Quays Life A lifestyle webzine based-in Salford Quays

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

Dance Reviews

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

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...

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

Reviews Theatre

Sylvia starring Beverley Knight: Review

The bronze statue of Emmeline Pankhurst in St Peter’s Square tells you something of the affection with which Mancunians hold the political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and...

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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

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...

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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

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...

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Reviews

The Brown Sugar RAP Party. Photo by Jon Parker Lee

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Reviews Theatre

The Brown Sugar RAP Party: Review

Amy CorringhamAdd comment

One year after D’Angelo’s death, Manchester Literature Festival gathers poets, writers and fans for a RAP Party celebrating ‘Brown Sugar’, the 1995 debut that launched his career and sparked the neo-soul movement. From the moment we step...

The Choir of Man 2026 Tour. Photo by Mark Senior

Reviews Theatre

The Choir of Man: Review

Carmel Thomason

David Threlfall (King Lear) in King Lear at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Photo by Helen Murray

Reviews Theatre

King Lear Royal Exchange 50th anniversary production: Review

Dave Porter

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

High Society UK tour. Credit: Pamela Raith Photography

People Salford Quays To do & see

Helen George on why High Society is the tonic we need right now

Simon Button

Call the Midwife star Helen George talks Cole Porter, corsets and following Grace Kelly as Tracy Lord in High Society, which arrives at the Lowry, Salford, for two weeks from 22 September. Starring in a splashy new production of the classic Cole...

MBE Insignia Photo courtesy of Elaine Edwards

People

Bolton mum’s MBE journey: how Families and Babies grew from one woman’s struggle into a national charity

Lorraine Worsley-Carter

If someone had told Elaine Edwards back in 2004 — during the sleepless nights and uncertainty of new motherhood — that one day she would receive an MBE at Windsor Castle from HRH The Prince of Wales and see her story featured in a best-selling book...