Quays Life A lifestyle webzine based-in Salford Quays

Nicholas Day and Martin Shaw in A Man for all Seasons. Photo by Simon Annand

Reviews Theatre

A Man for All Seasons: Review

Integrity in high office has always been rare. And in today’s uncertain world there is a welcome modern-day relevance to this revival of Robert Bolt’s 1960s play ‘A Man for All Seasons’. The...

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Madeline Appiah as Rose Maxson, Everal A. Walsh as Jim Bono in Fences. Photo Tyler Fayose

Reviews Theatre

August Wilson’s Fences: Review

Many plays can be enjoyably read and dissected for their mastery of the craft, but that same enjoyment can dim considerably when transferred to the stage if judicious pruning is not applied. Lorraine...

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Sophie Lenglinger (Theo) and Robin Morrissey (Luke) - credit Pamela Raith

Reviews Theatre

The Haunting of Hill House: Review

The simplicity of the story The Haunting of Hill House at the Palace Theatre, Manchester is refreshing.Based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel, it has already been adapted on screen, most notably by...

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L-R Jack Hardwick as Giles Ralston, Clare Duffy as Miss Casewell & Thomas Barrett as Christopher Wren for THE MOUSETRAP UK TOUR credit Matt Crockett

Reviews Theatre

The Mousetrap 75th anniversary tour: Review

Queen of crime, Agatha Christie wrote 66 novels, and 14 short story collections, in a career which spanned 50 years. Alongside her peers Ngaio Marsh, and Dorothy L Sayers (whose amateur sleuth Lord...

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Reviews

Erina Takahashi as Juliet and Isaac Hernandez as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, English National Ballet. Photo by Laurent Liotardo

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Dance Reviews

English National Ballet Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet: Review

Dave PorterAdd comment

It is hard to imagine anything more stirring than an ill-fated love match torn apart between two warring families set to the backdrop of Prokofiev’s dynamic Dance of the Knights. The sheer power of the score, with its dark, pulsing rhythms and...

The cast of 2026 production of Sylvia. Photo by Tristram Kenton.

Reviews Theatre

Sylvia starring Beverley Knight: Review

Carmel Thomason

The Brown Sugar RAP Party. Photo by Jon Parker Lee

Reviews Theatre

The Brown Sugar RAP Party: Review

Amy Corringham

To do & see

The Brown Suite (c) Viktor Erik Emanuel - Fundamentally Dance

People To do & see

Inside The Brown Suite: BlacBrik’s Nahum McLean and Darius Drooh on James Brown, friendship and the power of social spaces

Carmel Thomason

Six friends, one night in 1970s New York, and a soundtrack built from James Brown, Etta James and Sam Cooke — that’s the world at the centre of ‘The Brown Suite’, a full-length dance-theatre show from choreographic duo BlacBrik...

Mythic Reinvention: 50 Years of Costume, Craft and Performance. Gypsy Directed by Jo Davies Designed by Gabrielle Dalton Photography Ros Kavanagh

Art Reviews To do & see

Mythic Reinvention: 50 years of Costume and Craft - Review

Amy Corringham

In celebration of 50 years of the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester, a free exhibition invites audiences to explore how history can be reimagined through storytelling in costume and craft. Mythic Reinvention: 50...

Nya, TPE's Pets as Therapy Dog. Photo courtesy of Transpennine Express

Dog's Life People

The dog taking the stress out of train journeys

Lorraine Worsley-Carter

One of my dear friends is Chaplain, Reverend Mike Roberts, Rail Industry and British Transport Police Chaplain whom I have featured in QuaysLife in the past. Earlier in the year, Mike included me in the following email. “Hi Lorraine Meet Steve...

Dean Kirby's walking tour of Angel Meadow. Photo by Dave Porter

To do & see

Angel Meadow walking tour: Manchester’s forgotten slum where kids played football with skulls

Dave Porter

Think you know Manchester pretty well? It may be time to have a rethink. On hand to help adjust your frame of reference is former journalist Dean Kirby and his walking tours of Angel Meadow. Now a local historian and author, Dean’s tours poke around...

People

Katja Khaniukova as Juliet and Daniel McCormick as Romeo rehearsing Rudolf Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet. Image by Isabella Turolla.

People To do & see

Daniel McCormick’s Romeo leaves his soul on the dance floor

Carmel Thomason

First Soloist Daniel McCormick is performing his debut of Romeo during English National Ballet’s Manchester run of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Palace Theatre. He talks to Carmel Thomason about preparing for the role, the...

Beverley Knight MBE (Emmeline Pankhurst) and Naomi Katiyo (Sylvia Pankhurst) in 2026 production of Sylvia. Photo by Tristram Kenton.

People Salford Quays To do & see

The fight goes on: why Beverley Knight says Sylvia matters more than ever

Anna Ryan

Beverley Knight has enjoyed a rich and varied career spanning music, theatre and television. So for a role to rank “right up there at the top” of her career, it has to be something special. Her portrayal of Emmeline Pankhurst...