Theatre and performance in Greater Manchester & other places.
Review of Things That Divide Us at 53two, Manchester. 53two opened the doors to its new home on Watson Street over a year ago. Although the performance space has played host to an increasing number of shows, I was starting to worry that the pressures of managing a building and keeping it afloat financially had [...]
24 September 2019. 53two at Oldham Coliseum. Sixty-three-year old Shirley Parkin has lived at 10 Brook Street in Salford all her life. She now finds herself surrounded by streets of empty properties awaiting redevelopment. With metal shutters over the doors and windows, they're all 'tinned up'. In an attempt to deter any scavenging scallies, next [...]
53two, Manchester. 7 March 2019. Originally a well-received fifteen minute play performed at 53two last year as part of JB Shorts, The Stretch has now been developed by director Simon Naylor and writer Joe Ainsworth into a fully formed production. A grim and gritty exploration of ten years in prison, Ainsworth's script is quick to [...]
53two, Manchester. 28 February 2019. Jamie and Katie have been together for three years. They've done all the usual couple milestones, including meeting each other's parents, so what's next? Jamie has booked a hotel room for them, so that they can spend an evening together talking, something he feels they don't do enough of. They're [...]
53two, Manchester. 6 February 2019. Formed from a group of Royal Exchange Young Company alumni, Manchester-based Switch's aim is to "provide young artists with a platform to showcase their talents, working together to create exciting theatre". Currently resident at 53two, Switch's first full production is a double bill of new plays, both written by company [...]
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 [...]
53two, Manchester. 9 May 2018. "It's just you and them, and the music". Dropping in on three different years, Loop begins in 1965 with a young woman leaving behind her frustrating life in London to start a new one in Manchester. Then, after eavesdropping on two teenagers falling in love in 1985, it all comes [...]
53two, Manchester. 15 February 2018. When 15-year-old local lad Christian Dibmore lands a part as a paperboy in the nation's favourite soap Mancroft Walk, his mother Sharon and nana Jean couldn't be happier. For a boy from a working class community in Moston, this is a life-changing moment. On-screen, Christian plays Billy, a newspaper boy [...]
There's no shortage of new shows in Manchester this month. Here are three productions I'm looking forward to, all of which match strong contemporary writing with some amazing acting talent. The Almighty Sometimes Manchester theatre's big news this month is Kendall Feaver's 'The Almighty Sometimes' at the Royal Exchange. The play was a winner of [...]
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