24:7 Theatre Festival: this year's programme

It’s been a tough year for 24:7 Theatre Festival: they lost their Arts Council funding, their primary sponsor pulled out and the building they called home was closed down.

Last July, the much-loved fringe festival celebrated its tenth anniversary but many, including executive producer David Slack, thought it might be their last. “I wasn’t sure if we would carry on,” says Slack. “I didn’t know if we were needed anymore.”

Now, 12 months on, 24:7 is back with the Big Festival Weekend, and while the skies are not cloud-free they are certainly looking a good deal sunnier. The scaled-down series features five plays rather than the usual ten, taking place over three days rather than the usual seven (running 24-26 July), with the majority based at Manchester University’s Martin Harris Centre.

“After last year we decided we couldn’t keep doing a yearly event – it was just too much work, and there is too much competition for time and money in MIF years,” he explains. “We decided to do this as a sort of stop-gap, while we work out what we might do next, perhaps on a biennial basis.”

But even organising this mini-festival proved stressful: they’d already committed to the project before the Arts Council had confirmed whether they’d fund it or not, “which was a bit nerve-wracking,” admits Slack.

Thankfully, (reduced) funding came through, but Slack says he and his team still struggled to decide what the festival should look like: they still had a great brand and a brilliant reputation, but what was their purpose?

“When we first started there wasn’t much around for developing writers and directors,” says Slack. “But now there are so many small production companies, the Lowry and the Royal Exchange are bringing people in, HOME has opened its doors – we have led the way and now other people have come along and replaced us. We can’t assume that just because we did this stuff first that gives us some innate right to it.”

In some ways, this year’s 24:7 looks similar to what has gone before, with five short plays from developing writers. Highlights include Gary: A Love Story, which takes a caustic look at brotherly love; The Butterfly’s Adventure, a site-specific family piece that makes use of the collections at the Manchester Museum; and We Are the Multitude, in which two co-workers attempt to unpack the reasons behind their lack of popularity.

But there is also a noticeable shift in focus. This year includes several spoken word events – a 24:7 first – as well as a site-specific piece at the Manchester Museum and a number of workshops for aspiring writers, actors and directors. “The Big Festival Weekend is about seeing what works and what doesn’t,” he says, “trying to find what the Northwest needs.”

And, while he might have had his moments of doubt in the last 12 months, Slack still thinks 24:7 has something to offer. “What we do best is develop talent,” he notes, pointing out that many of Manchester’s current crop of writers, actors and directors have graduated through one of 24:7’s productions. “Now we have to work out how we can do that best. Is it through festivals, one-off events, training schemes or something else altogether?”

Whatever happens, and whether it works or not, it is good to have 24:7 back for another instalment, even in this abridged form. “It has been a challenge getting this shorter festival together,” concludes Slack. “But there is one major advantage: I can actually go away on a summer holiday this year.”