It feels a natural progression these days for popular children’s books to make their way to the stage, especially when the author is Julia Donaldson. Tall Stories, whose previous productions at the Lowry include Donaldson’s The Gruffalo and Room on...
Making Maxine Peake an Associate Artist of the Royal Exchange has enabled a growing creative partnership with Artistic Director, Sarah Frankcom, in which both actor and director are given freedom to explore the boundaries of their disciplines. After...
Rudyard Kipling’s collection of short stories, ‘The Jungle Book’ has been enchanting children for more than 100 years. Today most people know his famous characters, Mowgli, Baloo and Shere Khan, from the Disney adaptations – a cartoon...
At a time when Cold War rivalries are re-emerging, we could once again be facing a period of history where Russia appears a very different land. A new translation of Chekhov’s final play, The Cherry Orchard, by Rory Mullarkey promises to be truer to...
At the toss of a coin the company decides on stage which of two actors will take the crown as Elizabeth I and who will lose her head as Mary Stuart. This device, more a spin than a flip, is magnified on screens around the auditorium, while Juliet...
One of the great beauties of circus is its ability to cross boundaries of language, age and, for many of us, what we might imagine is physically possible. In the Little Mermaid, the multi-talented Metta theatre team use their circus skills to push...
The 10th anniversary revival of Kneehigh’s musical adaptation of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter has been one of the most anticipated theatrical events this year. And in many ways, a story about longing is all the better for the wait. Embracing the...
Mental illness, once hidden away, is now being talked of in the public sphere like never before. It therefore feels timely for the Royal Exchange to make it the topic of a new play, but with that comes a heavy weight. Despite the constant feed of...
Ben Adams first rose to fame at age 16, as lead singer of boyband a1. Since then, he’s proved to be an all-round entertainer, working as a singer-songwriter, music producer and regular reality TV favourite – a finalist in Celebrity Big Brother...
More than 400 years on, Hamlet is still one of the most complex characters in English literature and one of the most coveted stage roles. In the last ten years we’ve seen David Tennant in the role with the RSC, and elsewhere star casting saw Jude...
Carmel Thomason