that consists of 1 seventy year old man who plays jazz saxophone, 4 women in their sixties who dance, 3 teenage girls who play in an indie band, 1 four-year old girl on her ‘best’ behaviour, and an array of smallish mammals / birds. None of them have ever performed in theatre before. Using the performers own stories, this thought-provoking and vital show will explore our relationships and attitudes towards responsibility, hope and regret.
Expect the show to ask some big questions, alongside some small ones. Questions like: who are we are and what kind of world do we want to live in? What is an audience for? Is that animal performing? Should these children even be here? Is this for real?
Like Quarantine’s previous work, Old People, Children and Animals is both personal and political (with a small ‘p’). It responds to what’s happening right now in the world around us, and places the people most affected by it at centre stage - to tell their own stories. Quarantine are interested as much in our everyday lives as in those extraordinary events that shape us, inspire us, scar us. Using personal histories and experiences, they invent a theatrical form that is tailored to each piece – from intimate encounters to epic events.
Old People Children & Animals is co-produced by Contact and Tramway, and will be premiering at Contact for a 6-night run, before travelling to Glasgow.
The show runs from Wednesday 11th – Saturday 14th June at the Contact Theatre.