Carmel ThomasonMessage in a Bottle is a new show set to the music of Sting which promises gravity-defying lyrical dance and breath-taking music alongside a moving story of humanity and hope. Ahead of its run at The Lowry, we talk to director and choreographer...
If asked to name last year’s overall bestselling author in the UK, who would you pick? Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling? Horror writer Stephen King? Master of mystery, Richard Osman? You’d be wrong on all three counts. In fact, Julia Donaldson took...
Martin Thomasson“Are you a fan of Ben UFO?” a friendly young woman asks as we walk into New Century Hall. I confess I’m not and make it worse by adding, “I have heard of him.” This is true (I think) but makes me about as cool as my dad would have been if he’d told...
Georgina WellsManchester Academy was packed out with a noticeably diverse audience on Thursday night for Find Your Eyes, a piece produced by Factory International for MIF and centred on creative powerhouse Benji Reid. Reid defines himself as a ‘choreo-photolist,’...
In many ways Romeo and Juliet, bursting with the passion and energy of youth, feels like the perfect ballet for an innovative company like Sir Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures to stage. And if you think there are no new ideas to be mined from...
Dave PorterJohn Grant singing the songs of Patsy Cline with Richard Hawley and his band was always going to be a great opening act for Manchester’s newest venue, Aviva Studios. Heralded as part of Manchester International Festival, the musical pairing is not...
Combining Middle English mystery play, orchestra, opera singers, Manchester icon Lemn Sissay and a vast array of young and amateur performers, Noah’s Flood – co-produced by Manchester Collective and Leeds-based theatre company Slung Low – feels like...
“The purpose of the Sama is to create the conditions in which the human soul can experience divine love. Transcendental and ecstatic, the music produces in the listener an intense love for God.” (Barbican website on Sufi music). There’s an...
Simon A. MorrisonThere has, of course, been much debate about The Factory, not least of which is that it is no longer called The Factory. I have passed this strange, white, contemporary carbuncle developing on the side of a new concrete block on the banks of the...
There is a moment during this performance when projections – astral projections that give you the feeling you are floating in space – when I catch myself thinking … this is wonderful, but I need to focus on Ryuichi Sakamoto. Only… not only am I not...