Noel Coward pours a lot into his dramatic soup and right from the start the ingredients are on display for a feast of drama: unrequited love, settling for second best in a relationship, choosing domesticity over passion, and just what is the correct attitude to adopt towards life. If the play feels dated, it can still be held up to the light through such universal themes.

With sharp direction by Blanche McIntyre and a set which continuously revolves – sometimes faster, sometimes slower – to give a distorting sense of time passing, the play reminds us that if we seek happiness in desire we will ultimately be disappointed. Jill Halfpenny (Waterloo Road, EastEnders) gives us an Amanda fatally attracted by past love Elyot and hoping that second time round they can recreate the passion which first brought them together, even at the cost of abandoning their respective partners. Halfpenny turns in a fiery performance as a woman determined to make her own choices, wrong or otherwise. When she launches herself at the beastly Elyot it is a moment of unalloyed drama.

But it is Steve John Shepherd – complete with bolt-on hairpiece – who steals the show with his louche portrayal of Elyot, all James Mason drawl and whispering cigarette smoke. He is maddening and is meant to be. His advice is to laugh at life and hope it doesn’t laugh back in your face – down with the moralists and up with irony because the alternative is too awful to contemplate. Elyot appears effete on the surface but Shepherd shows him to be full of bubbling molten lava inside, ready to explode at any minute. Quite a brilliant performance.

It all makes it very difficult for spurned spouses Shazia Nicholls as Sybil and Daniel Millar as Victor to make their mark. The final scene in which they confront Elyot and Amanda – and in turn vent their deflected spleen on each other – feels histrionic if necessary.  This is due more to the clockwork plotting of Coward than to any actorly deficiency. When Elyot labels Victor a ‘gasbag’ it’s hard to disagree, but Millar lends him the right amount of wounded decency we can all empathise with. Nicholls pits her youth and naivety against the others’ jaded immorality and in doing so reveals Sibyl to be not simply a victim of infidelity but someone who can see it for what it is, human weakness.

Some of the attitudes in the play are antediluvian and come with a warning but there is no denying the power of this production. The one liners come fast and furious and Shepherd is fantastic as Elyot at delivering non-sequiturs which leave you wondering about his state of mind. As Coward shows, to live with someone is to relinquish your private life.

Private Lives is at The Royal Exchange Theatre from 27 March to 2 May 2026.

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The Salford-born comedian takes the lead at Manchester Opera House for the fourth consecutive Christmas alongside his popular panto sidekick and Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Ben Nickless.

Both comics get time on stage to showcase their individual talents – Manford his warm, hilarious stand-up and strong musical theatre vocals; and Nickless his dynamic physical comedy and quick-fire impressions, bringing in a whole host of famous faces from Michael McIntyre to Donald Trump.

But it is when they are working together as a double act that the sparks really fly. After four years of pantomime together, Manford and Nickless make a comfortable double act whose joint focus is on making sure the audience, and especially the kids, have a fantastic time. The roving kiss-cam encouraging the young ones in the crowd to pull funny faces is a particular highlight.

This year the action moves to Sherwood Forest as the pair take on the roles of Robin Hood and Little Willie (cue lots of silly innuendo that has the youngsters rolling about). People who haven’t seen Manford recently might be surprised to see his new trim self. The 44-year-old has been chronicling his weight loss on social media. But as he says in the show, “there’s nothing like finding out you’re doing Robin Hood men in tights, to get you into shape.”

The pair are joined by an energetic cast. Landi Oshinowo adds sass to her sparkle as Spirit of Sherwood, her fun-side given free reign as the wig comes off in the fast-paced 12 Days of Christmas routine. Sarah Vaughan brings Maid Marion to the fore of the action with strong vocals and impressive swashbuckling. While the villain of the piece, Adam Strong wins cheers for his solo singing as Sheriff of Nottingham, his strong voice making the audience forget for a moment he is the one there for the boos and hisses.

