Manchester
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A sweeping state-of-the-nation play that embraces huge political and economic ideas in a magnificent gritty social drama. Nottage’s stunning writing pits friend against friend as social and racial tensions, once buried by a sense of solidarity, soon rise to the surface in this breathtaking drama. Divide and conquer. If it wasn’t for the accents, I
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Years, I’ve been in a state of tension. For many reasons, granted. But akin to a reality TV show fan, nervously scrolling through online forums, terrified to uncover some spoiler from the latest episode before they’ve had chance to catch up (I say all that like that’s also not me), I’ve spent years, years, avoiding
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One of my favourite names for a mocktail (like I ever have one…) is the Bloody Shame at Con Club, Altrincham – the gag being that it’s a Bloody Mary without alcohol… Deviating for a second, my favourite ever name for a tribute band is R We Them…give it a second. Bloody Mary’s (aka Mary
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Yes, that’s right. It’s actually THE Sleeping Beauty. I did not realise that, but there you go, big moment for me. The Sleeping Beauty. Do you know, reader, there are times when I wish I could sleep for 100 years… (That’s got that obvious quip out of the way). Cursed by a wicked fairy, a
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What are you watching at the moment, any recommendations? Television has always been the mainstay of what was known as the ‘watercooler moment’. With the amount of content at our literal fingertips, there’s more to discuss than ever before. It’s the ultimate topic to fill a silence, share a bond and a viewing tip or
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I’m often drawn to starting my blog with a pithy or whimsical anecdote. Not so, this time. I feel inclined to do away with the preamble, the “how does this relate to me”s, the “int Manchester/theatre/art/food/drink (delete as appropriate) great”s of it all. Three couples. Thirty years. Mothers and daughters. Lovers, partners, husbands and wives.
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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
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I’m not really into ‘over sentiment’, as a rule. Nostalgia is a different story. I can lament about the good old days of last Tuesday with a wistful sigh, but in the moment, I can’t do twee. I feel awkward, embarrassed and also awkward again. But Little Women was truly hand-claspingly, heartwarmingly lovely. It just
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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
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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
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I’ve had a rather Shakespearean run over the last few weeks. Bard-heavy, you might say? I say, that with productions of Romeo and Juliet and Falstaff in Manchester (and a quick return visit to Shakespeare country, Stratford-upon-Avon itself), it’s been a joy to immerse myself in texts which are classically brilliant in their origins but
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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
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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
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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
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Ohhh. I’m conflicted. Well I’m not, I know what I need to say, I’m just not comfortable saying it. This blog post isn’t going to go how I thought it might. We were going to get my oft-said unnecessary and tedious proclamation of how on the whole I don’t really enjoy musicals. But how I
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I mean it’s a staple. We studied it in school, I’ve seen it performed ‘traditionally’, in Heaton Park that involved a travelling M&S picnic and a good few thousand steps. My plus 1, both in theatre-going and life, even saw it in this very theatre, the Royal Exchange, in Manchester back in 1992, and featuring
honorary manc 