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...
Rambert’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...
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...
Melissa Johns’ one-woman show, Snatched, opened its tour at The Lowry on Friday night to a packed studio theatre. The title of disabled actor Johns’ self-written show is a play on both a slang term for attractive or perfect-looking, and a reference...
Singin’ in the Rain is the musical equivalent of comfort food. We know what we’re getting but it’s so good we never grow tired of it. In many ways it is an easy sell – audiences come because they love the 1952 movie. But once the theatre is...
Following the likes of Rebecca, Brief Encounter and Malory Towers, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is the latest literary work to get the Emma Rice treatment, and arguably it wears it best of all. Wuthering Heights The passion, wildness and...
I’ve always been drawn to plays with enigmatic titles. Some writers have a particular flair for this, Philip Ridley being easily the best (Pitchfork Disney, Mercury Fur, Piranha Heights). The Royal Exchange has some form in this area; I got excited...
Tim Foley won the 2017 Bruntwood Prize Judges’ Award with his sci-fi comedy, Electric Rosary. Ahead of the play’s world premiere on the Royal Exchange main stage he talks to Carmel Thomason about writing, coffee and robotic nuns Writer Tim...
The tale may be as old as time, but this brand-new production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is ever a surprise. Imagine an enchanted castle where you’re served dinner by dancing plates, entertained by a quick-fire candlestick, warmed by a mumsy...
Do you hear the people sing? Yes, I do. And I hear them cry – 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...
Steve Timms
Georgina Wells
Carmel Thomason