Top 3: Free events this week ft. live theatre, green fingers and revolutions

This week it looks like rain might be on the cards, meaning we actually have to entertain ourselves. In the days of the British seaside holiday, this would either entail getting the Monopoly out or trudging round some miserable town in a rain mac. However, we’ve created a list of free events that should tide you over until the sun comes back out to play – without even a hint of board games.

La Biblioteca: Live theatre at John Rylands Library
Contact Theatre’s Young Actor’s Academy presents La Biblioteca (translated as ‘the library’ in Spanish), a set of special performances directed by Andre Pink. The live theatre performances are completely free, but most excitingly, they will be housed within the impressive interiors of John Rylands Library. La Biblioteca will move throughout the library, promenade-style, and although details are a little hush-hush at this stage, expect masks, stock characters and improvisation in one of Manchester’s most dramatic buildings.
Thu 1 Aug – Sat 3 Aug, John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, M3 3EH, 2.30pm (all days) 5.30pm (Thu 1 Aug only) 7.30pm (Fri 2 Aug, Sat 3 Aug), FREE, www.contactmcr.com

Anguish and Enthusiasm: Curators’ tour and talk at Cornerhouse (pictured)
Revolutions hold the potential to create seismic effects upon a country, but often the most profound changes take place in the post-revolutionary climate. Anguish and Enthusiasm is a group show exploring what happens after a revolution, with artists including Andreas Bunte, Berthe Morisot, Eoghan McTigue, Harry Eccleston, Jun Yang, Liubov Popova, Matheiu Kleyebe Abonnenc and Trust Your Struggle art collective. To discuss the intricacies behind the exhibition, curators Declan Clarke and Sarah Perks are hosting a tour and talk, which explores the selection of works aiming to shed light on what an era of post-revolution means. This one’s the more provocative of our pick, promising some engaging material to sink your teeth into.
Sat 3 Aug, The Annexe, Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, M1 5NH, 2pm, FREE (booking required), www.cornerhouse.org

Eating What You Grow: Talk by Groundwork
The supermarkets are always upping their prices – something that even the most apathetic food shopper will notice. As part of Dig the City Festival, Groundwork is showing you how to grow alternatives to the pricey, homogeneous high street stuff, explaining what to grow and eat all year round – including what you can plant together and what will grow the quickest. The talk also includes cookery demos and tasters, illustrating how to put the ideas into action in the kitchen. This one’s free on multiple levels, as the talk itself will cost you nothing, but will also teach you frugal habits that could help cut costs for a lifetime.
Sun 4 Aug, Dig the City Festival Hub, Exchange Square, M4, 11am, FREE, www.digthecity.co.uk/event/eatingwhatyougro/