Preview/review
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Wednesday night I entered a veritable dreamscape, just off Oxford Road. No, silly, not Kro. Immersive can mean different things when it comes to art and theatre. It was Wednesday night, raining hard, I had a sore throat and I had 11 work hours under my belt. I was simply a joy. I was too
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It’s 1934 in the heartland of America and we meet a group of wayward souls who cross paths in a time-weathered guesthouse. Standing at a turning point in their lives, they realize nothing is what it seems. But as they search for a future, and hide from the past, they find themselves facing unspoken truths
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My partner and I moved recently. From suburbia to ‘urbia’. From a house to an apartment. I think like a lot of people about a lot of life choices, a penny dropped, at some point, over the pandemic. I won’t speak for my partner, Actual Manc, but have sought his blessing to light-touch invade his
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Cocktails have been enjoying their time in the sun once again and any respectable joint worth their salted rim will offer you a cocktail list. And whilst they come in a variety of shapes and sizes (it can be a bit of a Russian roulette experience as to what’s coming and whether it presents in
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Did I mention that it’s 40 years since the Hacienda and all it entails was realised? Oh yes here’s where I mentioned it…Happy big 4-0 Hacienda! The night I entered Manc Mecca… Well here’s its sister from the same mister and if you haven’t heard, been or listened to Hacienda Classical, you don’t know what
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I’ll be honest from the off, it’s the course I’d like and hope to do and so it was slightly surreal but incredibly nice to be asked to this closed showcase and evening of short plays written by University of Manchester MA Playwrights, performed by Manchester-based actors. So far so my bag. I was advised
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Straightaway, my takeaway on this play is how there are some incredibly talented actors in this country and there is largely a huge disconnect between talent and plaudits. Much of this, of course, as in life, is to do with how commercially viable a vehicle is. And I get that. Not everything is for consumption
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1982 was a very special year. My brother was born in the January, the Hacienda was born in May. And the rest is history. That said, history came alive Saturday night when the shutters flew up on what is now the Hacienda apartments car park, and 1000 of us flooded in (note a last minute
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In its UK debut at HOME, Claudia Rankine’s first published play, The White Card poses the question: can society progress when whiteness remains invisible? Written against a backdrop of an increasingly racially divided American and shortly before the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, The White Card is as tense and
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Me: fancy coming to see beatboxers perform Frankenstein? Him: (without missing a …beat) yeah And this reader is why I married him. On Tuesday I found myself part of a beatbox symphony. This is the same week that I got my first pair of prescription reading glasses. Balance redressed.. Contact theatre played host (and continues
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I didn’t know what to do expect from this production. I mean I was aware of the story – it’s all love and hate and death and windy moors. But the description of this production told me it was… Shot through with music, dance, passion and hope… and I was admittedly reticent. This could be
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Saturday 23 April was Sea Power appearing at Albert Hall, Manchester day. It was also St George’s Day. The two things are somewhat very tenuously related. They really are, stay with me. Last August, Sea Power announced that they were dropping the ‘British’ from their name. The reasons I completely understand, the fact that the
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Friendship is a funny thing. I think the Covid panny-d has caused a lot of reflection on this matter. Who did we miss, who did we not miss, who did we keep in contact with, who did we not. Who did we keep in contact with but then not once we re-entered the world again.
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I’m a misery when it comes to children’s literature, films, television (although my wonderful young whirlwind of a niece is changing that – Hey Duggie is my ride or die. I’m ageing myself but I’ve never read or watched a Harry Potter. I’ve not watched a Disney film that wasn’t made post 80s and I
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I in no mean belittle this advice, I’m here to report the facts. And by facts I mean points of interest that capture my attention… Allergen warning: there will be loose wheat as part of the set This was in the programme notes and outside the door to the studio. The warning went onto explain
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As a child I used to marvel at the concept and sheer artistry of those who could transform balloon into beast (ridiculous but alliteration, I can’t not). Even more so when I tried to do it myself not realising that a special type of balloon can only be used, and concluding that only those touched
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There’s a rich history of films centred around the ‘stranger visits town’ trope. Sometimes that trope is literal; a mainstay for many a Western. Sometimes, that stranger is coming from somewhat further afield, swapping out a small town for Earth itself. Starman, Superman, E.T. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – the list is pretty
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This week was monumental. After what felt like a long, long dark winter, the sun set AFTER 6pm. Today is also monumental as Manchester Film Festival 2022 throws open its literal and metaphorical doors to us Mancs, honorary and actual, and all those visiting our fine city. From 12 – 20 March, over 130 films
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Having visited this year’s Manchester Open Exhibition and seen for myself the breadth of artistic talent on display, I can only imagine what a difficult job it would have been. But someone had to do it! The judging has taken place and last night, HOME announced the 5 winners of the Manchester Open Awards 2022!
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Before we start, HOME is one of my favourite spaces in Manchester. I just wanted to say that. I haven’t professed any feelings for the place itself in quite a while, given the frequency I visit. I don’t take it for granted, especially given the recent enforced absence (I’m over using the C word). So
honorary manc 