I’ve never felt drawn to the work of Jane Austen (whose modest output totals six novels), for various reasons. Middle class characters who do little except play the harpsichord, and visit other people’s houses, seems a narrow seam to mine. Rom-coms...
The success of The Crown tells us there is plenty of dramatic opportunity in any story about the late Queen as well as a healthy audience for it. Recently Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) too has been getting more attention from dramatists, being the...
Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman is a dramatic opera steeped in folklore, telling the tale of a cursed sea captain doomed to sail the oceans until he finds redemption through the love of a faithful woman. The story follows the Dutchman, who can...
Many a theatregoer will be wishing they had a flying car to outsmart Manchester’s road works and changes, but that’s another story. Suffice to say, whether you are 8 or 80 there is nothing like a flying car to set the imagination soaring. Ian...
It’s a knockout line-up for this year’s Soccer Aid for Unicef at Old Trafford as former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury teams up with Manchester United’s all-time record goal-scorer, Wayne Rooney. The pair will co-manage England who take on...
Whitworth Art Gallery is currently home to an installation quite literally good enough to eat. Artist Bobby Baker has recreated her An Edible Family in a Mobile Home (1976, 2023) enlisting the help of Long Boi’s Bakehouse to make the edible family...
If I were to begin this review by telling you the stars of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s revival of Cinderella are John Macfarlane’s design and David Finn’s lighting (here honoured and adapted by Peter Teigen), you might infer that I was being...
Every Britain’s Got Talent hopeful who’s had their dreams shattered by the forked tongue of Simon Cowell need look no further than Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944) for comfort. Who cares what the critics may say? Go for it anyway. Or as Florence...
There are so many songs in this production, at times it seems like the characters barely have time to break into dialogue. This frantic take on Shakespeare’s romantic comedy takes a full-throttle approach to adaptation, with gags galore, pratfalls...
Acclaimed creative duo, director Annabel Arden and designer Joanna Parker, transform Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman into an urgent story for our times. Ahead of its performance with Opera North at Lowry, Salford here are 5 reasons to let this...
Steve Timms
Carmel Thomason
Liz Ratcliffe
Verity Marchant
Martin Thomasson
Dave Porter