The Fun Home is not all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, sometimes it’s not funny at all, what with marital discord, hidden secrets and suicide to contend with. The reason partly may be because the fun home is short for the funeral home, the family...
There’s a lot of talk of ‘Manchesterism’ at the moment and whether the rest of the country can benefit from it if Andy Burnham gets to become Prime Minister. But there is another side to this branch of economics and it has more to do with the spirit...
‘Is there going to be an earthquake?’, asks new bride Sibyl of husband Elyot as they embark on married life together. ‘Quite possibly,’ he replies. There is, of course, but not quite in the way Sybil expected. The earthquake arrives when Elyot and...
It is wonderful to see Manchester’s Royal Exchange start its 50th anniversary season on such a high. Tickets for its opening show ‘Road’ by Jim Cartwright have already sold out for the entire run. Although don’t lose hope if you want to...
A huge bodhran hangs over the set of Dancing at Lughnasa like some leaden sky settling down on the inhabitants of this village in Donegal. Together with the fiddle it represents freedom from the cares of everyday life, a chance to dance and escape...
In 1945, a week-long series of meetings took place in Manchester which was to change the course of history in Africa. Several of the attendees went on to become presidents of African nations and it has been argued that the Fifth Pan-African...
Abigail’s Party was first staged as a play in 1977, and then later screened on television to great acclaim. The play was as much of its time as the Cinzano adverts with Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins, and like the ad has since filtered down into...
It’s arguable that in youth-obsessed culture there’s a distinct lack of older people represented on stage, giving scant roles for those getting on in years. Beckett had some memorable characters and Arnold Wesker made some headway with The Old Ones...
The Smiths remain one of Manchester’s most beloved bands. The musical alliance between Morrissey and Marr gifted the world a catalogue of melodic pop songs with lyrics which spoke to those on the margins of life: the lonely, depressed and...
It has been a particular gripe of mine that middle class writers often present the poor as a subhuman genus, pouring neat vodka on their morning cornflakes. Determinedly bucking this trend, we now have ‘Sweat’, an American import by...
Dave Porter
Carmel Thomason
Steve Timms
Martin Thomasson