Popular culture
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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…
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It’s a topic that is never far from our minds (or sight) in Manchester: homelessness. Indeed it was only Sunday that I attended the play ‘Frozen Peas in an Old Tin Can’, about three rough sleepers – Review: Frozen Peas in an Old Tin Can (Greater Manchester Fringe) – raising both money and awareness of the issue.…
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I won’t repeat my love for fringe theatre all over again (I’ll just casually leave this here – Review – Talk to Yourself at The Kings Arms and actually probably will repeat it in this review anyway). One reason for my love of fringe theatre which I’m not going on about again (am) is the…
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A funny and frank autobiographical solo-show, First Time (from Dibby Theatre) is written and performed by theatre-maker and HIV activist, Nathaniel Hall and returned to Sale Waterside Centre as part of Refract Festival. Diagnosed just two weeks after his 17th birthday and only months after coming out as gay to his family, Nathaniel kept his HIV…
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There are many times I’ve been to the theatre (literally and conceptually – not all plays take place on the stage), when I’ve thought ‘what a brilliant production, what a great story, what an excellent ‘play’ this is.’ And then there are times when I’ve left the idea that I’m at a play far behind…
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I’ve documented my love for fringe theatre before. On the one hand you get to see experimental, exciting, no-holds barred productions and on the other hand, you get to see theatre which feels real, familiar, gritty, passionate… Our Kid, written by and starring Taran Knight, falls into the latter category and is all these things…
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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…
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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…
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Manchester theatre company, Dibby Theatre, is raising funds to help take their hit show First Time to Edinburgh Fringe. A funny and frank autobiographical solo-show, First Time is written and performed by theatre-maker and HIV activist, Nathaniel Hall. Diagnosed just two weeks after his 17th birthday and only months after coming out as gay to his…
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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…
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My mum told me this story of being at the cricket at Old Trafford. Frank Sidebottom had made a glorious appearance (actual Frank – there were many pretenders to the papier-mâché head aesthetic with ‘hilarious’ consequences…) In fact in Being Frank… John Thomson tells us of Chris Sievey getting out a scrap book he kept…
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The ideal short – film, story, play should leave the audience wanting more without needing more. Celebrating 10 years of theatre production and story telling, 20 sell-out seasons and 120 world premieres, JB Shorts have brought something extra special to those glorious arches of 53two. On until 30th March, JB Shorts Reloaded brings six JB Shorts…
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The marvellously titled Bag of Beard Theatre had me at… …it’s a Millennial Withnail and I… when telling me about their show Renaissance Men, coming to 53two on 19 and 20 April. Fresh from sell out shows at the Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington, this is Manchester’s (and surrounding areas of course – in fact…
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An hour of theatre last night felt like ten years. I don’t mean how that sounds. Manchester Actors’ Platform (MAP) has brought The Stretch back to the 53two stage from 6 to 15 March, following rave reviews at the JB Shorts Festival. Written by Joe Ainsworth and directed by Simon Naylor, the piece follows Lee (James…
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I was going to start this post off with the sentiment, I love Manchester. It’s true, I’ve got a t-shirt with it on and everything. But to do so, I would have committed the cardinal sin of referring to a ‘happening’, an ‘event, an ‘occurrence’ as being in Manchester rather than Salford. I do this…
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Fringe theatre excites me the most – it has the creative freedom to tackle the nitty, the gritty, and the downright…well, yes, dirty. MAP Productions are bringing The Stretch back to the 53two stage from 6 to 15 March, following rave reviews at the JB Shorts Festival. Written by Joe Ainsworth and directed by Simon…
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Writer, film-maker and leading thinker, Paul Mason, is coming to Manchester on 30 April 2019, to discuss his latest book, Clear Bright Future: A Radical Defence of the Human Being, with BBC 6 Music’s, Stuart Maconie. On the eve of publication, Penguin Live, will play host, at The Dancehouse, Manchester, to what promises to be a…
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There are plays, productions, shows that you appreciate the work of, admire, praise, write about, commend. Then there are those that you actually want to frogmarch people into the theatre to see. You almost don’t want to write about it, lest it spoil the experience. You want to write of it, of course. But not…
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year and so on and so forth. In fact, let us not mess around. Let’s just go straight to Chris Rea. Ish. Because this year, Mancs, Honorary Mancs, Visitors to Manc… I’m going HOME this Christmas… Why, you ask? Well I can’t wait to see those faces. Whose, you…
honorary manc 