/THEATRE A SHOW THAT LEAVES HOME TO TAKE TO THE STREETS
to hide from the performance.
Another of HOME’s site-specific works, OBA takes you into the murky world of undercover surveillance, using a number of top secret locations in Manchester.
The work, which opened on June 7, plays its last two days on Friday and Saturday, sets out to look at the moral corruption that develops with the use of undercover officers, as well as the wider ethical questions of when surveillance is justified.
Upon receipt of a text message, ticket-holders are instructed to meet at a location close to HOME, before being directed to secret locations for their undercover briefing and operation. The two-hour performance culminates at HOME.
You’re given a new identity as part of a small team; briefed and then sent into an undercover operation. Once inside, you can choose to take part in a series of challenges that encourage you to consider what is and isn’t acceptable in the name of security.
The co-creation from awardwinning interactive art pioneers Blast Theory and sitespecific theatre company Hydrocracker, Operation Black Antler was a sell-out at last year’s Brighton Festival.
“Wikileaks, the Snowden affair, and the revelations about the Special Demonstration Squad show that secret forces within the state have little respect for the law,” says Matt Adams, co-founder of Blast Theory.
“In Operation Black Antler you are given power and control and you have to choose how to exercise it. It may be a work of fiction, but our experience is that works of this kind have a powerful effect on those who take part. It is not a world of easy certainties; it is challenging and it is not for everyone. We aim to create unforgettable experiences that are deeply engaged with society and politics.”
“Rather than tell an audience who sit passively and watch what we think,” adds Jem Wall, co-founder of Hydrocracker, “Operation Black Antler gives the audience the chance to make up their own mind as they wrestle with their own moral and ethical choices in a carefully constructed fictional world. How far is the state justified in lying to protect its citizens? And to what extent? These are the questions we want people to ask themselves after seeing this piece.”
Previous HOME site-specific productions include ANU’s multi award-winning Angel Meadow in a disused pub in Ancoats, and Romeo & Juliet in the city’s Victoria Baths, both in 2014.
There are eight performances across both Friday and Saturday from 6.30pm to 8.15pm start times.
Home, First Street Manchester M15 4FN, 0161 200 1500, homemcr.org , £20 (concessions/ group tickets available).