Social Experiment
22 May 2025 Programme
→ artists · programme · entry · access · credits Updated 12.30pm 22 May 2025
A Social Experiment on 22 May, presented by Word of Warning + Contact
Artists
Ben Hodge · Bitterroot · Joely Mae Greally & Jasmine Naila Burt · Julie Burrow · Lizzy Owen · Paper People Theatre · Secret Location Theatre Company
Participating artists subject to change.
Programme
May’s event kicks off at 6pm…
Ben Hodge · Teddy Bears Picnic
Deep within the forest, the teddy bears are having a lovely time. Catch them unawares, explore the deeper parts of the forest, and find your next adventure. Who knows, maybe the picnic will go home with you if you ask nicely…
Ben is 100% transfats. A comedian, host, performer, and facilitator — his work explores his identity and community in relation to being a fat, transmasculine queer person.
Insta @benhodgeee
Joely Mae Greally & Jasmine Naila Burt · Not Made To Last (Performance & Sound, 2025)
A neo-futurist work, where weary showgirls drift through disorienting gestures and layered sonic collages drawn from pop culture and personal archives.
The performance traverses themes of unrequited love, pain, slowness, and idleness — offering a tender choreography of emotional residue and resistance.
Joely’s practice is expansive, consulting mediums such as installation, sound, photography, moving image, printmaking, and performance as well as writing practices embodying fragmented and fictional romance rooted in truths. Her works attempt to be both fragmented, fabricated, natural, and erotic — and she uses opposition and polarity as a working tool.
Jasmine is a multidisciplinary visual and sound artist. Using her roots in playing bass guitar, exploring further into sonic landscapes using synthesisers, eclectic pop culture samples from the last century, and collected field recordings from day to day life. She’s also a printmaker specialising in linoprinting, and enjoys seeing the links between creating layers of relief printing and creating layers of sound. Both visual and sonic mediums are intertwined and are an extension of each other.
joelymaegreally.co.uk · Insta @joelymaegreally @j.a.z.z.m.n
Lizzy Owen · [PAIN]ting
A visual and visceral interdisciplinary response to the turmoil of existing.
How can music and paint explore notions of how we view ourselves?
Can a conversation between these expose the realities that come with being in the world and our bodies out on display for judgement and perception?
And how does this affect our own view of ourselves and our physical being?
The body is on display for exposure and judgement.
A Manchester-based movement artist, Lizzy is currently furthering her research, studying for a specialist diploma in choreological studies. She performs as a freelancer dance artist and teaches Contemporary techniques in the city.
Ashley McAuley is a Manchester-based performer/composer who developed his craft by collaborating with art and dance, and exploring graphic scores as part of his masters’ research. He works with musicians and bands across the globe.
Tamzin Williams is a North West-based dance artist with a passion for art. Combining them both, she loves creating interdisciplinary work surrounding social concepts, capturing core values of inclusivity, curiosity, and creativity.
Insta @lizzyowenn
Bitterroot · The Well
Deep in the desert lies a well. For some this is just a dream, for others this is life or death. As two men wander in search for water, you decide their fate.
Bitterroot is a two-person theatre collective created by Chris Richards and Jake Rayner Blair. They’ve written and performed over twenty immersive theatre shows since 2022, as well as completing a UK tour last year.
Insta @bitterroot_theatre
Secret Location Theatre Company · Fragile
An experimental work inspired by journal entries. Physically exploring sensitivity, Isobel asks: ‘How do we fit into the world around us? How do we portray sensitivity to others? Am I too sensitive? Or is the world too cruel? Either way, how on earth do I cope?’
Secret Location is a North West-based, female-led, emerging theatre company. Directors Isobel Horton and Jemima Woods co-produce contemporary and commercial works. Combining creative writing, experimental styles, and avant-garde physicality, SLTC presents new, exciting, and innovative theatre.
Insta @secretlocationtc
Paper People Theatre · The Opposite of Distance
One night, a couple are attacked on the street, Sam appears to chase a mugger away, he returns to a devastated Molly cradling his bloodied corpse and realises he’s dead… Oh wait — that’s Ghost (1990). Well, one of us keeps dying. We’ve been apart for a while and things are feeling different. Come and see us try again after six years. Our bodies are different — it’s taken a long time to grow together, like formations in a cave — we’re here to re-emerge. How long does it take for stalagmites to form? I’m not sure we have that much time. One of us keeps dying. Please clap.
Paper People Theatre are an ensemble of three artists based in West Yorkshire, Manchester, London: Hannah Mook, Lowri Jones, Jake Walton. Their work is visually rich, vibrant, and always centered around human interactions and relationships. They explore these through movement, song, dance, text, and the interplay between themselves as performers and their fabricated landscape.
paperpeopletheatre.co.uk · Insta @paperpeopletheatre
Julie Burrow · An Evening With Me, Rosy Maple
Rosy Maple is the hardest-working moth in showbusiness.
Used to riding high as the only moth in Hollywood, Rosy’s now on her uppers, touring smaller venues she’s never heard of. She’s determined to wow audiences with her stellar talent, cluelessly bringing Broadway-level energy to the stages of the North West with a big dose of silly, colourful fun.
A Manchester-based writer-performer, Julie makes lo-fi, absurdist comedy. She’s played an Aperol Spritz, a human tombola, and the entire city of Bruges. Julie’s received multiple commissions to create short performances for Manchester cabaret and new writing nights, Word of Warning’s Emergency and Haphazard, short filmed performances during lockdown, a new audio play, and twice been commissioned by Lowry. Also Resident Artist at Title Fight (monthly event at Grub produced by A Lovely Time), recently performed as a member of PISS SHY at Bonjour Claude’s first experimental performance night at Levy Old Library, and regularly performs at Eryn Tett’s night GMIM (last time she channelled an alien).
Insta @juliesusieb
Entry
FREE: there’s no ticketing… just turn up!
Time: Thursday 22 May 2025, 6pm onwards (ends about 9pm).
Location: Contact (space 0 & bar), 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 listed here.
Features: seven Live Art & contemporary performance works with varied content.
NB works occur on Contact’s step-free ground floor in space 0 & bar, 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 (May 2025) produced by hÅb; supported by Contact and using public funding by Arts Council England.