The full address of the venue is Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ and the what3words is chop.feeds.chase.

To book access tickets and personal assistant tickets please call 0161 817 4531 (Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm) or email access@factoryinternational.org

Access bookings can be made by email or phone. They will also be available in person from our venue from 27 September 2023.

We're a new purpose-built cultural space in the heart of Manchester. The approach to Aviva Studios is flat, with smooth concrete flooring.

The entrance to our building is through double glass doors. There are automatic doors at both entrances and these are also staffed when the building is open to the public.

Once inside, there is step-free access to all areas of the venue. Lifts to the Warehouse are located through the glass doors beside the city entrance.

Lift and escalator access to the Hall is located next to the river entrance, just beyond the brick arches.

You will first arrive into the Social, a large public space where there are a range of seats (including those with arms), a bar and toilets (including accessible toilets and a Changing Places facility).

The bars in the Social and Hall Foyer have lowered accessible service points, and induction loops for hearing-aid users.

There are accessible toilets on all public levels of our building.

Accessible toilets are located inside the main toilets space in the brick arches of the Social.

Here you’ll find a mixture of accessible cubicles with left- or right-hand transfer, towards the back of the space, as well as ambulant accessible cubicles with grab rails. You can find our Changing Places facility towards the back of the middle arch.

The toilets in the brick arches of the Social are gender neutral, so you can use facilities in any of the three arches. There are shared handwashing facilities in each arch – they have soap dispensers under the mirrors to your left and dryers to the right. There are separate handwashing facilities inside the accessible cubicles.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets in located in both Hall Foyers, at stalls and circle level.

You do not need a key to use the accessible toilets at Aviva Studios.

Assistance dogs are welcome at Aviva Studios, and we can provide mats and water bowls on request, just ask a host when you arrive. We can also take care of your assistance dog if you do not want to take your dog into the performance space.

If you’re bringing an assistance dog to this event and would like us to make arrangements to care for them, please let us know by contacting access@factoryinternational.org or calling our access phone number: 0161 817 4531 (phone lines are open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).

There is step-free access to all areas of the venue, with lift access to the Warehouse from the Social, and lift and escalator access to the Hall from the Social. The escalator leading to the Hall foyers usually works in the direction of audience flow, so it will take you up before the performance, and the same escalator will bring you down at the interval or at the end of the show.

This performance will use both the Hall and Warehouse spaces. In the Hall, there will be reserved seating – here we have wheelchair spaces in the stalls, 6 in the mid-circle, and 6 in the rear circle, which you can book by calling 0161 817 4531 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm) or emailing access@factoryinternational.org. Access bookings can be made by email or phone. They will also be available in person from our venue from 27 September 2023.

In the Warehouse, where there will be unreserved standing, we will have a dedicated access seating area with wheelchair spaces and seating for those who require it. This area will also have reserved space for Audio Description, Captioning and BSL users on our access performance dates.

We use WilliamsAV WaveCAST receivers to provide assisted listening at Aviva Studios.

You can collect a WaveCAST device from a member of our Front of House team when you arrive for your event. The Front of House team will also be able to show you how to use the device and connect to the audio feed for your event.

We can provide headphones for use with the receivers, but you are also welcome to use your own headphones if you have them.

We can also provide neckloops to use with the WaveCAST receiver if you are a hearing aid user. Again, you can collect these from our Front of House team when you arrive.

If you prefer, you can also download the WilliamsAV WaveCAST Receiver app to your own wifi-connected mobile device before you visit (IOS – WaveCAST app / Android – WaveCAST app) and use your own headphones to listen. When you arrive in the venue, you will be able to join the wifi network and choose the appropriate channel for your event in the app.

There are audio-described performances of Free Your Mind on the following dates:

Friday 20 October at 7.30pm

Sunday 29 October at 2.30pm

Thursday 2 November at 7.30pm

We use WilliamsAV WaveCAST receivers for audio described performances at Aviva Studios.

A device will be automatically reserved for you when you book an ‘AD User’ ticket type for an audio described performance.

You will be able to collect your device from our Front of House team when you arrive for your event. They will also be able to help you get set up and select the correct channel for your audio description stream.

We can provide headphones to use with the WaveCAST receiver, but you are also welcome to use your own headphones if you prefer.

We can provide neckloops to use with the WaveCAST receiver if you are a hearing aid user. Again, you can collect these from our Front of House team when you arrive.

If you prefer, you can also download the WilliamsAV WaveCAST Receiver app to your own wifi-connected mobile device before you visit (IOS – WaveCAST app / Android – WaveCAST app) and use your own headphones to listen. When you arrive in the venue, you will be able to join the wifi network and choose the appropriate channel for your audio described event in the app.

There are captioned performances of Free Your Mind on the following dates:

Saturday 21 October at 7.30pm

Saturday 28 October at 2.30pm

Wednesday 1 November at 7.30pm

The captioning will be displayed on screens.

There are BSL interpreted performances of Free Your Mind on the following dates:

Saturday 21 October at 2.30pm

Thursday 26 October at 7.30pm

Saturday 4 November at 7.30pm

The interpreter is Lizzie Wharton.

There are relaxed performances of Free Your Mind on the following dates:

Sunday 22 October at 2.30pm

Tuesday 24 October at 7.30pm

Saturday 4 November at 2.30pm

The performance on Tuesday 24th October will also have reduced audience capacity.

Please note this show contains loud music and sound effects, smoke, haze and flashing and bright lights. There are depictions of guns, though there are no physical guns within the production, as well as stylised depictions of death and references to drugs or pills. Please note that content may continue to develop as the show evolves.