Quays Life A lifestyle webzine based-in Salford Quays

Matthew Bourne's THE CAR MAN. Harrison Dowzell (Luca) and Company. Photo by Johan Persson

Reviews Theatre

Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man: Review

It is doubtful that Matthew Bourne’s ‘The Car Man’ could have arrived at Lowry on a better week. For while you might get some respite from the current heat wave in the theatre’s air-conditioned...

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People To do & see

Stephen Webb opens up about being Frank-ly fabulous Sweet Transvestite

Fifty years on, ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ is still the most riotous party in town. At its centre struts Frank-N-Furter, an outrageous role of glam-rock legend. Quays Life caught up with...

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Matthew Bourne's THE CAR MAN. Jamie Duncan Campbell (Vito) and Company. Photo by Johan Persson

People To do & see

Matthew Bourne on The Car Man and Ballet’s Bisexual First

Matthew Bourne’s award-winning dance thriller ‘The Car Man’ returns to Lowry, Salford as part of a new 2026 UK tour. Loosely based on Bizet’s ever-popular opera, ‘The Car...

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Murder for Two at Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Credit Tony Bartholomew

Reviews Theatre

Murder for Two: Review

Madcap doesn’t quite convey the orchestrated madness which awaits the audience in this show. Conducted at a breathtakingly frenetic pace, you have to be on your toes to keep up...

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Reviews

The Bench. Photo courtesy of Joe O’Byrne

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Reviews Theatre

The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights – Review

Martin ThomassonAdd comment

Council estates can be tough places to live. I know. I grew up on one. The people were burdened by poverty, ground down by hard, underpaid work (or by the lack of work). Opportunity for some better life always seemed to lie out of reach, retreating...

Reviews Theatre

Waitress: Review

Carmel Thomason

Community cast in Even These Things at the Royal Exchange Theatre (c) Courtesy of the Royal Exchange Theatre

Reviews Theatre

Even These Things: Review

Dave Porter

To do & see

Rowland Hill, Relic, 2026. Photo by Michael Pollard

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’...

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...

People

Daniel Casey (Barnaby) in The Killings at Badger's Drift, credit Manuel Harlan

People To do & see

Daniel Casey steps up as DCI Barnaby for Midsomer Murders on stage

Carmel Thomason

Daniel Casey has been promoted. After playing DS Gavin Troy on Midsomer Murders for a six-year stint, he’s now back in the UK’s most dangerous county (fictionally speaking, at least) as DCI Tom Barnaby in the stage play The Killings at...

People To do & see

Claudia Shnier talks toxic relationships and confronting her trauma head on

Holly Critchley

Claudia Shnier’s one-woman show ‘Split Ends’ is an autobiographical tragi-comedy exploring abusive relationships, coercive control, and our tendencies to cling to the things that hurt us most. Since debuting at the 2025 Brighton Fringe, the show has...