Quays Life A lifestyle webzine based-in Salford Quays

NIKOLAI FOSTER, OLLIE KHURSHID_CREDIT MARC BRENNER

People To do & see

Director Nikolai Foster on his Barnum of Burnley Bank of Dave the Musical

Bank of Dave is a real life story that became a best-selling book, then a BAFTA award-winning documentary, and a global Netflix film sensation. Now the feel-good tale of people’s champion Dave...

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People To do & see

“Men are in a difficult phase right now, but we’ve got to support each other” – Les Dennis

Former Coronation Street favourite and comic, Les Dennis returns to Manchester as diner and pie shop owner, Old Joe alongside Carrie Hope Fletcher as his employee Jenna in the 10th anniversary...

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Rowland Hill, Relic, 2026. Photo by Michael Pollard

Art Reviews

Curtain Up – exploring the thrill of the live performance

‘Curtain Up’, a new exhibition at Lowry, Salford, brings together works from artists Simeon Barclay, Chris Paul Daniels, Denzil Forrester, Rowland Hill, Joy Labinjo, Ryan Mosley, Abigail...

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Waiting for Godot credit Mihaela Bodlovic

Reviews Theatre

Waiting for Godot: Review

‘A country road, a tree’. The setting for Beckett’s play is surely as synonymous with the text as ‘blasted heath’ is with King Lear, and in director Dominic Hill’s assured stage setting looks just as...

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Reviews

Jill Halfpenny in Private Lives at The Royal Exchange Theatre Credit: Johan Persson

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Reviews Theatre

Private Lives with Jill Halfpenny: Review

Dave PorterAdd comment

‘Is there going to be an earthquake?’, asks new bride Sibyl of husband Elyot as they embark on married life together. ‘Quite possibly,’ he replies. There is, of course, but not quite in the way Sybil expected. The earthquake arrives when Elyot and...

Top Hat at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2025

Reviews Theatre

Top Hat: Review

Steve Timms

Matilda The Musical UK Tour with Sanna Kurihara as Matilda

Reviews Theatre

Matilda the Musical: Review

Leslie James Kerwin

To do & see

Art Reviews

Curtain Up – exploring the thrill of the live performance

Leslie James Kerwin

‘Curtain Up’, a new exhibition at Lowry, Salford, brings together works from artists Simeon Barclay, Chris Paul Daniels, Denzil Forrester, Rowland Hill, Joy Labinjo, Ryan Mosley, Abigail Reynolds, Bridget Smith, and Ulla von Brandenburg...

To do & see Travel

The only swing bridge aqueduct in the world

Lorraine Worsley-Carter

Lorraine Worsley-Carter stumbles upon a unique wonder of the canal age in Salford After taking a short cut to our favourite Trafford DIY store, our sat-nav suggested a route which took us over an old bridge which we had not traversed before...

Further Afield To do & see

Happy Mondays join line-up as The Brit Fest turns three

Alex Price

Brothers and business partners, Anthony and Edward Prophet have been involved in many projects together over the years. But back in 2024 when Brit Fest first launched, the pair could never have imagined how their ‘crazy little idea’...

Art with Heart Banner. Photo by Breige Cobane

People To do & see

Artist Emily Simpson on capturing Salford’s complex and diverse identity in textiles

Leslie James Kerwin

Born in Salford and having lived elsewhere, Emily Simpson is used to the city’s reputation as Manchester’s indignant shadow. “Salford is always the other city,” she says. “It has a confusing, complex identity that is often squashed...

People

Payal Ramchandani Just Enough Madness © Luke Waddington

People Salford Quays To do & see

Payal Ramchandani, dance and the unsaid truths of motherhood

Holly Critchley

Just Enough Madness is Payal Ramchandani’s powerful new solo piece featuring live music and Kuchipudi (an Indian dance drama form used to convey emotions that words can’t always grasp) to offer an unflinching glimpse into miscarriage and the...

People Salford Quays To do & see

Joz Norris on getting silly and serious in You Wait. Time Passes

Anastasia Tirca

After a critically acclaimed and sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, comedian, Joz Norris is taking his thought-provoking one-man show: ‘You Wait. Time Passes’ on the road, stopping at Lowry, Salford in April. Blending...