As always with the Opera House pantomime the staging is spectacular. I don’t want to spoil the surprises, but you might want to take a raincoat if you’re sitting in the first few rows. The only downside is the lighting surrounding the stage – huge LED circles facing the audience. For some scenes I can see it can add atmosphere but for others it is genuinely distracting and feels like a juggernaut on full beam coming towards you. If you are light sensitive, it is something to consider.

That aside, this is a fantastic family show that is sure to delight children and adults alike.

Robin Hood is at the Opera House, Manchester from 6 December 2025 to 4 January 2026.

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And what a magnificent return it is, capturing all the emotion, thrill and excitement of the story in a roller-coaster two hours that leaves us feeling like we’ve been truly transported to another world.

Lewis wrote the original just after the second World War, and it is in that conflict the story begins. There’s a moving rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’, train lights flashing across the stage, people everywhere on the move and four young siblings travelling as evacuees into the unknown.

The Pevensie children are off to Scotland, but for them it might as well be the other side of the world, or indeed as it turns out, a whole new world altogether.

The setting up of any story can sometimes feel a little slow. Yet here director Michael Fentiman keeps us invested from the very start with a busy stage of talented actor musicians and a cast of intriguing characters from the eccentric cycling Mrs Macready to the wise speaker of riddles, the Professor (Kraig Thorber) and his knowing cat, Schrödinger.

The children are played by young adults, recently graduated from drama school – Joanna Adaran as Susan, Jesse Dunbar as Peter, Kudzai Mangombe as Lucy and Bunmi Osadolor making his stage debut as the rebellious Edmund. Within the wider cast of fantastical characters, together they capture the wonder of childhood as well as both the camaraderie and rivalry of growing sibling relationships.

The move from wardrobe to Narnia feels as quick as the closing of a door. This is the snow-filled world we’ve been waiting for. But there is no celebration just yet. The White Witch has cast her icy spell over the land and rules Narnia with a coldness that turns good hearted creatures to stone.

Katy Stephens (who doubles up as Mrs Macready) brings genuine menace to the role. There is a darkness to her reign that means while the show is not recommended for children under 6 it has an edgy thrill for older children and adults alike. The Witch is guarded by wolves, which bound across the stage as half-creature, half-machine. And she has super-powers which see her fly on a curtain of icy sails, set tissues alight, and turn her Turkish delight sweet treats into a walking hallucination.

Coming to the interval we’re left thinking – Aslan has some work to do to top that!
He is worth the wait. The mere glimpse of his glowing mane as he appears at the back of the stage casts a magical spell on the audience. The puppet is a sight to behold. And alongside him is actor Stanton Wright as the gravelly voiced lion. Here Aslan is both man and beast and Wright’s measured characterisation means the two feel like a joined presence where one never outshines the other.

This cleverly staged play with music is a wonderful adventure that is sure to captivate the child in everyone. The show feels even more magical than I remember it at Lowry four years ago, or perhaps that’s because as The Professor tells the children, ‘Things never happen the same way twice’.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is at Lowry, Salford from 3 December to 11 January 2025. Age recommendation 6+

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The one-hour monologue delivered with by knowing insouciance by Jac Wheble whom first we see getting ready to go back stage, applying her make-up and a brave front in order to contemplate the what-might-have-beens in her professional life.

Emily Benton tells us she is a star of stage and screen, reeling off an impressive list of theatrical and sliver screen productions, flitting between Broadway, the West End and LA.

She laments the bigger roles taken by bigger names – the Judiths and the Glendas – but is still obviously smitten with the level of success she has managed to achieve as an emigre from Down Under arriving on UK shores at the tender age of 16. Emily takes us with her on her journey from dodgy West End dance troupes where ‘you may be asked to bare your chest’ to auditions for Pans People, to fronting a Euro-pop band, to chorus line roles in Cats and beyond.

It’s a familiar tale of starlight dreams not quite turning to dust but failing to set the firmament alight and we are led to expect a neat third act in which Emily retires after a lifetime pleasantly treading the boards.

However, things take a decidedly darker approach in the second half of the play: suddenly Emily ends up in Cannock Chase (of all places) looking after a child while her errant husband enjoys the theatrical life in London. More revelations arrive to up-end our view of this ageing drama queen.

