Family Arts Festival comes to Manchester Theatres

Theatre for small people and small family budgets comes to city venues from mid October.

Staged as part of the Family Arts Festival, with a range of productions including comedy, dance and live music. Z-Arts in Hulme, The Edge in Chorlton and the Royal Exchange Theatre open their doors to families with tickets to festival performances costing as little as £5.

Part of a national celebration of the arts as a rich part of family life, and exploring the changing nature of the families in Britain, Manchester’s events provide over two weeks of entertainment.

Five shows at Z-Arts begin with Pirate & Parrot (Saturday 18 October), bringing toddler age children upwards together to sail the seven seas. The same day sees Z-Arts host its family-friendly Open Day, where there will be over 20 FREE workshop and activity taster sessions as well as performances, film screenings, open studios and rehearsals.

Once in a Blue Moon (Saturday 25 October), features a journey into space, telling stories, singing songs and dancing all the way.

Inside Out! (Saturday 1 November), shows that all the fun happens when the lights go out and parents are out of the way. Two siblings create a night time world for themselves, encountering mythical creatures that used to be clothing and seeing their socks dance. BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominated musician, David Gibb arrives at the venue with guitar in hand for Letters Through Your Door (Sunday 2 November).

At the centre of Z-Arts festival programme is the multi-site Family Matters project, a series of FREE, 15 minute-long artist-led monologues performed during lunch times at the Royal Exchange Theatre (Monday 20 – Friday 24 October). The series concludes as all five pieces come together in a final, complete performance at Z-Arts (Sat 1 November – ticket charges apply).

Lolly, Pops & Circus Props (Saturday 18 October) follows Pirate & Parrot – shared with Z-Arts – at the opening of the festival, before the North West’s finest comedy troupe, ComedySportz arrive with their Family Improv show (Saturday 25 October).

When Trolls Try to Eat Your Goldfish (Tuesday 28 October) finds performer, Dommy B in the hunt for a precious, stolen goldfish, Great Bumbleduke the Third, before Chorlton says goodbye to the Family Arts Festival with Pigeon (Friday 31 October), telling the story of Cher Ami, the pigeon that saved 200 soldiers’ lives during the First World War.

See www.familyartsfestival.com for full and activity listings.