Shakespeare North Playhouse offers a selection of 15 pre-Edinburgh fringe show previews in its studio theatre through July under the title Heading North.
It's the first time SNP has run such a festival, which is full of mostly young northern companies, among which is Manchester's Full Frontal Theatre's play To Watch a Man Eat, written by Sadie Pearson
"We're stoked to be involved with the fesival as, being a Bristol-based company currently, this lets us perform close to our homes in Manchester," she said.
"Our play was written, in part, with my home roots of Manchester in mind. It's satirical and cynical about class, sex and relationships, analysing the lifestyles and moral ambitions of London's metropolitan elite. It came from my recent university experiences and is purposely delivered by a northern narrator, who acts as an omnipresent foil to that lifestyle."
The season offers a wide range of drama and comedy, from companies hopeful of a good fringe reception, opening on July 2 with Lubna Kerr's Chatterbox, a semi-autobiographical, one-woman comic show based on growing up as a Pakistani girl in Glasgow in the 1970s, which looks at the impact of the labels she and other children were given, and how they have persisted into adulthood.
The season ends with a three-night run (July 30-Aug 1) of award-winning Lincolnshire company Split Infinitive's A Caravan Named Desire, performed by married couple Alexander and Helen Millington. The pair are trying to produce a play depicting the relationship between a sex worker and client – but Helen becomes aware of just how autobiographical Alexander’s play is...
Full season details and tickets can be found here