Greater Manchester Fringe 2024
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
This July, Greater Manchester Fringe Festival returns for its 13th year. A huge celebration of theatre and performance in the North, we love that the festival offers a fascinating and diverse programme of performance with ticket prices that won’t break the bank.
A creative hotbed of new work, the festival brings some of the most up-and-coming writers and performers to the region – many to showcase their work ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Springing up in a number of venues across the city, festival-goers will find an eclectic programme of drama, comedy, music, mime, children’s shows, storytelling, visual arts, spoken word and stand-up on offer. Most pleasingly, the festival comes with affordable ticket prices, offering access to a non-traditional theatre-going audience.
Spilling out across Greater Manchester, performances will take place in several different venues including HOME Manchester, Salford Arts Theatre, The Fitzgerald, The Edge, Chorlton, Whitefield Garrick and The King’s Arms.
Highlights of the 2024 festival include Faith, a brand new play by the award-winning writer Mike Heath, telling the story of a gay couple who clash with a devout Catholic mother at their wedding. We’re also championing Red Brick Theatre’s Moult, a darkly comic monologue revealing the inner workings of a person who has escaped the challenges of modern life by living in a commercial waste wheelie bin. In contrast, we’ve also got our eyes on Amy Lever’s Lost Girl – a fresh new show exploring Jewish-Arab heritage, connection and family – that previews in Manchester before heading to Edinburgh Fringe.
We’re thrilled that Manchester Fringe audiences are the first in line to see brand-new theatre by some of the UK’s sharpest creatives. Furthermore, many of the Fringe’s past productions have gone on to be performed in some of the North’s established theatres, such as the Royal Exchange, Octagon Theatre Bolton and The Lowry.
With a performance for everyone, Greater Manchester Fringe Festival offers a delightful chocolate box of theatre.
