Martin ThomassonFirst of all, an apology to the woman sitting next to me (a total stranger) for blurting out the reveal (in a determined stage whisper). I’m sure she was ahead of me on this, but even so… I’m sorry. (Note to self: Button it!) Written by Matthew...
Steve TimmsFinisterre, the sixth studio album by English pop group Saint Etienne, features a series of spoken word interludes from actor Michael Jayston. ‘Rock could be so good’, he solemnly intones, ‘but we make it all so rubbishy.’ It’s hard to disagree...
Let’s pretend we’re contestants in that popular BBC quiz show, “Pointless”. “Identify these famous female vocalists, mimicked by LV in Jim Cartwright’s hit play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.” A: Parisian chanteuse, affectionately known as the...
Shows about bad acting are nothing new. Tom Stoppard’s Real Inspector Hound probably got there first, closely followed by Michael Green’s Art of Coarse Acting, and later Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s enduring farce within a farce. The irony is that it...
Carmel ThomasonContact Manchester helped set Keisha Thompson on her artistic path when she joined one of the venue’s programmes as a young poet, writer and performance artist at the age of 15. Now, at age 32 she has become the venue’s youngest Artistic Director...
Georgina WellsRambert’s mixed programme Dance may have a rather unimaginative title, but it does what it says on the tin – three very different short pieces combine to create an evening showcasing the versatility of the company. It opens with the unsettling Eye...
Composer and Flamenco guitarist, Daniel Martinez brings his acclaimed flamenco company to Manchester as part of Stoller Hall’s first ever Manchester Guitar Festival. He talks to Quays Life about what to expect from the festival, his new tour, and...
There is arguably more appetite than ever before for sexed-up period dramas since the meteoric rise of Bridgerton, and Northern Ballet’s Casanova – returning to The Lowry for the first time since its debut in 2017 – is a prime candidate to benefit...
If I could turn back time, I would have been hot on the phone for a ticket to see Cher’s 2019 Here We Go Again tour at Manchester’s AO Arena. Given the level of audience excitement at hearing the opening bars of one of her hits at the start of this...
Manchester Camerata is relaunching its dementia Music Café at Gorton Monastery.The weekly sessions combine music therapy with a cup of tea and friendly chat, as a means of providing support to those living with dementia, their families and carers...