Quays Life A lifestyle webzine based-in Salford Quays

Matador Scene featuring Brandon Lawrence as Espada Photo with Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet; photo: Emma Kauldhar

People

Carlos Acosta on creating a family friendly Don Quixote

It may be wet and windy outside but Birmingham Royal Ballet promises to bring a bit of sunshine with its stage spectacular Don Quixote. Choreographed by BRB director Carlos Acosta after the original...

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Lucy Crowe, Ailish Tynan, Taylor Raven, ENO’s Cosi fan tutte 2026, The Bridgewater Hall © Matthew Johnson Photographer

Opera Reviews

ENO Cosi fan tutte: Review

There is much to admire in this semi-staged version of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte by English National Opera at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Indeed, if we didn’t know the same performers had recently...

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MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL. Kiara Dario (Gretchen Wieners), Vivian Panka (Regina George) and Sophie Pourret (Karen Smith). Photo by Paul Coltas

Reviews Theatre

Mean Girls: Review

Go and see the elegant brutality of Tina Fey’s Mean Girls at The Opera House, beloved musical of the beloved film. Cady Heron (Emily Lane) is the daughter of a zoologist and has lived an unsheltered...

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Kind of Love. Credit - Shay Rowan Photography

Reviews Theatre

Kind of Love: Review

The concept of ‘it’s not gay if’ has long been a foundational philosophy to humanity’s evolution. Homosexual accusations have been graffitied on toilet walls since Pompeii, and even by...

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Reviews

Operation Mincemeat left to right is Charlotte Hanna-Williams, Jamie-Rose Monk, Seán Carey, Holly Sumpton and Christian Andrews credit Matt Crockett

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Reviews Theatre

Operation Mincemeat: Review

Carmel ThomasonAdd comment

There’s a true sense of the hero returns as Operation Mincemeat opens its first ever world tour at Lowry’s Lyric Theatre. Now a West End and Broadway hit with numerous awards, it is hard to imagine the musical’s humble beginnings in front of an...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Photo by Pamela Raith Photography

Reviews Theatre

Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Review

Leslie James Kerwin

LtoR Dana Haqjoo Eddie's Dad/Mr-Bald/Tom Stanley/Brian; Lucie Shorthouse as Chantel/Claire/Linda; Shoba Gulati as Brenda/Helen/Marion in Road at the Royal Exchange Theatre Photo Ros Kavanagh

Reviews Theatre

Road with Johnny Vegas and Lucy Beaumont

Carmel Thomason

To do & see

Art People To do & see

Climate change, AI and finding hope in artistic activism

Leslie James Kerwin

AI meets nature in a new interdisciplinary exhibition at Lowry from January which sees artists, John-Paul Brown and Sophy King, look beyond climate grief into a future of possibilities. It is 2076 – the climate crisis is fading, the Earth is...

LUMINISCENCE UK Premiere - Photo Lorraine Worsley-Carter

Music Reviews

LUMINISCENCE at Manchester Cathedral: Review

Lorraine Worsley-Carter

Manchester Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, began as a parish church in the 13th century, became a Collegiate Church in 1421 under Henry V, and was granted Cathedral status in 1847 with...

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’...

People

People To do & see

Joss Arnott on new show Meet the Hatter and celebrating the superpower of difference

Anastasia Tirca

Joss Arnott Dance celebrates its 15th anniversary with an ambitious new show, ‘Meet the Hatter’, which has been two years in the making. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s iconic character from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the...

Collaborator by Ockham’s Razor CREDIT - Jamie Dennis

People

Ockham’s Razor considers the ‘cost’ of working with another in new show Collaborator

Alex Price

After decades of creating large-scale ensemble works and touring internationally, Collaborator marks a significant moment for contemporary circus company, Ockham’s Razor. Showcasing its two founders, Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey, it brings the...