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Guides
What's on
Where to go
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DARKFIELD in Greater Manchester

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor

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Darkfield in Manchester

HOME Manchester, Manchester Aviva Studios, Manchester Lowry, Salford
10-21 September 2025

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

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DARKFIELD in Greater Manchester
Image courtesy of Lowry/ DARKFIELD.
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This autumn, the boundary-pushing theatre company DARKFIELD brings not one but three of their acclaimed shows to Greater Manchester, landing at Aviva Studios, HOME and Lowry. Known for transforming shipping containers into sites of surreal, sensory theatre, DARKFIELD’s shows are experienced in total darkness, using 360-degree binaural sound, physical effects and precise storytelling to bend perception and leave you questioning what’s real. Co-founded by Glen Neath and David Rosenberg, the London-based company has toured internationally and built a cult following among fans of experimental performance, psychological thrillers and the deeply uncanny.

At Aviva Studios, FLIGHT invites you to board a commercial airliner – and take two possible journeys. This spine-tingling experience explores multiverse theory and quantum uncertainty, as your aircraft descends twice into alternate realities. With its unsettling stillness and precise sound design, FLIGHT taps into deep-seated fears and philosophical questions alike.

Over at HOME, SÉANCE is DARKFIELD’s shortest but perhaps most intense offering. Seated in pitch-black silence around a long table, audience members take part in a Victorian-style séance where sound takes centre stage – letting the imagination run riot. A chilling 20-minute exploration of suggestion and belief, it’s a clever experiment in how easily we can be scared by what we don’t see.

Meanwhile, ARCADE at Lowry takes a more playful but no less eerie approach. Set inside a retro-style gaming cabinet, the show places you at the centre of a choose-your-own-adventure narrative that probes identity, agency and our relationship with technology. Intrigued? We certainly are.

Across all three shows, DARKFIELD delivers theatrical experiences unlike anything else happening across Greater Manchester right now. Claustrophobic, disorienting, and technically precise, these are experiences for fans of contemporary performance, cutting-edge design and spine-tingling storytelling. Catch one, or all three – if you dare.

What's on at HOME Manchester

Mrs Dalloway at HOME
–
TheatreManchester
Mrs Dalloway at HOME

Jen Heyes and Kit Green breathe thrilling new life into Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic with an inventive theatrical reimagining.

From £16.20
Until
Visual ArtsManchester
To See and Be Seen at HOME

A major new exhibition by Manchester-based artist Conor Collins is on display at HOME, responding to the newly created Queer Up North archive.

Where to go near DARKFIELD in Greater Manchester

Manchester
Restaurant
Indian Tiffin Room, Manchester

Indian Tiffin Room is a restaurant specialising in Indian street food, with branches in Cheadle and Manchester. This is the information for the Manchester venue.

The Ritz Manchester live music venue
Manchester
Music venue
The Ritz

The Ritz was originally a dance hall, built in 1928, has hosted The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and The Smiths and is still going strong as a gig venue now.

Homeground
Manchester
Event venue
Homeground

Homeground is HOME’s brand new outdoor venue, providing an open-air space for theatre, food, film, music, comedy and more.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Burgess Cafe Bar
at IABF

Small but perfectly-formed café – which also serves as the in-house bookstore, stocking all manner of Burgess-related works, along with recordings of his music. It’s a welcoming space, with huge glass windows making for a bright, welcoming atmosphere.

Rain Bar pub in Manchester
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Rain Bar

This huge three-floor pub, formerly a Victorian warehouse, then an umbrella factory (hence the name), has one of the city centre’s largest beer gardens. The two-tier terrace overlooks the Rochdale canal and what used to be the back of the Hacienda, providing an unusual, historic view of the city.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Briton’s Protection

Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally

Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Castlefield
Gallery
Castlefield Gallery

The influential Castlefield Gallery sits at the edge of Manchester’s exciting Castlefield district, an ideal home for thought-provoking contemporary art.

See all places

What's on: Theatre

Image courtesy of 53two
Until
TheatreManchester
Maria at 53two

The UK premiere of a lesser-known Simon Stephens play explores love, isolation and the search for human connection.

From £15.00
Encounter Festival in Preston
FestivalsLancashire
Encounter Festival in Preston

Preston comes alive with outdoor theatre, live music and family-friendly creativity in one of the North West’s most joyful festivals.

Free entry
Mrs Dalloway at HOME
–
TheatreManchester
Mrs Dalloway at HOME

Jen Heyes and Kit Green breathe thrilling new life into Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic with an inventive theatrical reimagining.

From £16.20
Woodhill at Lowry
–
TheatreSalford
Woodhill at Lowry

LUNG turns real testimony into an unflinching piece of theatre about loss, accountability and the crisis facing Britain’s prisons.

From £13.00

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