No-one knows the true number of children and young people under the age of 18, who have responsibilities for looking after a parent or sibling. Official UK figures put the number somewhere around 160,000 but if it’s true, as some think, that the...
Long before Harry Potter was imagined Roald Dahl captured the appeal of young wizardry in George’s Marvellous Medicine. This year marks 100 years since the birth of the much-loved children’s author and as part of the centenary celebrations...
There are few things in life we know to be true, and one is that there is nothing as complex as families. They have been at the heart of good drama for centuries, and in this new play Andrew Bovell takes us into their darkest secrets and most...
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...










