Theatre and performance in Greater Manchester & other places.
Although many of the big Christmas shows (and pantomimes) keep on going well in to January, there's also some really interesting new theatre to look forward to this month. HOME's PUSH festival is packed with local talent and generates lots of interest but that doesn't mean there isn't also great stuff on elsewhere in Greater [...]
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 [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 6 & 8 December 2017. Director Michael Buffong shuffles Frank Loesser’s musical along Broadway and uptown to 135th Street. His all-black cast brings Damon Runyon's tales of gamblers, salvationists, chancers and dreamers right in to the beating heart of the Harlem Renaissance. The stage is all hustle and bustle, drugstore doorways, sharp [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 7 November 2017. Punks, queers, anarchists and firestarters. Derek Jarman's 1978 film 'Jubilee' is reimagined 40 years on by director Chris Goode for both the stage and a new generation. This Millennial 'Jubilee' clings pretty tightly to the messy narrative of the original. At her request, Queen Elizabeth (1.0) is taken on [...]
Royal Exchange. Manchester. 10 November 2017. "Hello from the children of planet Earth". Well, in this case, those that live on Preston Road... Ian Kershaw's new play, premiered at the Royal Exchange, is a very human piece of storytelling. Peopled with a neighbourhood's worth of characters all brought to life by a solo performer. It's [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 20 October 2017. Kat is a young woman, who has decided she must sacrifice herself for a greater cause. She never specifies what she is protesting about or the change she is seeking to achieve. Nor do we see how she reaches that threshold. When we meet her she is ready to [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 2 October 2017. While in the Royal Exchange's main theatre Sarah Frankcom's production of 'Our Town' cleverly plays around with place and time, in the studio next door Jackie Hagan's new play 'Cosmic Scallies' firmly sticks a pin in a map to locate us in the here and now. Welcome to 44 [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 19 September 2017. The Royal Exchange's stage is crowded with people sitting around tables, chatting and waiting for something to start. Everyone is dressed as if they have just walked in off the street and it isn't obvious who are the audience and who are the cast. The setting is so mundane [...]
Royal Exchange, Manchester. 16 August 2017. It starts with a few coded knocks, a secret phrase and a charming warm Polari welcome on our entrance... The Royal Exchange Young Company's latest production begins in a louche 1950's gay bar and then takes us on a journey of lives half-lived, secret stories and modern-day oppression. 'We [...]
The appearance of an over-sized yellow catwalk cutting across Piccadilly Gardens is another visible sign that this year's Manchester International Festival (MIF) is getting ever closer. When it was announced, new Artistic Director John McGrath's first programme seemed a touch underwhelming. A bit dull even, when compared with previous MIFs under Alex Poots' reign. Admittedly [...]
Circles & Stalls 