fringe theatre

  • I LOVE going somewhere new and nothing takes me more places than fringe theatre. Last Friday night it was the turn of Salford Arts Theatre and Two in a Bed Theatre Company’s Hold Me Close. The theatre company, isn’t new to me having seen their work before at The Kings Arms a couple of years

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  • I’ve written my love letter to fringe theatre before and my opinion never changes. I love you all, theatre concepts, venues, genres…but fringe is definitely a head turner for me… Apart from the opportunity for writers to write and actors to act with a no holds barred emotional, brave and raw approach to the subject

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  • Review: Insane Animals

    It’s true to say that I didn’t always know what I was watching last night. But I know that I liked it. Like the camp space landing that it depicted (are there any other kind?), the show launched itself on stage through plumes of smoke and a cacophony of noise, and with the arrival of

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  • The press release promised a run-down B&B which doubled as a swinger’s club, a gambling man, a fortune teller and an elderly deviant. My immediate thoughts turned to Benidorm. It’ll be leopard print, ‘bosoms’, nudge nudge wink winks, Carry On Abroad (at home), that glorious feature length film that took the cast of Are You

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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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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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