Reviews from Salford Quays
A tropical forest isnât the setting you might imagine for a Christmas musical. But when temperatures are minus 7 outside, the idea of being transported to a lush green land, if only for a couple of hours is inviting. The adventure starts from first...
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Erich KĂ€stner was an exceptional writer of fiction for children (Emile and the Detectives is perhaps his best known work). Identical is a new musical adaptation of another of KĂ€stnerâs tales, Lisa and Lottie. If youâve seen any of the film versions...
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The tale may be as old as time, but this brand-new production of Disneyâs Beauty and the Beast is ever a surprise. Imagine an enchanted castle where youâre served dinner by dancing plates, entertained by a quick-fire candlestick, warmed by a mumsy...
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I love a good show celebrating women, especially when theyâre so rarely done. Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World is a new musical directed by Amy Hodge and based on the picture book by Kate Pankhurst (who is, in fact, a very distant...
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Do you hear the people sing? Yes, I do. And I hear them cry â there are even nose-blowing sobs to the left of me. I also hear the roar of approval with thunderous applause that sees the whole auditorium on its feet as soon the stage goes black. This...
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It was a very smart move of Tim Firth to adapt his 1998 TV comedy, Nevilleâs Island, for the stage in 2013. It has rarely – if ever – been out of production since. It looks like being another smart move for him to realise (or be...
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Old Etonian, Eric Blair – better known to us as George Orwell – walked-the-walk rather more determinedly than most bourgeois left-leaning artists and intellectuals. His early works of social criticism (Down and Out in Paris and London...
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âWhere did all the happy endings go? Where can all the good times be?â asks Eglantine Price. Is there an adult in the audience who isnât thinking the same? As the song goes, many of us are at âThe Age of Not Believingâ but Disney always has the...
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Northern Broadsidesâ As You Like It is the first production Iâve seen staged in the round at The Lowryâs Quays Theatre, and itâs a layout that certainly suits both venue and play. It feels more novel and intimate than a proscenium arch staging...
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We take our seats for the second act of The Hound of the Baskervilles (hereafter ⊠Hound) and Jake Ferretti, playing Holmes (alongside a mélange of other characters) berates the audience for a Tweet he claims to have seen during the interval, from...
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Carmel Thomason
Martin Thomasson
Niamh Melody
Georgina Wells
Simon A. Morrison