Theatre
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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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Mozart can do no wrong. It’s not even up for debate. When I was knee-high to an etc., I went with my parents to Austria, visiting Salzburg along the way and so to the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The actual birthplace – the house. My Dad, a professional pianist, was keen to fulfill an…
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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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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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Scottish writer, poet and patron of HOME Mcr, Jackie Kay, is heading back to Manchester and bringing with her, the gift of theatre! September 2019 will see Red Dust Road, Jackie’s memoir of her life growing up as a mixed race adopted Scot, brought to life on stage at HOME, after its premiere at the…
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Following their previous stage success The Wipers Times, which sold out both in the West End and across the country, Ian Hislop and Nick Newman are back to entertain us with their latest sharply observed stage production, showing this week at The Lowry theatre, Salford. Inspired by real life events and based on the critically acclaimed original…
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I love Prokofiev’s score, Shakespeare’s story, and I love going to the ballet. So with all ingredients in place, it is natural that I have seen multiple ballet productions of Romeo and Juliet in the past and either because of or despite this, I happily wanted to see the latest brought to Manchester; this time by the Moscow…
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The word ‘typecast’ must be as abhorrent to actors as the word ‘Macbeth’ is to…erm, well actors. Having worked with a few actors on soaps in a past life, I’m aware of the frustrations some may feel when interviewed about previous roles, future roles, that many can’t see past the character they portray in living…
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The third annual horror fest, FilmFear, returns to Manchester’s HOME this week – in association with Film4. From 26 – 31 October, residents, visitors and all round horror fanatics from Manchester can enjoy 6 days of cult films, extreme cinema and an all round fright fest on the big screen. With a mix of new…
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Or should that be a production of two plays? Or a production of two halves, each one a play? But are they two plays? In this world premier of the HOME and Lyric Hammersmith co-production, they are two, yet they are one. And I shall tell you for why. The plays (when discussing Othello and…
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It’s always an exciting thing to attend a world premiere production of…well anything, really. Not least when you get to see it before it hits Edinburgh Fringe audiences. Certainly not least when you’re not getting to Edinburgh Fringe yourself (although, fear not as there is plenty to entertain on our good own Mancunian doorstep of course). And…
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I’m going to start with a sincere apology to Liza Goddard. She has such a wealth of stage experience behind her, that for me to bring up the Give Us a Clue theme tune seems very wrong. I know I shouldn’t mention it but it’s like a scratch I have to itch. Please forgive me reader and…
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Billed as Sting’s personal, political and passionate musical, this was a ship that I wasn’t prepare to let sail by without an inquisitive look. On a tour of UK and Ireland, The Last Ship sailed into the Quays last night, making its debut at The Lowry theatre. I have already used two puns both based…
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A (by no means exhaustive) list of popular films and programmes that traumatised me as a child: Dumbo E.T.* Born Free Dot and the Kangaroo Watership Down They all have one thing in common – creatures and animals in challenging and sad situations. *Ok, technically E.T. was an alien but he’s pretty much in that category. The…
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Families, who’d ‘ave ’em? I think all of us, in on sense or another. The play is a co-production between HOME and Glasgow Citizens. Their last, Endgame, I was also fortunate to see, and too was directed by Citz Artistic Director, Dominic Hill: HOME is where the Art is – Endgame Back to Long Day’s…
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And people say she’s just a big pair of tits. (David Brent). Yes, I’ve said tits in a blog post. But there’s no point being polite as the Theatre Company I had the good grace to see perform this evening are called Shit Theatre. Although for polite publications it’s written Sh!t Theatre. I’ve already written…
honorary manc 