Home Manchester will host Action Hero as they hold a four-day residency at the Manchester venue, presenting two dynamic shows Extraordinary Rendition and Slap Talk.
Comprising of Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse, Action Hero have been producing work for more than 10 years. Including audiences as collaborators and co-conspirators, Action Hero have taken their productions to theatres, galleries, public spaces and clubs aiming to produce work which is distinctive, invigorating and unusual.
What is Extraordinary Rendition at Home Manchester about?
Extraordinary Rendition (pictured above) is a 15-minute performance installation for one person at a time that uses video, sound and live performance to interrogate the kind of colonisation that begins with the battle for hearts and minds.
In a cabin built from the same materials as Camp X- Ray, the temporary detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and with the same internal dimensions of a detainee’s cell, Extraordinary Rendition is a bold and important work asks difficult questions about our complicity in conflict and abuses of power carried out in our name.
What is Slap Talk at Home Manchester about?
Fresh from performances in Edinburgh, Brussels and Peru, Slap Talk is a durational performance where two performers rant, threaten and insult each other non-stop for six straight hours. Audience members are encouraged to stay for as long as they can, but are welcome to take breaks whenever they like.
Reading from an autocue, their faces viewed in extreme close-up on two monitors, the performers’ words are violent and confrontational, but playful; they speak as if they’re boxers at a pre-fight weigh-in. For six continuous hours, they put their money where their mouths are and their bodies on the line. No breaks, no time-outs, no punches pulled.
When are Extraordinary Rendition and Slap Talk performed at Home Manchester?
Slap Talk is performed at Home Manchester on Saturday 10 March 2018 at 3pm. Tickets are priced £5.
Extraorinary Rendition is performed in fifteen minute slots on Wednesday 7 March (from 6pm until 10.30pm); Thursday 8 March (2pm-10.30pm); and 9 March (2pm-8pm). Tickets are priced at £5.
A combined ticket for both Extraordinary Rendition and Slap Talk at Home Manchester is available for £7.
Image of Extraordinary Rendition by Action Hero courtesy Paul Blakemore.