The play is full of waspish wit – Emily’s line that if you remembered the 60s you weren’t there, but if you remembered the 70s with its predatory maestros and ‘personalities’ then it was probably best to forget, being just one of many. The seedy underworld of provincial touring and the casual yet still shocking sexual exploitation of young actresses only serve dispel to any hazy notions of the ‘good old days’ of showbiz.

There is something of The Dresser and something of The Entertainer in this monologue with bite. Wheble gives us a defiant Emily, wistful yet hard-bitten, her caustic wit diluting any tenderness we may feel towards her. The acting is impeccable and the switch between light and dark impeccably handled.

Almost Famous was at The Kings Arms, Salford on 20 July continues its run at Buxton tonight (Monday 21 July) and tomorrow, ticket details here. Age guidance 12+

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Manchester playwright Ntombizodwa Nyoni has assembled the main players at the congress for a spirited evocation of that time, along with bitter personal rivalries and love interests. While the fight for independence from colonial rule gained top billing at the congress, simmering underneath were personal vendettas which threatened to undermine the congress’ aims.

At the start of the play, the main protagonists arrive in Manchester for the start of the congress:  Jomo Kenyatta, who would go on to become president of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah, who would go on to lead Ghana, Amy Ashwood-Garvey, the widow of Marcus Garvey, radical communist George Padmore, leader of the international African Service Bureau founded by CLR James, and Joe Appiah, trainee lawyer and future Ghanian statesman.

While they tease, argue and fight each other over political strategies and romantic entanglements, what comes across most strongly in the production is the total commitment to overthrowing not just the British colonial empire but the entire capitalist system which spawned it. Their fierce debates smother any personality clashes.

While the play necessarily contains many political speeches (many no doubt taken from the archives chronicling the congress), there are plenty of moments of lightness and humour in the play. After a day’s politicking, the delegates cannot wait to change their clothes and head into the city for a night of drinking and carousing. Rudolphe Mdlongwe as Makumalo Hlubi struts across the stage like a peacock vowing to “kiss women all night” and has ambitions to be Africa’s finest actor, just waiting for that call from Hollywood.

Eamonn Walker gives a fine performance as congress chair George Padmore who is trying to hold together the various factions to present a united front, while all the time resisting demands from Kwame Nkrumah (Eric Kofi Abrefa) for a chance to take a leading role in the independence movement.

The ghostly presence of W.E.B. Du Bois as the elder statement of the liberation movement haunts proceedings, turning up as he does halfway through the congress to give it his seal of approval.

Moss Side champion boxer and Communist Len Johnson (Tachia Newall) has come to report on proceedings but finds himself drawn into the radical spirit of the time and dreams of becoming an MP “to beat the colour bar”.

This is an uplifting and enriching production about an important part of Manchester and Africa’s history and Nyoni and the strong cast do full justice to the redoubtable aims of the congress and what it would go on to achieve and its lasting legacy.

Liberation is at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester from 27 June to 26 July as part of the Manchester International Festival 2025.

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It’s not hard to see why. The play is a raucous satire on the colonising grasp of Hollywood which turns a nation’s tragedy – in this case Ireland – into saccharine content for the masses layered with blarney and ‘oirish’.

Plot aside, what is perhaps most remarkable about the play is that the ‘cast’ is played by just two characters, Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn. The actors are called upon to not just play these parts but the director, stage crew, assorted village residents, and at the centre of it all the demanding Hollywood diva trying and failing to perfect her rural Irish accent.

In this production at the Bolton Octagon, Gerard McCabe and Shaun Blaney do a brilliant job of switching between the 15 different characters at the drop of a hat, often to great comic effect. The energy and sheer bravura they bring to the performance had the audience on their feet at the end of the night, if only for their display of comic Irish dancing which would even have left Michael Flatley scratching his head.

Structurally, the play has its faults. It is overlong and relies on our having empathy for a young villager – Shaun Harkin – who has killed himself after drugs and despair destroyed any hopes he had of escaping smalltown rural life. However, Harkin is no more than a cipher for Ireland’s wasted youth and as such has little dramatic heft.

