Hayley Smith gives her top tips for novice runners and finds Salford Quays a wonderful place to start. I am not a natural born runner. In fact, I didn’t believe I was a natural born exerciser for many years (thank you, school PE lessons) – then, out...
Life is a Dream sees contemporary dance company, Rambert present its first full length narrative dance work in almost 40 years. David Jays talks to choreographer, Kim Brandstrup and Costume Designer, Holly Waddington about their inspiration behind...
In Bouquets and Brickbats, comedian Stephen K Amos looks at life as a two-sided coin and finds something to smile about whichever way it lands. He talks to Brian Donaldson about the extremes of politics, personal loss, and the positive boost he gets...
The National Theatre’s Macbeth opens onto a post-apocalyptic world – dark, wet and drowning in ripped plastic. This doesn’t just feel like the aftermath of a bloody civil war, but the end of the earth as we know it. Rae Smith’s set design creates a...
This autumn is a good one for comedian, Geoff Norcott. He’s become a regular correspondent on BBC2’s Mash Report, is making his debut on Mock the Week and has extended his UK tour. So why are some people calling him ‘a dinosaur’? He talks to Quays...
Unimited Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jon Spooner talks to us about his eye-opening new show Future Bodies premiering at Home as part of the Manchester Science Festival, which asks, as we increasingly fuse our brains with technology, at what point...
In a social media driven world people are increasingly divided into more and more unpleasant categories of evil – Snowflake, Nazi, Remoaner, Trot, Libtard, Brextremist, Feminazi, Piers Morgan… But is life really that bad? Marcus Brigstocke is...
The late, Lily Bollinger, a former head of Bollinger Champagne, once said: “I only drink champagne when I’m happy and when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it when I’m not...
How did Hollywood’s Alec Baldwin find himself in the same casting bracket as Coronation Street’s Curly Watts? It’s a question those who’ve seen the 2012 movie Rock of Ages might well ask on seeing the cast list for the stage musical’s UK tour. It’s...
Ashley Banjo and Diversity enter the circus ring to a soundtrack of The Greatest Show and the 2000-strong crowd goes wild. The atmosphere feels like a pop concert and there are grown women screaming like excited teenagers. In the 250th anniversary...
Hayley Smith
Carmel Thomason
Lorraine Worsley-Carter