Theatre and performance in Greater Manchester & other places.
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 [...]
This year I've been lucky enough to see lots of great theatre in Manchester as well as in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Sheffield and York. The following are my favourite Manchester shows of 2017. I've restricted my choices to productions that were either premiered in the city or could only be seen here. What I've [...]
53two, Manchester. 5 December 2017. On the other side of a brick wall, eight characters are waiting. All we know about them are a few lines on a piece of A4. Clues, glimpses, pointers. Angry and volatile. Jolly hockey sticks. Glory boy. Down on her luck. Searching for a little security. No pitch from the actors, just [...]
53two, Manchester. 17 October 2017. Anna Jordan's 'Stay Happy, Keep Smiling' is a collection of shattered fragments - six lives upended following a terrorist atrocity. It opens with everyone on stage, almost frozen to the spot. Scraps of stories, jumbled feelings, they make little sense. Witnesses to something deeply shocking, they are still processing what [...]
53two, Manchester. 1 September 2017. "Who run the world? Girls!". Anna Jordan's 'Freak' is a fiercely forensic examination of the pressures women face and the price they pay. It considers these issues through the lives of 15-year-old Leah struggling with her first serious relationship and 30-year-old Georgie at a crossroads after the end of a [...]
Circles & Stalls 