Since debuting at the 2025 Brighton Fringe, the show has continued to evolve with each performance using puppetry and physical theatre to deliver a raw and emotional message alongside its bizarre premise of a woman who falls in love with a hoover.

Claudia talks to Holly Critchley about the catharsis that comes with turning trauma into art and the challenges of confronting her abuse onstage.

Split Ends uses the surreal image of a woman falling in love with a vacuum cleaner. Where did that idea come from?

Claudia: “I’ve always had an OCD compulsion to cut my own hair, and yet this relationship I was in happened to be with the hairiest man in the world. His hairs would shed all over my apartment and I became obsessed with vacuuming them up. But they just kept appearing. My compulsion had transpired into just vacuuming up all his hair, and I realised how the hair grows back and repeats its cycles was such a good metaphor for being stuck in a controlling relationship.”

What kind of relationship were you enduring?

Claudia: “I was in a vulnerable place already when I got into a relationship that quickly became emotionally abusive. The man I was with would pick at my self-esteem, and keep on picking and picking. He would be a bad boyfriend, but if I confronted him on his behaviour, he would have astounding manipulation skills. The more this cycle happened, the more vulnerable I got, and suddenly I could no longer stand up for myself.”

Has performing ‘Split Ends’ so many times changed your understanding of your own experiences?

Claudia: “Definitely. Mainly, performing the piece has validated my experience – what happened to me was abuse, and I wasn’t dramatising it. When I first performed it was the first time that I got clarity. The feedback from the audience was so important. It reminded me that what happened to me shouldn’t have happened and this show wasn’t exploiting that. I didn’t have the proper words for the experience, so performing the show was at first semi for myself to express my emotions. But people would tell me how Split Ends really touched them, so it eventually became less for me and more as a way to connect with other people and validate their experiences of abusive relationships. As more time has passed, I’ve become more detached from the material, which has made it easier to perform than it was in the beginning.”

How do you balance art with heaviness when portraying coercive control on stage?

Claudia: “I use the vacuum and a piece of scissors as a puppet for my abuser. It’s inherently absurd, but it provides some levity too. But I’ve also faced criticism before that the play is too raw or too real, like watching someone go through it in real time.”

What do you hope audiences take away from ‘Split Ends’?

Claudia: “I wasn’t expecting so many people to reach out to me after performances, but so many have told me they experienced something similar and didn’t have the words for it. A lot of people are gaslit to such an extent that they struggle to even identify what happened to them. As heartbreaking as those messages can be, they’ve also shown me how important these conversations are. If the show helps even one person recognise those patterns in their own relationship, then it’s worth doing.”

Split Ends comes to Contact, Manchester on 19 and 20 May 2026.

The post Claudia Shnier talks toxic relationships and confronting her trauma head on appeared first on Quays Life.

Quays Life chats to director Nikolai Foster ahead of the show’s world premiere at Lowry Salford.

Some might think this is an unlikely story to be put on stage – how has ‘Bank of Dave the Musical’ come about?

Nikolai: “Several years ago Matt Williams, CEO of Future Artists Entertainment (the company who produced ‘Bank of Dave’ on Netflix) felt this David versus Goliath tale of a man from Burnley taking on the big city bankers could become a great musical. Matt met with our collaborators at ROYO and soon after, Rob Madge and Pippa Cleary were brought on board as writers and Curve and Lowry joined the project as co-producers.

“At the heart of ‘Bank of Dave’ we have what all musicals need: a larger-than-life character who can drive the piece forward. For me, Dave is the real-life ‘Barnum of Burnley’, so it felt perfectly natural to imagine this story staged as a musical. After a number of years in workshops, we’re now here in rehearsals, ready to share the show with the world!”

You’ve directed a wide variety of productions in your career – from huge shows like ‘Billy Elliot’, ‘A Chorus Line’, ‘Kinky Boots’ and ‘Annie’ to dramas like ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’. How are you approaching directing ‘Bank of Dave the Musical’ compared to your previous work?

Nikolai: “From my point of view, no matter what show you’re working on as a director, you’re a shapeshifter, responding to the writing and what best serves the piece. I always think of it like a triangle between the artists – in this case, the writers Rob and Pippa – the actors who bring the piece to life on stage and the audience who respond to it.

“The humour and the wit of this piece is so exhilarating. In rehearsals, we’ve been working with the actors in the most dynamic and imaginative ways to serve Rob and Pippa’s writing, hopefully to share a musical with audiences that is as fun and exciting as the book and music they’ve provided us with”.

How important was it to launch the show in the ‘north’? It feels like this adds authenticity to bringing Dave’s incredible story to life on stage?

Nikolai: “Dave himself was really keen we should open the show as close to Burnley as possible and that makes perfect sense. We’re thrilled the world-premiere of the production will be held at the terrific Lowry theatre in Salford, close to the Pennines and Dave’s place of birth, where he stills lives to this day.

“‘Bank of Dave the Musical’ reflects the experiences and lives of many real people in the community of Burnley but like all great plays and musicals, it transcends that location and reflects experiences of modern working-class life and post-industrial life all up and down the country”.

