Quays Life A lifestyle webzine based-in Salford Quays

Raven McMillon as Gilda in Opera North's Rigoletto Photo Credit: Richard H Smith

Opera Reviews

Verdi’s Rigoletto Opera North: Review

When Femi Elufowoju jr’s reworking of Verdi’s 1851 opera premiered in 2022 it won over audiences and critics alike with its ability to capture opera’s timeless human drama in a way that feels vital...

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People To do & see

Fifty years after Stupidity: Wilko Johnson’s story takes the stage

When Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson was given a year to live in 2012, he turned down treatment and set off on a farewell tour of the people and places that shaped him. Then came an unexpected...

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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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Reviews

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

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Reviews Theatre

The Haunting of Hill House: Review

Cathy CrabbAdd comment

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 Rober Wise’s 1963 film The Haunting and also by the...

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

Steve Timms

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

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

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...