Culture
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I think this is my third time seeing this brilliantly delicious Noel Coward play. First in this very theatre, the Royal Exchange, in 2011 BHM (before honorary manc) with Simon Robson and Imogen Stubbs). The second was in 2022 with Nigel Havers and Patricia Hodge (blog here). And my hat-trick was realised back at the…
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It’s already been a week of factual, fictional, frictional, emotional, experimental and exceptional big screen content in Manchester. A film-fest, if you will. And I surely have. As has been the case over the last few years, the selection at this year’s Manchester Film Festival has been rich and diverse and with various pulls on…
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Deliciously witty, sparky, tongue-in-cheek and coquettish. The Constant Wife is all of these things. Kara Tointon is all of these things. The dapper dialogue is all of these things. And I liked it very, very much. 1927. Constance is a very unhappy woman. “Nonsense” says her mother “she eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and…
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honorary manc Rounding up some happening highlights from Manchester and Salford Alfreda at The Lodge, Manchester We start straightaway and today – the weekend isn’t over until it’s over, and this one is no exception. Alt -pop phenomenon, Alfreda, is kicking off her tour tonight, March 15, in, where else, Manchester, at The Deaf Institute…
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Continuing the wonderful partnership that is English National Opera (ENO) with Greater Manchester, last night saw the first of two performances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s comic production Così fan tutte. Now, readers, this translates to Thus Do All (Women). And in this context, what it is that all women supposedly do is not the best. Ferrando and…
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You couldn’t write it. But thank goodness someone did, both in terms of the original source and idea, and some 70-odd years later, when, in 2019, some clever creatives decided to turn an incredible tale into an art form. This production could have let the annals of history do the heavy lifting. It could have…
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honorary manc Rounding up some happening highlights from Manchester and Salford Manchester Jazz Festival Tickets go on sale this Friday 13 February for Manchester’s longest-running music festival, back this Summer for 10 days of jam-packed festival fun and musical vibes across the city this May! Manchester jazz festival (mjf2026) will take place between 15-24 May 2026 at venues and sites across Manchester, celebrating the latest up…
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I get excited everytime I ascend those stairs at Aviva. Not least because they’re sweeping and I enjoy a sweeping staircase. But because without fail I know now I’m going to be stepping into a space that’s going to transform into something exciting, engaging and immersive. With huge state-of-the-art projections and a revolutionary sound system, Bigger…
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It’s been an emotional week. I don’t think I’m alone in having an unconditional love for animals, whereas my love or actual like for humans is (with exceptions) deeply conditional. Having had more trips to the vet that one would like this week (although an amazing vet – shout-out to MCR vets on The Quays),…
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Where shall we start. I had a really lovely, enlightening, informative, heart-warming and entertaining afternoon last Friday in Stockport. Less a frequent flyer than I used to be, this was my first time at the impressive Stockroom, the shared community-focused space which offers up areas for reading, studying, meeting, coffee-drinking, eating, exhibitions and, that day,…
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I was sat next to a very nice lady at last night’s performance. She turned to me during the interval to ask how I was enjoying it so far. Really enjoying it, I said. I’ve never seen an opera by composer Benjamin Britten before. She responded that he is her favourite operatic composer. I can…
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It’s been a month of quiet contemplation. Not to go too deep on a Thursday and stray away from the task in hand, but seeing friends deal with losses and feeling their pain both personally and empathetically, leads to existential thoughts. There are both positives and negatives to this, the former being strength and resilience…
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Diana, Princess of Wales, punctuates my memories on occasion. Sporadically, but meaningfully. Occasion 1 – one of my earliest memories is of a humble plastic flag. A Union Jack plastic little flag on a plastic white stick, provided to me in 1981 to fervently and obediently wave inside my childhood home. 2 and a few…
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Love me a short film. So I was happy to receive an invite to the premiere screening of new short, held at Salford University at MediaCity. Know what else I love? Connect 4. The 14-minute comedy-drama, set in the traditional social clubs of the North West of England, joins young Connect 4 star “Frank” as…
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I think if we were asked to write a list of our triggers, well apart from the very act being very triggering, I bet we wouldn’t automatically be able to put a comprehensive list together. The thing with triggers, is that we don’t always know what our personal ones are. Until they pop up and…
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There was a point where I was attending film preview screenings on the regular. On one occasion, Sony brought out the big guns and took our phones off us until after the screening had finished, lest we use them for nefarious reasons. Last night wasn’t quite that extreme, but we were asked to put our…
honorary manc 