HOME

Welcome to Culture House.

Welcome HOME.

Presented by Southpaw Company. Commissioned by Culture House Sunderland.

What makes a place home? The stories we inherit, the people around us, or the future we imagine together?

HOME is a bold fusion of dance, live performance and mixed reality, created by Southpaw Company to mark the opening of Culture House Sunderland. Bringing professional performers together with members of Sunderland’s communities, it tells the story of a city through its people, heritage and creative ambition.

Guided by Lyra, a young Sunderland astronaut, audiences journey from the banks of the Wear to the edge of the known universe and back. Wearing mixed-reality headsets, they see digital worlds unfold alongside live performers as Culture House becomes a spacecraft, a time machine and a living archive.

Rooted in Sunderland’s stories, HOME celebrates the people whose knowledge, courage, invention, art and music have shaped the city. It also looks towards a new generation of writers, artists, musicians and makers, exploring what becomes possible when creativity is recognised and given somewhere to grow.

Community participation is at the heart of the production. Professional artists and local performers bring the building’s balconies, floors and public spaces to life, combining Southpaw’s physical storytelling with digital imagination in a shared celebration of belonging and possibility.

HOME celebrates a city’s past and the people shaping its future—opening a new chapter for Culture House and the communities who will make it their own.

The project is being funded by the UK Government as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, with thanks to the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.