Lowry's 2025 Autumn / Winter Contemporary Season Announced

Lowry has announcd its contemporary season for Autumn/Winter 2025. Featuring award-winning shows and brand-new works including three Lowry co-commissions. 

Matthew Eames, Head of Theatres, Lowry (Contemporary and Commissioning) says: “2025 marks a quarter of a century of Lowry bringing creativity to Salford, and our commitment to presenting the best new and contemporary work from across the UK and internationally continues. From the premier of Binary Opposition by Anglo-Belgian performance company Reckless Sleepers to the deeply personal Alchemy by former Rambert dancer Liam Francis, to Handle With Care a new work ‘in a box' from influential Belgian collective Ontroerend Goed.”

The season begins with award winning Finnish contemporary circus and visual theatre group Nuua Company presenting Meanwhile. Created in collaboration with jugglers and movers Onni Toivonen, Merri Heikkilä, and director Olli Vuorinen, Meanwhile is a world that mirrors today's culture and makes merry with all the pointless ways people can spend their time. It is a mix of riveting and dramatic atmospheres that combine with minimalistic comedy through juggling, object manipulation, and visual theatre. Fri 5 Sept. Age Guidance: 10+

How A Spiral Works. Founded by British circus director circus director Jason Dupree, choreographer Alise Madara Bokaldere from Latvia, and aerialist Izabele Kuzelyte from Lithuania, newly formed performance collective Art For Rainy Days present How A Spiral Works a new work that invites the audience to experience a meditative journey that challenges the fast-paced, spectacle-driven norms of contemporary circus. Sun 21 Sept 2025

Step into the high-speed, full-throttle world of competitive disco freestyle with Disco Queen!  Inspired by competitive disco freestyle, a form of dance born out of the iconic 1970s film Saturday Night Fever, this show brings to life the determination, jaw-dropping athleticism, and glittering spectacle of freestyle dance.   Performance, choreography and direction by Bradford-based dance maker Ella Tighe. Wed 24 Sept

Stuntman is an explosive physical performance by two men exploring the relationships between violence and masculinity through stunts and satire. Presented by Scottish-based SUPERFAN, a collaboration between Ellie Dubois, Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon who present new performances for adult and young audiences that take a playful approach to exploring the world. Fusing over-the-top stunt fights with personal stories from the performers' lives, Stuntman explores the relationship between violence and masculinity and the impact this has on our perceptions of men. A show for anyone who's enjoyed a violent action movie (but felt weird about it). Sat 27 Sept. Age Guidance: 14+

Liam Francis: Alchemy. Co-commissioned by Lowry, Liam Francis Dance Company debuts a deeply personal double bill exploring identity, community, and transformation. In the solo Was.Once.Now.Next the former Rambert dancer and Dance Europe ‘Dancer of the Year' nominee, Liam Francis traverses his journey through dance; with excerpts pieces from by Merce Cunningham, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Kate Prince. In A Body of Rumours three young Black men—linked by rhythm, trust, and shared histories - draw from ballet, hip hop, and contemporary forms to arrive at pure joy of connection - set to live electronic music by Chloe Mason. Tue 30 Sept

Co-commissioned by Lowry, the Anglo-Belgian performance company Reckless Sleepers premier their brand-new work Binary Opposition. On stage there is a large construction that resembles two rooms with identical walls and floors. A dividing wall, with the same configuration of doors and windows. “In the summer of 2021 during lockdown a large wooden frame was built. We played in the two rooms that the structure outlined, and because travel from the UK to Europe was restricted, we decided to split our first rehearsals with a team working in Manchester and other team working simultaneously in Gent.” Tue 7 & Wed 8 Oct

Impasse by Nigeria-born Irish performer and choreographer Mufutau Yusuf is an attempt to understand the politics of the Black body in a contemporary western society, interrogating notions of representation, misrepresentation, and the lack of representation. A powerful, driving, high-speed performance with a set and props that reference African immigration, and confronting the biased narratives etched onto Black bodies throughout history. These narratives, steeped in cultural imperialism, violence, exploitation, marginalisation, and powerlessness, are laid bare with raw physicality and emotional intensity. Fri 10 Oct

Black Sheep by curious directive.  Led by Artistic Director, Jack Lowe the award-winning theatre company curious directive create theatre exclusively focused on science and society. Black Sheep is a contemporary psalm about rural life, a razor-sharp account of the dilemmas facing generations of farming families. A curious directive production, developed with the support of The National Theatre Generate Programme. Tue 21 Oct

Not Truly Dead. Ghost stories by M R James and performed by R M Lloyd Parry. “His eyes were very deep-sunk. And over them, from the brows to the cheek-bone, hung cobwebs. Thick, grey cobwebs…”   Three tales of the restless dead, by the master of the English ghost story. In Rats a reading holiday in a quiet coastal inn is thrown into confusion by a horribly thin Something, in a neighbouring room. In An Evening's Entertainment a blackberry thicket on a country lane conceals the site of a blasphemous and bloody rite. And in The Tractate Middoth the bookstacks of a University Library are host to an unnaturally strong smell of dust… Sat 25 Oct. Age Guidance: 12+

1 Degree Celsius by Sung Im Her. Born in South Korea, Sung Im Her brings her signature electrifying movement style, pulsating music and dynamic lighting design to Salford.  Featuring seven dancers, 1 Degree Celsius looks at the topic of climate change and the effects it is having on the environment. 1 Degree Celsius features a new musical score that has been created using data collected from rising atmospheric temperatures, and the lighting design is co-ordinated to the rising temperature of the earth.  Tue 4 Nov. Age Guidance:  8+

Co-commissioned by Lowry Handle With Care is conceived and created by the Belgian theatre-performance-group Ontroerend Goed (a punning name, roughly translated as “Feel  Estate”) produces self-devised work grounded in the here and now, inviting their audiences to participate as well as observe. In Handle with Care, Ontroerend Goed puts the audience in control. “We provide the structure; you shape the experience. Choose your role—take the lead or observe as others make choices that steer the performance in unexpected directions. Together, you create something special: a shared experience filled with reflections on time, transience, and togetherness.” Tue 04 Nov. Age Guidance: 16+

Written by Benny Ainsworth and Directed by Michael Parker, Triptych Theatre present the award-winning Vermin, a pitch-black psychodramedy about love, rats, and buried grief. When the scratching starts, what remains once you're picked clean to the bone? Equal parts unsettling and darkly comedic, Vermin peels back the wallpaper of a perfect life to reveal the chaos underneath. As love turns to survival and hope gives way to despair, the couple must face the question: when your foundation crumbles, can anything be saved? Sat 22 Nov. Age Guidance: 16+

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