Theatre and performance in Greater Manchester & other places.
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 5 December 2018 & 3 January 2019. After the success of Sweeney Todd, Sweet Charity and Guys and Dolls it's no surprise to see the Royal Exchange programming in another crowd-pleasing musical as their Christmas and New Year show. Mel Brooks’ The Producers, however, might not seem the most obvious choice for [...]
When Leeds Playhouse announced the formation of its first young company in April last year it was a bit of a wake up call for me. The Playhouse were looking to support a group of young people to collaborate in "making and producing bold and socially resonant work", as well providing opportunities for them to [...]
This year I ended up seeing lots of great theatre in Manchester as well as in Leeds, Liverpool, London, Sheffield and, for the first time, Huddersfield. The following are my favourite Manchester shows of 2018. In compiling the list I've restricted my choices to productions that were either premiered in Greater Manchester or could only [...]
Hope Mill Theatre. Commissioned by Contact. 13 December 2018. When children head into the woods in traditional fairy stories and pantomimes they often find themselves lost in a dark and scary place. Contact's Christmas show is having none of that. We're led into the Forest of Forgotten Discos by friendly and sparkly 'virtual assistant' Alexa, [...]
HOME, Manchester. 21 November 2018. "If I were to put on a play with roles for women, I would insist that these roles were performed by men, and I would so inform the audience by means of a placard saying: THESE ARE NOT WOMEN THEY ARE MEN" Jean Genet's thoughts on casting men as a [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 16 October 2018. A travelling salesman no longer fit to travel. A home filled with consumer goods that break down before they are even paid for. A once green and leafy neighbourhood concreted over and crammed with new apartment blocks. Willy Loman's world has become one of increasing disappointment and insecurity, yet [...]
Contact at STUN, Manchester. 20 October 2018. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Manchester's Market Street, the shoppers, newspaper-sellers, musicians and street preachers, are the mobile vendors. Every inch of their wheeled carts is covered with phone covers, toys, gadgets and balloons, and the bright multi-coloured nature of their goods makes them hard to miss. [...]
The Arden third year Theatre & Performance students in collaboration with Eggs Collective. 18 October 2018. The Waterside Theatre, Manchester College. It's odd how infrequently television is featured, or even mentioned in passing, in theatre productions, especially considering the big part it plays in so many of our lives. Are You Still Watching asks you [...]
Contact Young Company with Hetain Patel. 30 August 2018. Earlier this year Contact Young Company shone a spotlight on the ongoing struggle for women's rights with She Bangs The Drums. This time they've got their mechanic's overalls on and they're having a good poke around under the bonnet of manhood. After being accompanied to a [...]
Royal Exchange Young Company. 15 August 2018. Closed for the summer, and largely deserted, North Manchester's Abraham Moss School seems an unlikely substitute for the island setting of Shakespeare's The Tempest. There's something happening in the hall, but it's not clear what. Are we being asked our names at the door or is a register [...]
Circles & Stalls 