*****

“Hell upon earth. Everything here arouses horror and indignation.” Thus declared Friedrich Engels about Angel Meadow, the squalid working-class slum in Manchester’s Ancoats district. 

It became the dumping ground for mainly Irish immigrants looking for work in the mills that sprang up along the banks of the Rochdale canal and became known as Little Ireland. It was one of the most dangerous parts of the city.

This is the setting for the first production from Manchester’s newest contemporary arts and theatre company Home. 

Born from the union of Manchester’s Cornerhouse and Library theatres, the company promises to bring “international, provocative and visual theatre to the city” and with this production they have certainly ticked those three boxes.

Created and directed by Louise Lowe, founder of the highly acclaimed ANU theatre and visual arts workshop in Dublin, the work is a site-specific experience set in the heart of the old cotton district of the city.

But this is not your usual site specific performance because here the audience are an intrinsic element of the production.

Eight of us meet in Cutting Room Square and, standing nervously, begin a polite conversation. A few minutes later a breezy Irish woman approaches, full of the joys of spring, pitching to sell a bespoke apartment in the now yuppified working-class area. 

She leads our little party into one of the old buildings where, after some pleasantries, a young girl explodes into the living room, screaming that her boyfriend has been kicked to death. 

What follows is 60 minutes of mayhem and madness as we — eight voyeurs — are led through a labyrinth of squalor and surreal vignettes. As we make our way through the house, individuals or small groups are diverted into rooms and corners of the building where manic scenes are enacted.

It is hard to know what to make of the experience. The company of actors are amazing and despite the audience’s early nerves and reticence, the actors very skilfully manage to draw them into the unfolding events of this crazy house.

If the point of this combination of theatre and visual art is to challenge the senses, then Angel Meadow succeeds in spades. It is an edgy and sometimes uncomfortable experience but extraordinarily fascinating — watching your fellow voyeurs and how they react to changing characters and environments is as intriguing as the actors’ performances.

A truly incredible experience. Not to be missed. 

Runs until June 29. Box office: (0161) 200-1500.