Manchester tagged posts

Theatre Review: Twelfth Night – HOME, Manchester

Twelfth Night by Filter at HOME, Manchester

Wacky, wild and wonderfully weird, Filter’s wonderfully off-kilter production of Twelfth Night is well worth a watch

Music is most definitely the food of love in Filter’s adaptation of Twelfth Night. In fact, rock music meets Shakespeare head on in this explosive reworking of Shakespeare’s lyrical play.

Twelfth Night tells the story of Viola, a young girl who is separated from her twin brother Sebastian following a shipwreck on the shores of Illyria...

Read More

Theatre Review: KING LEAR – Royal Exchange, Manchester

King Lear, Royal Exchange

Philip Whitchurch (Earl of Gloucester) & Don Warrington (King Lear) in KING LEAR.  © Jonathan Keenan

Hard-hitting, savage and incredibly intense, Talawa’s production of KING LEAR is a brutal and bloody tale of a family tearing each other apart

Following their groundbreaking production of Arthur Miller’s ALL MY SONS in 2013, Talawa Theatre Company and Artistic Director Michael Buffong return to the Royal Exchange with a new version of William Shakespeare’s KING LEAR.

The classic tragedy t...

Read More

Theatre Review: WHAT’S DONE, IS DONE – HOME, Manchester

What's Done Is Done CAN Young Artists

Bold, original and innovative, WHAT’S DONE, IS DONE is a thought-provoking piece of theatre by CAN Young Artists

Community Arts North West (CAN) presented their first production WHAT’S DONE, IS DONE at Manchester’s HOME venue yesterday as part of the World Stages Festival.

WHAT’S DONE, IS DONE tells the story of Trish, an outsider who is fed up of watching all her schoolmates having fun from her bedroom window...

Read More

The Puppini Sisters: The Highlife Tour – Waterside Arts Centre, Sale

The Puppini Sisters The Highlife Tour at Sale Waterside

Sleek, sassy & stylish, The Puppini Sisters re-workings of modern pop songs make for an evening of feel-good classics

To tie in with the release of their fifth studio album, The Puppini Sisters embark on new tour, bringing their fun and sassy vocals to venues across the UK including Sale Waterside Arts Centre.

Best known for their close harmony vocals, The Puppini Sisters made their name 10 years ago when their first album Betcha Bottom Dollar won a Gold Disc for international sales...

Read More

Theatre Review: HUSBANDS & SONS – Royal Exchange, Manchester

Husbands and Sons

Intense, gritty and powerful, Ann Marie Duff and Louise Brealey shine in HUSBANDS & SONS

Marianne Elliott makes a welcome return to the Royal Exchange with HUSBANDS & SONS, a major co-production with the National Theatre starring Anne-Marie Duff and Joe Armstrong.

Adapted for stage by the National Theatre’s Associate Director Ben Power, HUSBANDS & SONS interweaves three singular D H Lawrence plays (A COLLIER’S FRIDAY NIGHT, THE WIDOWING OF MRS HOLROYD and THE DAUGHTER IN LAW) into one standalon...

Read More

THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER – Royal Exchange, Manchester

Patrick Baldwin

Genevieve Barr and Arthur Hughes star in THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER. Image: Patrick Baldwin

THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER is an intimate portrait of loss, hurt and recovery

Following its premiere at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jack Thorne’s new play THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER heads to Royal Exchange this week as part of a national tour. 

Directed by Amit Sharma, THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER tells the story of Phil and Alice, a young couple trying to understand their relationshi...

Read More

Theatre Review: Move Over Moriarty – Sale Waterside Arts Centre

Move Over Moriarty by Lipservice at Sale Waterside Arts

Fast-paced, slick and funny, Move Over Moriarty makes a welcome return to the stage

Following the success of Inspector Norse and Withering Looks, satirical comedy duo LipService return as Holmes and Watson in a reprisal of their cult classic Move Over Moriarty.

Written by Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, Move Over Moriarty follows super sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his dim sidekick John Watson as they investigate the Garibaldi Biscuit Affair, a case as impenetrable as a London pea-souper...

Read More

Theatre Review: The Bodyguard – Palace Theatre, Manchester

The Bodyguard at Palace Theatre Manchester

Slick, sassy and superbly performed, Alexandra Burke excels in The Bodyguard

Few people can handle the power ballad classic I Will Always Love You like Whitney Houston, but Alexandra Burke is certainly one of them.

The three-time Brit nominee and X-Factor winner steals the show as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, belting out hit after hit in the award-winning musical.

Based on the smash-hit 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, The Bodyguard tells the story of superstar Rachel Ma...

Read More

Theatre Review: INTO THE WOODS – Royal Exchange, Manchester

INTO THE WOODS L-R Michaela Bennison (stepsister) & Gemma Page (stepmother) Photo: Jonathan Keenan

INTO THE WOODS L-R Michaela Bennison (stepsister) & Gemma Page (stepmother) Photo: Jonathan Keenan

Matthew Xia delivers a musical Christmas cracker at Manchester’s Royal Exchange with INTO THE WOODS

“Into the woods, into the woods!” And into the woods we certainly went!

Setting the scene for Sonheim’s amalgamation of fairy tales is Tony Award winning stage and costume designer Jenny Tiramani who has turned Manchester’s Royal Exchange round stage into a magical forest, both outside and inside...

Read More

Theatre Review: The Crucible – Royal Exchange Theatre

The Crucible

Photo Image: Jonathan Keenan

Arthur Miller’s THE CRUCIBLE is brought to life in new production directed by Caroline Steinbeis at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre

2015 is the centenary year of playwright Arthur Miller’s birth and director Caroline Steinbeis has brought his Broadway production of THE CRUCIBLE to Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre.

Written in 1953 by Miller as an indirect and ingeniously shrewd way to speak out against McCarthyism and the anti-Communist enquiries in America,...

Read More