Greater Manchester Fringe Festival is back (July 1-August 2), with 75 shows at 17 venues, showcasing a huge variety of new talent from the area and around the world. 

Director and Fringe co-founder Lisa Connor said: “Greater Manchester Fringe is about encouraging new ideas, new writers and performers, whether it is a one-off drama, or an established performer previewing a show before Edinburgh Fringe. Venues include pubs, former mills, railway arches and a railway station and there is no dynamic pricing.”

Venues this year include 53two, the Eagle Inn, Empty Space (Media City), the Fitzgerald, Garrick Theatre (Whitefield), Gullivers Lounge, Halle St Michaels, Halle St Peters, International Anthony Burgess Foundation, the Kings Arms, Jimmy’s, Salford Arts Theatre, Seven Oaks, The Squadhouse (Stockport), Social Refuge and Stockport Railway Station.

Three new plays - I Don’t Wanna Play Anymore by Libby Hall; Adult Orphans by Becca Ashton; and Boys We Knew by Emilia Chinnery - have all been supported by the Shelagh Delaney New Writing Award at Salford Arts Theatre and are directed by Roni Ellis.

Emilia, 18, who is staging her first professional play, said “Boys We Knew is about three boys from Salford who maintain a toxic friend group dynamic. They want to be famous like Oasis and form bands, but they never really put in the effort to get there. They come across as quite angry at the world and angry at women.”

Other new shows include Precarious Theatre's dark comedy One Hundred Percent at the King’s Arms (July 3-5); Archie Jackson making his debut with new musical Karma at Squadhouse in Stockport (July 10-12); and award-winning ETAL Theatre return with Wink, about toxic masculinity in the digital age (53two, July 13-17).

The Death of Dr Black (July 1-3 at The Fitzgerald), features a magician detective, and audiences are invited to solve the murder or become the suspect, blurring the lines between magic and immersive theatre.

Fallen Bodies (July 2-3, International Anthony Burgess Foundation), is a comedy from two disabled creatives, writer and performer Oliver Turner and director Shannon Black, telling a new version of the first origin story. Happy as Pye (July 22-23), features neurodiverse characters and British Sign Language.

Railway 200 (free, Stockport Railway Station, July 17-18), was fully booked within hours of tickets being released.

Songs in the Key of Love (July 17-18, Halle St Michaels), presented by the Chorus of Others, is a night of song and poetry exploring men’s mental health and falling in love.

Missed Calls (July 31-August 2, Halle St Peters), follows a young couple through voicemail messages with the audience listening on headphones, watching a blend of contemporary dance and mime.

There is Irish storytelling for children at the new 422 Community Hub in Longsight, with Neysa Killeen (July 6, 11am for ages 7-9, 12.30 pm for ages 10-12).

Stand-up comedians include Natalie Patuzzo; Phil Green; Graeme Rayner; Katie Mitchell; Mitch Benn; Amy Webber; Kathryn Hayward; Charlie Vero-Martin; Jonathan Mayor; Becky Fury; Steve Mingle; Tomas Bepalo; Bryan Stoops; and Daniel McKeon.

Info and tickets here