The rising popularity of Cirque du Soleil has upped the ante for all circus troupes, large and small. Audiences are demanding more from circus entertainment but smaller companies are rising to the challenge with quirky, multi-talented acts, of which...
It’s not yet 10am and already there’s barely a spare seat to be had in Manchester’s Palace Theatre such is the pull of children’s TV favourite, Peppa Pig. I’m here with my four-year-old nephew. The age guide is three plus, but looking around there...
There are few English novels more well-known and loved than Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Although in recent years that probably has more to do with TV and big screen adaptations than with the book itself. This stage adaptation by Simon...
We often look back on the 1960s as a time of anything goes and sexual revolution. For a small elite it may have been. But for the majority of young people it was probably not unlike the world of Amanda Whittington’s Be My Baby. Here we see...
Britain’s oldest dance company, Rambert, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this autumn. And if its audience at The Lowry is anything to go by, the company has plenty of young fans to fill theatres for another 90. It helps that Rambert is now on...
It is seven years since Feelgood Theatre last performed at Heaton Park, and its close association with the site has been missed. Whispers of Heaton is a welcome return for the company, which after 16 previous promenade productions has become very...
Sarah Waters’ Second World War tale, The Night Watch, has already won critical acclaim – first as a novel in 2006 (being shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange prizes), and later as a BBC drama. Hattie Naylor’s stage adaptation...
Charles Dicken’s classic tale of a young orphan boy, Oliver Twist continues to be a rich source of inspiration for the creative imagination. Here the story is told through dance, but as the title suggests, there is a twist. London-based, Avant Garde...
In its Seventies heyday Jackie magazine sold more than a million copies every week, to teenage girls eager to learn about fashion, beauty, pop-music, life and love. Fast-forward 40 years and those same girls are asking the same questions, only they...
Bowing out of classical ballet at age 42, Carlos Acosta has had a long and illustrious career, the kind of which most dancers can only dream. In this, his classical farewell, Acosta celebrates both his career and the art form which has brought him...
Carmel Thomason