Quibbles aside, this production is notable for its inventive use of AI and a cinematic backdrop which deftly references the Hollywood production at the centre of the story. Charlie and Jake are employed as extras in an extravagant film depicting Irish life at the turn of the century, where peasants dig peat and are overseen by a landlord at the ‘big house’. The film is replete with cliches and when news of Shaun Harkin’s death breaks, it is the final straw for Charlie and Jake who, with troubles of their own, lead a mini revolt to reclaim the right to ‘tell our own story’.

The show has bounce and zips along at a frenetic pace with lots of gags and slapstick set pieces as audience pleasers, as evidenced by the standing ovation at the show’s curtain.

Without wanting to give too much away, watch out for some surprise additions to the ‘cast’ at the end of this joyful show who come up on screen and add a final flourish and delight to this energetic production.

Stones in his Pockets is at Octagon Theatre, Bolton from 22 October to 2 Novemeber 2024. Age recommendation 14+

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Knowing what we know now about the show’s phenomenal global success it is hard to imagine just how experimental placing a puppet centre-stage in a major production was at the time. Morpurgo describes it as ‘making the impossible work’. It is the kind of theatrical magic that is still like gold dust.

What was ground-breaking puppetry in 2007 is no less breathtaking today. Hearts leap when young foal, Joey bounds off stage and back on again, transformed as a fully-grown horse. From the subtle rise and fall of his chest to his athletic leaps and expressive shaking of his ears, Joey is controlled almost imperceptibly by Rianna Ash (head), Chris Milford (heart) and Thomas Goodridge (hind).

It feels fitting that all three of the horse puppets on stage is described as having a heart, because the range of emotions the puppeteers elicit from these life-sized creatures is astonishing. It is a work of imaginative genius that has us rooting for them as if they were truly alive.

But this show is not simply a spectacle. At its centre is Morpurgo’s powerful and moving story of love, loss, friendship, loyalty, family, community and war, which follows the journey of teenager, Albert Narracott (Tom Sturgess) and his horse who are separately enlisted to fight in the French trenches.

The 35-strong cast make for some imposing scenes, heightening the drama through sheer numbers and emotive song, with both chorus and solos by Sally Swanson as The Singer. This new production, directed by Morris with revival director Katie Henry, somehow feels even tighter and more immersive than Marianne Elliott’s original multi-award-winning vision. The action never lets up for a second as the scenes move from a horse-market to a ploughed field; the open sea to the confines of the trenches; an occupied farm to a military hospital.

Rae Smith’s design aids the storytelling through a series of related sketches and animations projected overhead on a screen resembling a torn-out page from the sketch book in which Lieutenant Nicholls (Chris Williams) first captures the galloping freedom of Joey. Further layers are added with effective use of lighting, realistic soundscape and musical soundtrack.

There is no doubt we are at war as the explosion of shells reverberate through the auditorium, coupled with blinding lights, flashes of debris and countless bodies.

The drama hits harder because we know its setting is true. One million horses were taken to France from Britain to support the war effort. Of those only 62,000 were returned – a loss matched by the loss of young men’s lives (and that was just on the British side). The wars still raging today provide further resonance and pause for thought. Is it any wonder there was barely a dry eye in the house?

War Horse is the most popular play in the National Theatre’s history and judging from the emotional response to the opening of this new production it may well be the most powerful play of this century. Don’t miss it.

War Horse is a show for all ages from children aged 10+. If you’re thinking of taking children along, this is what our 12-year-old theatre buddy had to say:

“I liked War Horse because it had so many different views of World War I. I think it is good for someone my age because I can empathise but I also know it is just a show even though it does feel real. Also, because I have done WWI in school – I remembered places and could understand the setting so it resonated with me.

“The action was brilliant, the emotion could be felt, the puppeteers were great, the sound effects made it feel more real, and the graphics brought it all together – everything was just what you want to see.

“I think Michael Morpurgo or someone he knows must have had that kind of relationship with a horse because it was so heartfelt”.

