Culture
-
2020 heralds 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi death-camps. On Monday 27 January, Manchester Jewish Museum will mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), with two premieres of musical and theatrical performances, staged at Manchester Central Library. Songs of Arrival During the afternoon, music by acclaimed Israeli composer Na’ama Zisser,the first to introduce cantorial music into…
-
I love a good kick-start to the festive season. For some it’s a trip to Dunham Massey’s ever popular lights extravaganza, some a performance of The Nutcracker, for some the appearance of the ‘red cups’ or even seeing Zippy being put together outside the Town Hall (Rest in Peace). This year I spring-boarded into the…
-
I’m currently trying my hand at screenwriting (under the excellent tutorage of Scriptwriting North), love a regular visit to HOME and dip my toe in the world of film both here and over at What the Projectionist Saw So battling my way through a frankly annoying barrage of emails in my inbox about Black Friday,…
-
Will Self has written his memoir, Will, and we should all rejoice. Almost as much as I rejoiced when he took part in the Geordie Jumpers sketch on Shooting Stars. Yes I know his incredible back catalogue of daring and original writing and I bring Geordie Jumpers into it (oh just Google it and thank…
-
Some years ago, I visited the site where Julius Caesar was said to meet his maker. The Curia in the Theatre Of Pompey is not only a place of significant historical importance but much to my total and utter glee, a colony for feral cats. Cat lovers this is your Mecca, cat not-lovers probably give…
-
FilmFear at HOME Mcr, the reviews…
-
I do sometimes question why I come away with so many positive feelings, thoughts and, well, reviews, from productions that I’ve been lucky enough to see in theatres in and around Manchester. Be they performed on a stage in a large auditorium, in a church, in a renovated mill, even in a pub cellar, theatre…
-
October is about Hallowe’en and Hallowe’en is basically about films. Keep your costumes and candy (yes I know we’re British but the whole trick or treating is increasingly of the USA and essentially it was good alliteration. Last year’s FilmFear brought us many cinematic sensations but most of all Nicolas Cage being more Nicolas Cage…
-
One of my favourite sketches, amongst thousands (which, incidentally, does not include the bloody parrot one), is Monty Python’s irreverent (could it be anything else) look at working class life: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2q1ojy Turning matters on their head, whilst t’father in ‘is rolled up sleeves, braces and britches, sweats over his work as an award-winning playwright in…
-
If like me (I do miss Denis Norden – I interviewed him by fax once…) you are obsessed with all things West Wing (including The West Wing), you’ll be fascinated by the upcoming book by BBC North America Editor, Jon Sopel, A Year at the Circus. Not only that, you’ll be fascinated to get a…
-
An extraordinary collection of drawings and prints by Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) are to be exhibited at The Whitworth, Manchester, from 24 August 2019 to 1 March 2020. Gifted and place on long-term loan to the Whitworth by gallerist, collector, author and publisher Karsten Schubert, this means that the Whitworth now impressively holds the…
-
Last year I shared my immense joy at what was an evening of entertainment, enlightenment, education and laughter (I couldn’t find a synonym for lolz beginning with ‘e’, ok?): Penguin Pride – less a review, more a tribute Well it’s back and I’ll be there and you should be too. And I’ll tell you for…
-
Last summer I spent a very happy evening wandering round Heaton Park, not lost (although I’ve done that too), but at Romeo and Juliet – a production that took its audience to different locations round the park giving depth and reality to the oft told tale. So this year I’m thrilled that I’ll get to…
-
Manchester International Festival is your opportunity to see something different. Something new, something especially commissioned, someone new, someone big… The Nico Project is the perfect case study of all of the above. The late Nico, real name Christa Paffgenmade, entered the musical zeitgeist in 1967 with The Velvet Underground, and the ‘show’ is inspired by…
-
Those who have already discovered this award-winning arts festival will be thrilled to hear that Refract is back for its third edition in and around Sale, this July. Those who haven’t yet discovered Refract – you’re in for a treat. Running from Thursday 18 July to Saturday 27 July, this unconventional 10 day festival, curated…
-
Verdi’s Aida is admittedly one of the operas I knew little about, in terms of both narrative and its musical score. An opera in four acts, Aida is set in Egypt at the time of the Pharoahs. The priesthood, through its self-proclaimed ability to interpret the gods’ will, controls the government and have long been…
-
I’ve been to a few book readings/launches/talks now. Two of those have been under the Penguin Live moniker (the first being the rather marvellous Penguin Pride – less a review, more a tribute. As someone who has earned their stripes as a regular book club member to boot, talking about a book retrospectively can have its…
-
Bank Holiday Monday and I was whisked back to the 1960s last night. A time when Woolies was still a thing, Donovan was number 3 in the charts and who you loved or even just fancied could consign you to a prison cell and a place of deep shame and castigation in society. All I…
honorary manc 