Moses KabungaKurt Weil’s dramatic opera, Street Scene was awarded the inaugural Tony Award for Best Original Score in 1947. It’s based on a play by Elmer Rice and charts the events that take place over two days in the slums of a New York district. Trailer The...
Georgina WellsThe night of Opera North’s performance of The Turn of the Screw at The Lowry was a dark and stormy one, fitting weather conditions for the Benjamin Britten opera based on Henry James’ ghostly short story. The set up is, to an extent, familiar: a...
Lorraine Worsley-CarterIt’s Figaro’s wedding day – or is it? Poor, honest to the core, Figaro, is as a happy man, as any prospective groom would expect to be on his wedding day. That is, until he realises his master, Count Almaviva, to whom he is deeply loyal, holds...
Crongton Knights is a modern-day quest story akin to The Wizard of Oz but with all the innocence and Hollywood Technicolour removed. It’s based on the second book of the trilogy of YA stories written by Alex Wheatle, MBE. And follows a group of...
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake – conceived by Sir Peter Wright and Galina Samsova – first premiered at the Palace Theatre back in 1981, but this is not a production that looks nearly 40-years-old. The curtain rises on a striking funeral scene...
Carmel ThomasonLike the yew tree at its centre, A Monster Calls is a story that twists and turns, with multiple layers of fantasy and reality; its roots stretching deep into the pain of grief. The original idea came from author, Siobhan Dowd who died from breast...
It’s a little-known fact that Quality Street chocolates – that staple of Christmas in the UK – is named after J.M. Barrie’s play from 1901 (before he wrote Peter Pan). A comical tale of love, identity and misunderstanding set during the Regency...
Ghost Stories is that rare thing that comes along every so often and rewrites the rule book. In this instance it delivers on all counts. This international, cult, success is rightly enjoying a revival 10 years after its opening night at the...
Martin ThomassonThick and Tight’s modus operandi – quirky choreography, hitched to voiceover and lip-synch as well as music – serves up enough treats to bring sunlight into the hearts of those of us braving a bleary February evening in Salford. Humour and charm...
How would you spend your last night on earth? Kathy, a 40-something pub landlady, has elected to host a quiz night. There’s no guarantee anyone will attend – but they do. As we take our seats in The Four Horseman pub, a muffled Orwellian radio...