War Horse is at The Lowry, Salford from 18 – 28 September 2024 to before continuing on tour until November 2025. Age recommendation 10+

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Dodie Smith’s children’s book is most well-known for its Disney screen adaptations: the classic 1961 animation and 1996 live-action version starring Glenn Close as the most wicked of villains Cruella De Vil.

This musical stage adaptation by Zinnie Harrie takes the basic plot of the story and its colourful characters adding some modern twists and a whole new score by Douglas Hodge.

The show opens with a filthy dalmatian stray being taken into a dog’s home where a chorus of caged dogs of all shapes and sizes sing for someone, anyone to take them home.

Who with a heart could ignore their puppy dog eyes? Well certainly not the lovely dog warden Danielle (Jessie Elland – Emmerdale’s Chloe Harris). The poor dog’s smelly state earns him the name Pongo, but when a soapy bath reveals his beautiful spotted coat, Danielle is smitten.

One good turn deserves another, so Pongo decides it’s time to do some rescuing of kind but lonely Danielle. As luck would have it, he meets Perdi and Tom (Samuel Thomas) in the park. A few orchestrated twirls of the lead later and they are all wrapped up in love with a litter of puppies on the way. What could go wrong?

Enter Kym Marsh, setting out a stall to have pantomime companies fighting to cast her as their next and best villain. As fashionista Cruella De Vil, who will stop at nothing to get her unique coat of dalmatian puppy fur, Marsh strikes the perfect family balance between fearsome and funny. Her comic timing hits every time, making for genuine laugh out loud moments. Most importantly for a musical, Marsh, who started out in Popstars band Hear’say, can belt out an impressive tune. Being a new musical none of the songs are instantly familiar, but the live band and strong vocals makes for an enjoyable musical experience that carries the story along with all the fun of a litter of pups.

Charles Brunton and Danny Hendrix bring light-hearted foolery to Casper and Jasper, Cruella’s nephews and hapless accomplishes in crime. But the reason we care so much is because our hearts have been won by the tremendous puppetry that brings the dalmatian family to life.

Linford Johnson and Emma Thornett act, sing and control the puppet strings for Pongo and Perdi making us believe in their joyous, playful leaps as if we were watching real dogs on stage.

But what about the real dalmatian puppy you’ve seen with Kym Marsh in the pre-publicity images? Well, there may just be another surprise to up the feel-good ante.

Oh, my heart melts – take me home quickly to hug my dog.

Runaway Entertainment’s 101 Dalmatians The Musical is at The Palace Theatre, Manchester from 30 July to 10 August 2024 before continuing on its first UK tour.

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Working on that befuddled modern interpretation, I declare this Chichester Festival production of Coram Boy a veritable curate’s egg.

First, the good parts: Simon Higlett’s striking two-level set design, and Emma Chapman’s exceptionally evocative and moody lighting design. We can add to that some lovely singing and some nifty “choreography,” courtesy of movement director, Chi-San Howard.

The rest, sad to say, is less than good. Anna Ledwich’s direction does little to help actors struggling to breathe life and genuine emotion into Helen Edmundson’s overcrowded adaptation of Jamila Gavin’s novel. There are too many scenes, flitting across too many storylines, too much repetitive, clunky, on-the-nose and bluntly expository dialogue, and it all goes on far too long. (At least 30 minutes too long, at a charitable estimate).

The story is set in the first half of the eighteenth century – the time when Handel (George Frideric) was living in London and widely held to be the greatest composer who had ever lived. Young Alexander Ashbrook (Louisa Binder who, by the way, sings beautifully) adores the work of this maestro, nursing ambitions to become a great composer himself. Problem is, Alexander is also heir to the largest estate in Gloucestershire. Worse still, his father, Sir William Ashbrook (Harry Gostelow), is a tyrant who cares nothing for music and everything for the wealth and power he will pass on to his eldest boy.

Not quite 15-years-old and with an angelic voice that has not yet broken (but is about to) the plucky Alexander faces down his bullying father (not very 18th century, I suspect). Obsessed with his art, Alexander has no time for the lovely friend of the family, Melissa Milcote (Rhianna Doris), until she sneaks a harpsichord into the cellar for him to play in secret, at which point, he declares her to be “lovely” and they have sex (it’s not clear what age he and she are, at this point).