Why should audiences be excited to experience new productions like this?

Nikolai: “Supporting new work is so important and really, anybody who cares about the future of theatre should be interested in new work because it’s the lifeblood of our industry. Once upon a time ‘My Fair Lady’ was new, ‘The Sound of Music’ was new, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ was new, ‘West Side Story’ was new – it was those audiences who took a punt and were excited to celebrate that new work that helped ensure those musicals and plays lived long and have remained part of the repertoire.

“This is such a funny, brilliant piece of writing and I think it’s really going to blow people’s minds with how hilarious, how moving and how original it is. You get the tone and grit of ‘Billy Elliot’ with the subversive, naughty, northern humour of Victoria Wood and Alan Bennett. It really is brilliant”.

Dave Fishwick is a real, larger-than-life figure – what can you tell us about Sam Lupton’s interpretation of Dave in the show?

Nikolai: “Sam is obviously being true to the essence of who Dave is but it’s not about an impersonation of Dave, it’s about creating a character within the world of the musical. Sam is an incredibly gifted star, a real triple threat.

“It took us a long time to find our Dave because we were so determined to find the right person. When Sam came into the room it was clear he had the star quality and charisma to really ignite the musical and embody the essence of Dave Fishwick through the medium of song and dance”.

How are things going in the rehearsal room? The photographs look like everyone is having a lot of fun?

Nikolai: “I think sometimes we’re having too much fun! There’s a lot of hilarity and literal tears of laughter – I honestly haven’t laughed so much in a long time. The writing is hilarious and the actors have really bonded. Everything has come together in the best possible way to create a really fun and beautifully chaotic rehearsal process and I know the audience will feel that energy and anarchy. I think we’ll need to see if Dave’s minibus company has a supply of extra seatbelts because audiences will be bursting out of their seats with laughter, I’m sure!”

What can audiences expect when they come to ‘Bank of Dave the Musical’?

Nikolai: “You are guaranteed a night of side-splitting hilarity and incredible songs, all performed with joy, love and enthusiasm by our phenomenal company. In these very uncertain times, we want to give people the chance to come to the theatre and see a show which says something hopeful about the world and how we can make a difference for our communities”.

Bank of Dave the Musical premieres at Lowry, Salford from 6-16 May 2026 with a further run at Leicester Curve from 20-30 May.

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What do you love about playing Joe?

Les: “I played the father Wilbur in Hairspray who was devoted to his wife and daughter, and I love this show just as much. Joe is a surrogate dad to the main character Jenna. He’s described as curmudgeonly, but with a buttercream centre. He doesn’t give much away, he’s a bit snappy but he really cares about Jenna”.

Why is the show Waitress like it’s famous pies?

Les: “It is a really lovely show, with so many layers. It seems more to me like a play with music than a full-on musical. It deals with so many issues, with domestic violence, with love, lost dreams and the power of female friendship. Audiences will both laugh and cry and see incredible singers. I mean, our cast is amazing”.

Are music theatre performers looked down on compared to straight theatre?

Les: “Absolutely right. And yet they are a triple threat, they have to be able to do everything at the highest level. I mean, the acting is paramount in this. The story really has to be beautifully acted”.

Did you get the same comments as a comic rather than a straight actor?

Les: “Oh yeah. There’s definitely judgement and yet Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean said on his deathbed, ‘Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.’

“I think audiences get lulled into enjoying it so much, thinking, ‘Oh, he’s just having a good time.’ Yeah, we are all loving what we’re doing. But it doesn’t mean that, you know, it’s easy to do it!

“If you sing a song, you get applause. If you time a joke wrong, there’s nothing.
And when we get the chance to play the drama, we can do it because it’s the flip side of the coin. You know, Les Dawson was a very good serious actor when he wanted to be. You had to hold him down if he got bored, though”.

Do you feel you get more respect now for your acting?

Les: “I get a kind of respect. It’s not grudging, it’s confused because I do things they don’t expect me to. Denise Welch and I always used to ring each other after doing a play and say, ‘Were you a revelation?’”

Have you even surprised yourself?

Les: “Oh yeah. I did Anna Karenina last year. I loved that. I did Venice Preserved with my niece Jodie McNee playing my daughter. If my mum had been around to see her son and granddaughter onstage at the RSC she would have been so proud”.

Are you starting your own acting dynasty?

Les: “I’m very supportive that my daughter Eleanor (aged 18) is interested in acting and my son Tom (aged 15) was really great in a recent school production of School of Rock. I offer to run lines with them and they go, ‘No. I’m fine.’ They appreciate what I do and they’ve been in to watch rehearsals for Waitress, but they want to go their own way, which is great”.

What are you looking forward to on tour?

Les: “I’m looking forward to going back to Liverpool, my hometown. People there love their theatre, love their art. I used to go to the Everyman Theatre when I was at school, and I would watch Jonathan Pryce, Bernard Hill, Julie Walters, Pete Postlethwaite. There’s so much great art outside of London, and people really love it. It’s an embrace of community, of the beauty of life”.

