Thu 5 to Sun 15 Feb, various times/prices/locations.
Book: 0161 274 0600 / www.contactmcr.com/queercontact
Tickets from £5-£20 plus Free events/exhibitions.
Queer Contact Festival returns Thu 5 to Sun 15 February, celebrating LGBT arts and culture as part of LGBT History Month, and featuring established international and UK artists alongside emerging performers.
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FULL EVENTS LISTINGS BELOW:
David McAlmont and Guy Davies: Fingersnap Live!
Thu 5 Fe...
Thu 5 to Sun 15 Feb, various times/prices/locations.
Book: 0161 274 0600 / www.contactmcr.com/queercontact
Tickets from £5-£20 plus Free events/exhibitions.
Queer Contact Festival returns Thu 5 to Sun 15 February, celebrating LGBT arts and culture as part of LGBT History Month, and featuring established international and UK artists alongside emerging performers.
____________________________________________
FULL EVENTS LISTINGS BELOW:
David McAlmont and Guy Davies: Fingersnap Live!
Thu 5 Feb, 8pm. £15/10. Over 14s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/fingersnap
The incredible voice of David McAlmont with musical partner and pianist Guy Davies. McAlmont and Butler hits, original material, astute covers and tracks from the Great American Songbook.
Presented by Contact and Manchester Pride. Part of Superbia.
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Amy and Rosana Cade: Sister
Thu 5 SOLD OUT, Fri 6, Sat 7 Feb [BSL], 7:30pm. £13/7. Over 16s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/sister
A powerful and joyous performance exploring feminism and choice. Amy is a sex worker. Her sister, Rosana, is a shaven-headed lesbian. They are both feminists. In Sister, they present a bold and unflinching examination of themselves, their family, and the different paths their lives have taken. Please note: contains full nudity.
Presented by Contact and Word of Warning. Supported by Wellcome Collection, as part of the Sexology Season, and Sexuality Summer School, University of Manchester. In assoc. with The Arches.
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Eggs Collective Get A Round
Thu 5 to Sat 7 Feb, 9:30pm. £13/7. Over 18s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/eggscollective
A show with lipstick on its teeth and Wotsits on its face. Eggs Collective Get A Round explores friendship, kindness and belonging against the backdrop of a big night out. Smart and energetic, entertaining and political, this is a piece of theatre that warms hearts and reeks of Blossom Hill.
Commissioned by Contact.Supported by Arts Council England.
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DIVA: Let's Talk About Sex Baby!
Fri 6 Feb, 6pm. £6/5. Over 14s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/diva
DIVA opens up a lively and arousing debate about lesbian and bisexual desire, with filmmaker/curator Campbell X, addiction expert Sarah Graham, Cosmopolitan’s Dr. Rachel Morris, The University of Manchester’s Dr. Monica Pearl and Kathy McGuirk of The Lesbian and Gay Foundation. Hosted by Jane Czyzselska.
Supported by Wellcome Collection, as part of the Sexology Season, and Sexuality Summer School, University of Manchester.
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Queer Media Festival
Sat 7 Feb, 11am to 6pm [BSL]. £15/10*. Over 14s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/qmf
A day of short films, performances and in-conversation events showcasing LGBT storytelling worldwide. Feat. more than 20 guests including YouTube sensations Vinny and Luke (V-squared), blogger John Bird Media, Anna McNay (DIVA), Paul Brand (ITV) and more. Hosted by Aashi Gahlot, Mike Buonaiuto, and Craig Daniel Adams.
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The House of Suarez Vogue Ball
Sat 7 Feb, 7:30pm. £15.50/10.50. Over 18s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/houseofsuarez
SOLD OUT
Host: Rikki Beadle-Blair. Music: The Niallist.
Club culture meets high art, as Vogue Houses come together from far and wide to compete for dance supremacy in a catwalk spectacular reminiscent of 1970s/80s New York at its most glamorous. Advance booking highly recommended.
Host: Rikki Beadle-Blair. Music: The Niallist.
This event takes place at Gorilla, Whitworth Street West.
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Witch*unt
Sat 7 Feb, 11pm-4am. £5.50 (£6 door). Over 18s.
http://www.contactmcr.com/witch
Hip Hop, house and electro club night focusing on female headliners, a strong feminist aesthetic and concept driven stage production.
This event takes place at Kraak Gallery, 11 Stevenson Square.
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Comedy Playground
Mon 9 Feb, 7:30pm. £13/7. Over 16s.
http://www.contactmcr.com/comedyplayground
Special festival edition of Contact’s comedy lab featuring Joe Lycett (Celebrity Juice), Shazia Mirza (Have I Got News For You), Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, Rachel Mars (Flying Solo Festival), and Kerry Leigh (Laughing Cows). All held together in glorious style by your MC, Jonathan Mayor.
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Polari
Tue 10 Feb, 7:30pm. £9/6. Over 14s.
http://www.contactmcr.com/polari
An evening spoken word and literature as London's award-winning LGBT literary salon returns to Contact. Author Paul Burston hosts, with special guests Beatrice Hitchman (Petit Mort, Polari Prize nominee), J.Fergus Evans, Cheryl Martin, Adam Lowe and Young Enigma.