Village simpleton, Meshak Gardiner (Aled Gomer), who seems to believe Melissa is an angel, inadvertently witnesses the passionate act, which strikes him as sacrilege. In a rage, Meshak destroys the harpsichord. Believing this to be his father’s doing, Alexander runs away from home (and so does not find out until much later that he’s left poor Melissa up the duff).

Having endured the sex scene, we are now treated to the birthing scene. Melissa is persuaded by the dastardly housekeeper, Mrs Lynch (Jo McInnes) to handover the newborn boy to the even more dastardly Otis Gardiner (murderous, scheming father of the disturbed but more or less decent, Meshak).

One of Gardiner Senior’s rackets has been accepting payment from young mothers in “difficulty,” with the promise of securing their infants refuge in the Foundling Hospital, recently established in London by one Thomas Coram (real place, real person, genuine history, worth looking up). The double-dastardly Otis has instead been killing and burying the babes, while pocketing the cash and other trinkets handed over by their desperate mothers.

Since this particular newborn is the child of his “Angel,” Meshak saves him from his father’s murderous intentions. The child (the son of Melissa and Alexander) lives to become a Coram Boy. What might become of the boy, now known as Aaron Dangerfield (Louisa Binder, again)?

I leave you to guess the answer. Expect huge dollops of cloying sentimentality, heaps of shamelessly manipulative plot-twists and increasingly implausible coincidences.

As Victor Meldrew would surely have said: “I don’t believe it.”

Coram Boy by Helen Edmondson and based on the novel by Jamila Gavin is at The Lowry from 21-29 June 2024. Age guidance 12+

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“Birthmarked” offers up excellent musicianship, catchy songs, some beautiful vocals, some laughs, some tears, and lots and lots of fabulous campness.

Less a musical, more a ‘new concept gig’, “Birthmarked” is Tate’s account of life as a young gay man raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Delivered in direct address with humour and panache, punctuated with some fine original compositions, the telling, as you might imagine, is not just one of self-discovery, but of cruelty, poignancy and loss.

Cleanliness may be next to godliness but, in the view of the three Elders who “de-fellowship” him, on the scale of debauchery, homosexuality is right next to bestiality. Once ‘de-fellowshipped,’ the sinner must not be spoken to – even by friends and close family members – no matter that in Brook Tate’s case, he was still living with his family. He gives a heart-rending account of helping his sister unpack her shopping in mutually tearful silence.

The artsy scene of Bristol and renewed contact with uncle Adrian (himself long de-fellowshipped) provide Tate’s first steps along his own road to a kind of salvation.

Gayle the Whale (voiced by excellent percussionist, Eva Redman) is both nemesis and foil for Tate’s narrative, eventually tempting this gay Jonah (and the rest of his band) into her belly – from which they will emerge… even more fabulous and outrageously camp (of course!)

Tate is not afraid to ad-lib and improvise – nor should he be, he does it with verve and shameless wit. The 90 minute (no interval) show is good value for money. Stick around for the tap dancing zebra (in platform heels).

Along with Redman, the other four musicians (Tom Bonson, Samuel Fox, Sam Fox – yes, two of them – and Eddie Benfield) clearly buy into the project, playing with passion and unafraid to be more than a little fabulous in their own right.

Although there is a reference to sex in China (Tate was there for religious reasons) it’s done with a nod and a wink (and no jokes about missionaries and positions). Parents will, of course, use their own judgement, but there’s nothing here remotely like Olly Alexander’s Eurovision bump and grind.

The encore song (dedicated to his Grandma Maude) is the most touching and most beautifully sung number of the evening. Tate has a truly lovely tenor voice that can soar into a countertenor reminiscent of Jeff Buckley.

He finishes the night by clambering down to chat to the audience (in full regalia). A little boy on his birthday and his even littler sister are rightly thrilled by this close encounter. Charm and human warmth ooze from him, even done-up as a mohican zebra.

Two shows to go at the Lowry. Go see!

Birthmarked is at The Lowry, Salford from 29-31 May 2024.

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