Social Experiment:
Queer Contact Edition
19 February 2026 Programme
→ artists · programme · entry · access · credits Updated 13 February 2026
A Queer Contact Edition of Social Experiment on 19 February, presented by Word of Warning + Contact
Artists
Ariel Hebditch · Ben Hodge · Failed Artist Society · lucy · Maddie Maycock · PHOBIA · special guest Graham Clayton-Chance Participating artists subject to change.
Programme
February’s event kicks off at 6pm and finishes by 9pm…
Graham Clayton-Chance (special guest) · Less Like Ourselves, More Like Each Other (installation preview)
Artist and filmmaker Graham Clayton-Chance presents Less Like Ourselves, More Like Each Other on Saturday 21 February during Queer Contact — a body of work rooted in queer country and western dancing in San Francisco, spanning his multi-award-winning film Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede and immersive installation developed for Queer Contact.
Experience a preview of the installation at Social Experiment: an embodied encounter using original footage, sound, and movement — it reimagines what it must feel like to be on a LGBTQ+ country-western dance floor in an immersive environment shaped by rhythm, proximity, and presence. The work invites you not only to witness community, but to feel it — exploring how movement generates queer collectivity and shared joy.
Insta @claytonchancegraham
Ben Hodge · What’s in a name?
This work explores the relationship we have to our very first gift. This 1-2-1 performance builds from the artist’s lived experience as a trans person — carrying a name for 18 years before dealing with systematic and institutional ignorance to the legality of name changing. Join Ben and get a taste of this experience. Can you carry a name? Will they let you change it?
Insta @benhodgeee
Maddie Maycock · NONBINARYHOOD: The Interview, Live.
Further information to follow…
Insta @crocsportfolio
PHOBIA · Mistoffelees, or the Fear of Magic (rehearsed reading)
PHOBIA wants to make a show about their special interest, Cats the musical. Not a show about trauma. Not a success story. But when your special interest is such a key part of your life, is that even possible?
Part drag show. Part autobiography. Part autistic joy. Mistofeeles is a new work-in-progress solo show from the drag artist PHOBIA.
Insta @thatcreaturephobia @mistoffeleesshow
Ariel Hebditch · There Will Be Blood
Further information to follow…
Insta @arielhebditch
lucy · I Will Be Dead In Ten Minutes
A work completely controlled by you.
“You as an audience have full control on how I work as an artist. Will I do a stand-up comedy set as if I were a cow? Can I paint blindfolded? Can art exist within a world of constraint? The choice is up to you.”
Insta @luuuuuccccccyy
Failed Artist Society · The Trial of Jake A
A courthouse drama where judges are drag queens, the court is a theatre, and the trials are a performance. These are the people who are deciding our rights. They are not televised but this is a show you want a ticket to.
Blending historic accounts, drag, and theatre, this work deconstructs the courtroom — revealing it to be a private pantomime where public rights are at stake. Emma, Ellie, and Rose explore queerness in the courtroom and hold up a mirror to the trans panic plaguing us today.
Insta @emmabourketheatre @welsh_webster @rosewilsonarts
Entry
FREE: there’s no ticketing… just turn up!
Time: Thursday 19 February 2026, 6pm onwards (ends by about 9pm).
Location: Contact (space 0 & bar & space 2), Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA.
Access
Age Advisory: 16+ (aimed at adults, parent/guardian/carer discretion).
Content Warnings: some works involve interaction and/or participation; specific warnings are now listed here.
Features: seven Live Art & contemporary performance works with varied content.
NB works mostly occur on Contact’s step-free ground floor in space 0 & bar, with one in space 2 on the second floor, and vary in format — they could be immersive, participatory, roaming, seated, standing, spoken word, visual, etc.
Queries: please contact Contact via boxoffice@contactmcr.com
Credits
Social Experiment: Queer Contact Edition (February 2026) produced by hÅb; supported by Contact and using public funding by Arts Council England.