Popular culture
-
I was a little devilish last night. Provocative, even. But for the greater good, you understand. Seated in that glorious cavern that is 53two, underneath the arches on Watson Street, I scrambled to get a pre-performance shot of the set, uploaded to my Instagram (I don’t deal in shortening names – no Instas, no Maccy…
-
There are some subjects which require careful handling. Careful execution. But there is also the challenge and requirement to deliver information, share experiences, provide insight in a way that commands attention and draws in engagement. In this fast-paced world we live in, there’s a lot competing for our attention… Performance theatre and the arts is…
-
I love a bit of nostalgia – although it ain’t what it used to be (ha ha etc…). I started my comedy televisual watching career in the 80s (technically very, VERY late 70s) which soon progressed into the 90s as a teen (don’t you be doing the sums now). My 80s journey I credit very…
-
I just spoke to my mum, who asked me, “Are you going out tonight?” “No, I went out last night to see a show at the Kings Arms. You know, the cat pub” “Oh yes. How was it?” .”it was really funny, I haven’t laughed quite like that in a while.” “Ah excellent – what…
-
Coffee and iPhones and printers and festivals and hammocks and hypothetical letters. The Aldi middle aisle? Maybe, but also just a few of the topics that singer/songwriter, satirist, Chris Tavener treated us to at that glorious little theatre space upstairs at The Kings Arms last night. Thanks to my outrageous decision to spend the first…
-
Three weeks since my last trip into theatre land. I’ve been gadding in foreign climes, being all la-di-dah and that. And I’m back. And I’m back at the ultimate cat pub, The Kings Arms. Coming in a close second is the Blind Beggar in the East End, synonymous not only with me going on two…
-
Jesus Christ Superstar indeed. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Hoping for a more sophisticated, somewhat less basic lead in to a blog post review of my theatrical experience of a production in the Greater Manchester area? I choose childlike exuberance on this occasion. My regular reader will be more than au fait with the…
-
The boardgame Cluedo had a special place in my family’s hearts growing up. Once I’d got everything I could from Rings on your Fingers, Matching Pairs and Ludo, it was time to graduate to the heady heights of Monopoly and Cluedo. And given my maiden name is Peacock, we of course found it oh so…
-
Ah I came out of this screening exclaiming it was one of the best things I’d ever seen. Now I’ve had time to calm down, I would say that it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I can only imagine the criteria for me to pronounce something ‘best’ is wide, wild and all…
-
I’m sat writing this looking out on Salford Docks. Well strictly speaking Salford Quays. Well strictly speaking, one of the Basins, with all its accoutrements; bridge(s), birds, runners, dog-walkers, lanyard bedecked workers, high-rises… But not the high-rises that one would have come to expect from Salford. A whole different shinier, floor-to-ceiling windowier animal. And yet…
-
And just like the Manchester Film Festival and the Renegade Master before that, I’m back and with another Manchester Film Festival blog post! As detailed in my first post of the series, Manchester Film Festival 2024 – The Convert, the 10th edition of the festival arrived last Friday 15 March, and is sticking around at the…
-
Just like the Renegade Master, Manchester Film Festival (MFF) is back once again, and for the 10th time! Taking place at the Odeon, Great Northern, until Sunday, 24 March, this celebration of cinema features an incredible lineup of films from across the globe. Read more about the official selection here on the MFF website. Having…
-
An Imitating the Dog and Leeds Playhouse co-production, directed by Andrew Quick, Pete Brooks and Simon Wainwright, and performed by Georgia-Mae Myers and Nedum Okonyia. A storm gathers outside. In an ordinary home, the lights flicker, a radio crackles, and an extraordinary tale begins. As a couple confront their own fears about impending parenthood, the…
-
Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be, goes the old witticism. Last night was pure nostalgia. A knowing nostalgia. A trip back to a 90s televisual treat none of us really expected was coming. But come it did, as Drop the Dead Donkey marks the 30th anniversary (yes 30) with The Reawakening! Starring the original…
-
At the top of the world lives the Snow Queen who is supposed to control the weather.But the seasons aren’t behaving. The world is getting warmer. And it hasn’t snowed for years….Lumi gazes up at the stars and worries about the world. The adults don’t seem to have noticed that the seasons aren’t behaving, or…
-
I’ve done it. I’ve completed the holy trinity of moving, animal-based theatre. A triptych, if you like, of creature tear-jerkers which, for those who know me, will also know that that is my Everest. It all started with Watership Down, with a stop along the way to Born Free, with frequent accidental visits to Attenborough’s…
-
Fairytales are scary. Wicked stepmothers, witches and wolves at every turn… They teach us important life lessons at an early age. What would you choose? The promise of adventure or the safety of the path? Written by Kevin Dyer, Little Red is a retelling of a fairytale for the age. With any retelling of a…
-
A fairly frequent visitor to the Lake District and Cotswolds, each time my plus 1 and I are ambling down a country lane, gingerly (me. him- confidently) crossing a stream, roasting ourselves in front of an open fire in an aggressively cosy english pub, we ponder But why, the hecky peck, don’t we relocate and…
-
I write this swathed in aptness as I prepare for a return to Shakespeare country; Stratford-upon-Avon this weekend. The weekender was originally intended to be more Butlins, Black Grape and Boo Radleys, and altogether less Bard, but when flooding takes out your chalet, substituting a Shiiine indie festival for Shakespeare felt the obvious move. But…
honorary manc 