HOME Manchester announces plans to reopen to public in September

HOME Manchester has announced plans to reopen its building from September.

While theatres themselves are able to reopen in July (though cannot to perform live productions, according to announcements today), the venue intends for its "cinemas, bars and restaurant to open first" on 4 September, "followed by the gallery and theatre spaces" at a later date.

The two-month delay, HOME has explained, is because of "the time it will take to make the adjustments to the building", and it will also allow the building "to speak to audiences about how they can be involved in our plans". As the venue does not often screen blockbuster films, HOME believes it is less necessary for it to open during the summer blockbuster season.

The venue has announced plans to make performances possible. "It will be a huge challenge for all venues to get their theatre and live art programmes back up and running as social distancing makes rehearsals and pre-production difficult. Reduced capacity means we will be opening T1 earlier than T2.

"We're working with specialists to redesign the space with social distancing measures in mind. We're determined to provide a live performance offer as soon as possible, but we won't be planning large-scale productions in the immediate future, and many of the touring shows for Autumn have been postponed."

Shows are expected to be announced for the autumn though may have limited audience capacities in a similar way to their cinema screenings. The theatre is also hoping to welcome back artists to research and develop projects from September.