Supported by Apples and Snakes.
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Shortcuts: Tom Marshman and Ashley Knowles
Wed 11 and Thu 12 Feb, 7pm. £6. Over 14s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/shortcuts
Work-in-progress double-bill examining the pressures of an ageing population. In Botox Party, Tom Marshman invites you to reflect on society's youth obsession; while Ashley Knowles' Rage On The Dancefloor looks at wealth, age and beauty, through the eyes of a single gay man in his 50s.
Commissioned by Contact.
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Kate O'Donnell: Big Girl's Blouse
Wed 11 and Thu 12 Feb, 9pm. £10/6. Over 14s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/kateodonnell
Using humour, music, and high kicks, Big Girl’s Blouse tells the story of a girl who was born a boy and became a woman. Who knew what being transgender was in the 1970s? Not Kate’s family. The path to becoming a woman doesn’t always run smoothly, and with a lifetime of coming out, Kate has had to use every trick – theatrical and otherwise – to get by.
Commissioned by Contact. Supported by Arts Council England, and by The Wellcome Collection, as part of the Sexology Season.
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Mother's Ruin: Mother Lovin'
Fri 13 Feb, 8:30pm(8pm doors). £10/6. Over 18s.
http://www.contactmcr.com/motherlovin
Pucker up for a selection box of amorous alt-cabaret artists this Valentine’s eve. Hosted by our big-hearted, bearded drag queen Timberlina, and featuring Jonathan Mayor, Sue Hart, Joshua Hubbard Dance, Grace Oni Smith and Violet Blonde, Kate O'Donnell, Justin Vivian Bond and Nath Ann Carerra.
Supported by Arts Council England, and Cake Tin Foundation. Part of Manchester in Love.
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Justin Vivian Bond: Love is Crazy
Sat 14 and Sun 15 Feb, 8pm. £20/15. Over 16s.
With guest David Hoyle (Sunday only)
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/justinbond
Celebrating Valentine's in Manchester, a raucous and seductive evening of songs and stories about love from one of New York's finest cabaret stars. Feat. original compositions, songs from V’s stage and film appearances, and tracks originally made famous by The Cure, The Divine Comedy, Pet Shop Boys, Patti Smith, Bambi Lake and more.
Presented by Contact, Southbank Centre, Pink Fringe and Brighton Dome, in assoc. with Manchester Pride. Part of Manchester in Love.
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Pagelight Productions: A Very Victorian Scandal
Fri 13 to Sun 15 Feb, Free.
Info: http://www.contactmcr.com/victorian
It was one of the biggest police raids in Victorian England. It was the UK’s Stonewall. And it happened in 1880! Why was it covered-up? Three ambitious, original dramas by Ric Brady and Stephen M Hornby presenting a raid on a Victorian drag ball, a police conspiracy, and a court trial to rival Jeremy Kyle.
Part of The 1st National Festival of LGBT History and Manchester in Love.
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Queer Youth Debate
Sat 14 Feb, 4pm. £6/5. Over 14s.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/queeryouthdebate
The Albert Kennedy Trust, George House Trust, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, and LGBT Youth North West, come together with local councillors and academics to discuss the issues affecting LGBT young people and the wider LGBT community. Hosted by Sarah Emmott (Secret Diaries).
Supported by Sexuality Summer School, The University of Manchester. Part of Manchester in Love.
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Love Art
Sat 14 Feb, 11pm to 3am. £6. Over 18s only.
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/loveart
Big tunes, performances, live art and surprises from the team that brought you Manchester’s Home of Fabulous, Cha Cha Boudoir. A delicious performance-club explosion of glitter and high class drag trash, all to a mix-tape soundtrack of electro, pop, r’n’b, and disco sounds
Part of Manchester in Love.
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Seeing Queerly: Shortbus
Sun 15 Feb, 1pm. £9/6. Certificate (18).
Book: http://www.contactmcr.com/shortbus
A special screening of John Cameron Mitchell’s cult classic film and post-show Q+A with star Justin Vivian Bond + Dr. Andrew Moor (MMU). A group of New Yorkers caught up in their romantic-sexual milieu converge at an underground salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
Part of Manchester in Love.
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EXHIBITIONS
Pacitti Company: The SPILL Tarot
Thu 29 Jan to Sat 18 Apr, daily [not Sun]. Free.
Info: http://www.contactmcr.com/spill
Inspired by the imagery of the tarot, this is a beautiful and vividly staged series of collaborations between renowned photographer Manuel Vason and artists working in radical performance. Featuring Ron Athey, Harminder Singh Judge, Marisa Carnesky, Franko B and more.
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George House Trust: HIV Activism On Paper
Thu 29 Jan to Sat 18 Apr, daily [not Sun]. Free.
Info: http://www.contactmcr.com/ght
George House Trust supports people living with or affected by HIV in the North West of England. As the charity’s 30th anniversary approaches, this exhibition explores their engagement in HIV activism; telling the shared local, national and global story of HIV.