Liz RatcliffeWith comedy stars a-plenty in the likes of Caroline Quentin, Rufus Hound and Les Dennis, a theatre-goer could be forgiven for expecting an hilarious restoration comedy in John Vanbrugh’s The Provoked Wife. However, although plenty of laughs...
After the anti-LGBT+ hate crime two of the Rotterdam actors experienced in Southampton last week, it was good to see them back on stage and the Manchester crowd taking them straight to their hearts. Jon Brittain’s award-winning play is a clever...
Martin ThomassonWhen Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures company takes on Shakespeare and a classical ballet score by Sergei Prokoviev, we are primed to expect the unexpected. If Bourne is to be believed (and he’s a knight of the realm, so he ain’t gonna lie, is he?)...
Lorraine Worsley-CarterIf you haven’t heard already, the outrageous musical comedy that is The Book of Mormon has arrived in Manchester on its first UK tour. To give you an idea of what to expect, it’s written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of South Park ) and...
I really want you to find your way along to Hope Mill Theatre. It’s a lovely fringe venue, not far from Piccadilly, with a well set out bar area and an accommodating, flexible, audience-friendly theatre space. I also want you to see their latest...
The comedic trope of the domineering father, who needs to learn that times have moved on and the world is no longer his to command, served two Lancashire writers –Bolton’s Bill Naughton and Eccles’s Harold Brighouse – well in the 20th century...
Club Tropicana whisks you back to when big hair and shoulder pads were the norm – a Mamma Mia for the 80’s. This is pure entertainment at its best – great music, great vocals and dancing, hilarious outfits – all tied together with a comedic bow...
I recently read an article on a contemporary dance forum which argued that narrative dance (that which seeks to tell a story through music and movement) has had its day, and that the future belongs entirely to abstract choreography. I was not...
After our rather mixed weather bag of a Bank Holiday, there’s sun all the way in Little Miss Sunshine from Tony Award-winners James Lapine and William Finn. Based on the Oscar-winning film of the same name, this fun musical road trip introduces us...
Carmel ThomasonLipService duo, Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, are masters of the literary spoof. Since 1985 the Chorlton-based comics have produced no fewer than 20 stage shows, turning their unique surreal gaze on genres ranging from James Bond to Norwegian crime...
