Theatre and performance in Greater Manchester & other places.
Review of 42 Balloons at The Lowry, Salford. On seeing an online video of Larry Walters flying in a lawn chair over Los Angeles held aloft by a load of balloons, Jack Godfrey didn’t just think OMG - his overriding thought was “THIS IS A MUSICAL!” Six years later, Godfrey has written that dream into [...]
Review of A Taste Of Honey at Royal Exchange, Manchester. “Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.” At times, director Emma Baggott’s sure-footed revival of A Taste of Honey feels as if it is summoning up the ghosts of Shelagh Delaney’s Salford. In its opening moments, Nishla Smith’s stylish jazz singer [...]
Review of Shed: Exploded View at Royal Exchange Theatre. Partly inspired by Cornelia Parker’s artwork Cold Dark Matter, Phoebe Eclair-Powell’s Bruntwood Prize winning Shed: Exploded View is fragmentary. Like Parker’s dazzling installation, it deconstructs the familiar. Inviting us to view a seemingly random selection of domestic interactions from a different perspective, in a new light. [...]
Review of In The Time of Dragons at The Edge. For its new musical In the Time of Dragons, The Edge artfully creates a sixties nightclub vibe - with a dressing room in one corner, piano in the other, lamplit cabaret tables along one side, and big neon sign. The Blue Angel obviously doesn’t like [...]
Review of The Gap at Hope Mill Theatre. From teenage bedroom to a communal lounge in sheltered housing, Jim Cartwright’s The Gap follows two friends across half a century of ups and downs. It’s quite a coup for Hope Mill Theatre - not just bagging the premiere of a new Cartwright play, but also securing [...]
Review of Animal Farm at Bolton Octagon. No green fields, not even a blade of grass, in director Iqbal Khan’s atmospheric and bruising Animal Farm at Bolton Octagon. A backdrop of mud-streaked corrugated iron and animal skulls suspended from hooks overhead suggest instead a place of industrial slaughter. An opening sequence of loud banging, constrained [...]
Review of Lost and Found at Aviva Studios. Waiting for the show to start, down in the stalls, Aviva Studios’ ingenious folding yellow seating was keeping a surprising number of young audience members entertained. Any budding interest in auditorium design is quickly forgotten however when a noisy gaggle of gulls emerges – swooping down the [...]
Review of Brief Encounter at Royal Exchange, Manchester. The sound of passing trains may rattle around the auditorium, but a relaxing glow emanates from Milford Junction’s refreshment room. Overhead, designer Rose Revitt’s elegant metal arches and solid station clock set the scene nicely for the Royal Exchange’s new production for Brief Encounter. Polished wooden flooring [...]
Review of Around the World in 80 Days at Bolton Octagon. Continuous squiggly lines adorn Bolton Octagon’s walls and floors, drawing the eye ever deeper into the building. All routes lead to the auditorium where the irregular twists and curves continue - splashing across the walls, forming dangling neon clouds overhead and weaving across the [...]
Review of Romeo and Juliet at Royal Exchange, Manchester. Jettisoning fair Verona in favour of somewhere “just beyond Cheetham Hill”, director Nicholai La Barrie relocates Romeo and Juliet, while also bringing Shakespeare’s tale of “star-crossed lovers” bang up to date. High street fashions, Mancunian accents, and youthful swagger offer some reassuringly familiar reference points for [...]
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Theatre and performance in Greater Manchester & other places.
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Theatre and performance reviews in the Greater Manchester area
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