Lions After Slumber is a theatrical game experience that plunges the audience into the heart of the Peterloo Massacre. Combining one-to-one interactions with performers, teamwork, riddle- solving and path-finding, Lions After Slumber brings one of the most pivotal events in Mancunian history to life.

It’s the afternoon of August 16th 1819 and 50,000 working class people have travelled from in and around Manchester to protest peacefully for Universal Suffrage; the ordinary man’s right to vote. But the crowd has come under attack from the local cavalry who have been ordered to disperse the meeting by force. The result: tens of people killed; hundreds more injured and the cause of Universal Suffrage in jeopardy.

Participants are charged with the task of finding the 5 key ‘witnesses’ to the day’s events and collecting their testimonies. They must bear these testimonies, as well as their own top hats, placards and caps of liberty (signs of their peaceful intentions), back to base safely. Only then can participants ensure the world learns the truth about the day’s events.

Commissioned and developed in partnership with Larkin’ About, Library Theatre and Manchester City Council, Lions After Slumber was staged in March 2012.