A PACIFIST'S GUIDE TO THE WAR ON CANCER to Play HOME Manchester This September

A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, an all-singing, all-dancing examination of living with a cancer diagnosis, is the first show in HOME's autumn 2016 theatre season, between Tue 20 - Sat 24 September 2016.

Directed by Bryony Kimmings, this brand-new musical sees Complicite returning to HOME after their sell-out run of The Encounter earlier this year. A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, a co-production between Complicite and the National Theatre, in association with HOME, takes you on a whistle-stop tour through five unconventional stories about cancer, confronting the highs and lows of the scariest word we know.

With book by Bryony Kimmings and New York-born London-based Brian Lobel, music by Tom Parkinson, and lyrics by Bryony Kimmings, A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer looks behind the poster campaigns and pink ribbons at the reality of cancer: the waiting rooms and chemo suites, the changed bodies, the family pressures and financial worries.

Expect big anthems, shiny costumes, blood, tears, and the experiences of cancer patients in this rip-roaring, heartbreaking celebration of ordinary life and death, scratching at the battle metaphors that surround cancer, revealing what really lies beneath.

In 2013 Complicite producer Judith Dimant saw Bryony Kimmings' Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model and enjoyed it so much that she got in touch with Bryony and arranged a meeting with the idea of working together. But between that moment and the day they met - just three weeks later - Dimant had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Just like that. Out of nowhere. And so they began a very different sort of conversation, one that tackled issues most people don't talk about.

The cast comprises Jenny Fitzpatrick, Francesca Mills, Max Runham (who appeared in The Funfair, the first production on HOME's stage in May 2015), Lottie Vallis, Naana Agyei-Ampadu, Amy Booth-Steel, Hal Fowler, Amanda Hadingue, Golda Rosheuvel, Rose Shalloo, Gareth Snook, and Gary Wood. Set design is by Lucy Osborne and costume design by Christina Cunningham. The musical director is Marc Tritschler, with choreography by Lizzi Gee. Lighting design is by Paul Anderson, and Lewis Gibson is the Sound Designer.

A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer was commissioned by Complicite. A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer contains adult themes and strong language.

Tickets for A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer are on sale now - homemcr.org/a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer.

LISTINGS:

A PACIFIST'S GUIDE TO THE WAR ON CANCER

At HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN.

PERFORMANCE CALENDAR (HOME)

Tue 20 Sept 2016 19:30
Wed 21 Sept 2016 19:30
Thu 22 Sept 2016 19:30
Fri 23 Sept 2016 19:30
Sat 24 Sept 2016 14:00, 19:30

ACCESS INFORMATION
Captioned subtitled performance - Fri 23 Sept 2016, 19:30 Audio-described performance - Sat 24 Sept 2016, 19:30

TICKETS

£20-£10 (concessions available).

A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer is at the Exeter Northcott Theatre, Wed 28 Sept - Sun 2 Oct; and the National Theatre, London, Fri 14 Oct - Tue 29 Nov.

HOME, Manchester's centre for international contemporary art, theatre, film and books, opened its doors over the 2015 May Bank Holiday weekend. Designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and featuring a 500-seat theatre, a 150-seat flexible theatre, a 500m2, 4m high gallery space, five cinema screens, digital production and broadcast facilities, a cafe? bar and restaurant, HOME's theatres are a platform for questioning and ambitious artistic projects that involve audiences with new and extraordinary theatrical experiences. The international contemporary visual art programme is dedicated to presenting new commissions by emerging and established artists of regional, national and international significance, with a bold, proactive policy of visual, innovative storytelling with the ability to experiment and explore, probe and provoke, creating a distinct experience for both artists and audiences. HOME's five cinemas showcase the very best in contemporary and classic cinema, screening works by artists and filmmakers both established and new. HOME is a centre for co-production, talent development and artistic creation, dedicated to learning, for people of all ages. A place for new work and playful ideas; of festivals and commissions; of artists and of audience engagement. The patrons of HOME are Danny Boyle, National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner, actress SurAnne Jones, playwright and poet Jackie Kay MBE, artists Rosa Barba and Phil Collins, filmmaker

A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, presented by HOME, Complicite Associates, and the National Theatre, directed by Bryony Kimmings; The Orbit Festival, bringing shows from the Edinburgh Festival to Manchester; a new HOME, Young Vic and Theatre de Ville production of The Emperor based on legendary journalist Ryszard Kapus?cin?ski's book, with the creative team behind critically acclaimed Kafka's Monkey including Kathryn Hunter, and directed by HOME Artistic Director: Theatre, Walter Meierjohann; and dance-theatre piece Institute, presented by Gecko. www.homemcr.org | @HOME_mcr

COMPLICITE, founded in 1983, is an interNational Theatre Company based in London led by Artistic Director Simon McBurney OBE and Producer Judith Dimant MBE. The Company has won over 50 major theatre awards worldwide. The company's recent work includes Beware of Pity, The Master and Margarita, Shun-kin, and A Disappearing Number. Alongside its productions, Complicite runs an extensive Creative Learning programme with recent projects including Like Mother, Like Daughter, and Tea. www.complicite.org | @Complicite

BRYONY KIMMINGS is a performance artist, writer and comedian. Her works centre around outlandish 'social experiments' that Kimmings conducts with genius, intrigue and wholehearted fearless gusto. Previous works have seen Kimmings retracing an STI to its source (Sex Idiot), spending seven days in a controlled environment in a constant state of intoxication (7 Day Drunk) and becoming a pop star invented by a nine-year-old (Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model). Her recent work Fake It 'Til You Make It is a show created with her real-life partner about living with depression. It toured Australia in 2015 winning numerous awards, before playing sell-out seasons in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Image: Photography by Christa Holka, Image Art Direction by David Curtis-Ring, Post-Production by Marcelo Dalle Grave

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