The Lowry announces its Contemporary Theatre Season for Autumn / Winter 2024

From coming-of-age stories to folktales, and multidisciplinary gig-theatre to touching drama, The Lowry, Salford has unveiled its Contemporary Theatre Season for Autumn / Winter 2024.

The diverse range of productions promise to challenge, inspire and entertain as well as pushing boundaries and celebrating new writing.

The season includes new work from the Lowry’s newest partner company Access All Areas and the return of Crowded Room after their sellout production of Edith last year.

Matthew Eames, Head of Theatres (Contemporary and Commissioning), said: “It’s an incredibly challenging time for everyone making new theatre at the moment. We are delighted to be able to maintain our commitment to new writing and excited to bring these brilliant stories and companies to audiences in Greater Manchester.”

The line up announced today will complement The Lowry ‘s previously announced Autumn/Winter Contemporary Circus and Dance Season.

PSEUDO//SEIZURE DIARY Step into the world of Pseudo…a multidisciplinary gig-theatre production from poet, theatre-maker, and music maker Scarlett-Rose Lovette. In a surge of poetic storytelling, accompanied by an original cyberpunk soundtrack, and AI multi-sensory light and video projections, this witty autobiographical piece challenges pseudo truths about dissociative seizures, FND, and self-image.  Created from The Lowry’s artist development programme CTRL (Creative Technology Research Labs) in partnership with Submerge, supported by Arts Council England. Tuesday 10^th September.

Box of Tricks presents Danesha by Stefanie Reynolds. “Sometimes I pretend I’m in a music video. And that I have a backing group. And they’re always black, even though I don’t have any black friends, in real life.” Danesha is a new coming-of-age story exploring black culture, queer joy and finding and loving your authentic self.  Wednesday 2^nd to Saturday 5^th October.

A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy. When the person you show to the world is always a character, what’s underneath? An authentic self? Or just some fabulous stories we want to tell? Produced by Lowry Partner Company Access All Areas and created by Cian Binchy (ITV, BBC 1, Royal Court), this darkly comic tale explores masking, autism, mental health and fantasy. All performances are relaxed and captioned. Friday 11^th & Saturday 12^th October. Age Guidance: 14+.

A brand-new play from acclaimed playwright Philip Stokes LASH is a pulsating play about going out out! Dodgy dealers, even dodgier workmates and the local hard nuts merge into a toxic mix that assaults the senses. LASH reflects a youth, at a time post-BREXIT and in the aftermath of COVID, wasted in more ways than one. Part gig, part theatre, LASH is a wild night out that explores what life is REALLY like for the youth of today. Thursday 24^th October.

Indestructible, from the award-winning Proteus, asks serious and vital questions about cancel culture and accountability.  A highly visual and fiercely theatrical show that questions whether we can or should, separate the art from the artist. Catherine Shaw spent the 90s shocking the art world with her provocative performance art. She’s always called herself a feminist, but looking back through the lens of #MeToo, she’s questioning how much she enabled the culture she now sees being called out.  Friday 25^th October.

Commissioned as part of The Lowry’s ‘Developed With’ Programme Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself is a new magical and mystical comedy theatre show that offers a humorous, heartfelt and unique insight into the shifting and sometimes mysterious world of late-stage ADHD diagnosis. Grab your broomsticks and join Edy Hurst on a wyrd and wonderfull journey of self-discoverie through the realms of the Lancashire Witch Trials, Neurodivergence and the Vengaboys! Thursday 31^st October and Friday 1^st November.

OUTPATIENT by Harriet Madeley and directed by Madelaine Moore. Fresh from their Edinburgh run, Crowded Room (The Listening Room, EDITH) return to The Lowry with OUTPATIENT: an explosive autobiographical comedy about the fantasies of human minds and the fragility of human bodies. DEATH. It’s coming for us all, so why don’t we talk about it? Wednesday 6^th to Saturday 9^th  November.

Playing ON presents FLOCK a new play by multi-award-winning Lin Coghlan. “Dartford. Hastings.

Margate by the sea.” Robbie wants nothing more than to be a grown-up and live with his sister Cel. Cel wants to go to university and find the kind of love her mother never had. They both want to be free from the care system. Follow these siblings as they take on the complexities of growing up in care whilst navigating early adulthood.  Thursday 14^th & Friday 15^th November.

The Olivier Award-nominated play 10 Nights by Shahid Iqbal Khan, is the funny and moving story of on man’s journey of self-discovery and facing the consequences of your actions. ‘One man’s spiritual journey is about to begin…after he’s posted one last TikTok. When Yasser decides to take part in itikaf, sleeping and fasting in the mosque for the last ten nights of Ramadan, he soon regrets his decision. But as he navigates smug worshippers, shared bathrooms, and recurring thoughts of chunky chips, Yasser’s isolation forces him to confront a side of himself he’s been trying to keep hidden. Monday 30^th January – Wednesday 1^st February 2025.

For more information on all these shows, including age guidance, content warnings and access performances, and to book tickets, visit thelowry.com