What would you say to the government about regional theatre?

Les: “Theatre everywhere has had some knocks but should most definitely be funded outside London. We should appreciate what we’ve got”.

Have you ever had any mishaps on tour?

Les: “I did three years of panto in Liverpool with Cilla Black, Henry Winkler and then Pamela Anderson. She was lovely. She’d go into the local pub for a cider every night. She didn’t arrive until dress rehearsal and on opening night she flew in on a Vivienne Westwood swing and said, ‘Good evening Wimbledon!’ which is where she was the year before”.

Joe’s big number ‘Take It From An Old Man’ tells Jenna how the scars from life made him stronger. What has shaped you?

Les: “I did a double act with a man who I absolutely adored, Dustin Gee (Gerald Harrison). He was my best friend for a very short time. We met on Russ Abbott’s Madhouse in 1982 and I was having the time of my life with one of the funniest men I’ve ever known. His life was cut ridiculously short in 1986 at the age of 43 when we were flying high with our own TV show. We were in panto at the Southport Theatre at the time. We were being likened to the new Two Ronnies and it suddenly all went away.

“I was in a terrible state and actually went on stage the day after Dustin died, with Jim Bowen replacing him. Now I would not do that. I was convinced by promoters and agents that I had to do it.

“So, yeah, those scars are there”.

Attitudes to masculinity and mental health must be so different today from when you grew up?

Les: “When I first talked about being in therapy, it was frowned upon.

“Now people would check that I was okay. But this was 1986 and, and I was just told you’ve got to get on with it. You got to do it. The whole company went to Dustin’s funeral, but we couldn’t stay for the wake, because we had to go back for an evening show. I look back at that and just think that was wrong, and I didn’t get a chance to grieve and that’s why my first marriage (to Lynne Webster) collapsed, because I was just totally lost”.

What do you think of how Waitress presents so many different types of masculinity from Jenna’s toxic husband Earl to the very sweet Ogie?

Les: “There’s so much depth to this show. There’s a tragedy to Earl, to his destroyed dreams and how he takes it out on his wife.

“I think men are in a difficult phase right now, but we’ve got to support each other.

“My wife, Claire (Nicholson), will say, ‘Hey, hold my hand,’ because I still fear public displays of affection.

“I call her Claire in the community. She’s amazing, looking after us all and looking and looking after everybody, if she can”.

What have learned from her?

Les: “You’ve got to trust and love the people that you love, and you’ve got to show them that.

“I remember I stopped kissing my dad when I was about 13 or 14, because a school friend made fun of it. I really regret that.

“What I really love is that when I talk to Tom on the phone or he’s getting out the car to go to school, he always says, ‘I love you.’ That’s beautiful every single time. Tom kisses me, and, you know, gives me a hug all the time. I love it”.

It sounds like you’re in great place?

Les: “I’ve got a great, lovely family, lovely wife. I’m still here, still doing it. I love being in this business. I love the different things that are thrown my way. I did HMS Pinafore with the English National Opera. I did a season at the Royal Shakespeare Company. If I get a challenge, then I run for it”.

Waitress is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester from 26-30 May 2026.

The post “Men are in a difficult phase right now, but we’ve got to support each other” – Les Dennis appeared first on Quays Life.

Since its world premiere in 2017 the show, by The Old Vic’s Artistic Director Matthew Warchus, has been seen by almost a million people in London, America and Australia, and across the globe as part of OLD VIC: IN CAMERA in 2020. But this is the first time UK audiences will have had a chance to see it outside London, where it will also run for its tenth consecutive year at The Old Vic.

“To now be able to share the joy of this production with the Lowry and its audiences makes this year a truly special one,” says director Matthew  Warchus. “I am immensely proud of the impact it continues to have on audiences – whether it be their first time seeing the show or one visit of many”.

This production sees Charles Dickens’ famous tale of Ebenezeer Scrooge, adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child), and audiences can expect a big-hearted show full of music and festive cheer.

“We know North West audiences are in for something very special this festive season and everyone at the Lowry is delighted to be welcoming the show to Salford and presenting it on our Lyric stage,” says Lowry’s Chief Executive, Julia Fawcett.  “It’s the first time the show will have been presented in the UK outside of London – a real landmark moment for theatre in the region. We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with The Old Vic – one of the UK’s leading theatres – to present their landmark production of A Christmas Carol – one of the most exciting, joyous and moving Christmas productions you’ll ever see”.

Matthew Warchus’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ comes to Lowry, Salford from 11 December 2026 to 10 January 2027.

The post The Old Vic’s multi-award winning A Christmas Carol comes to Lowry, Salford appeared first on Quays Life.

Kuchipudi is an incredible form of dance. What drew you to it?

Payal: “So I started training in Kuchipudi when I was four. I did not have much of an understanding of what the dance style was at that time; I got started into it by my parents. But it’s a South Indian classical dance form. If I were to draw a parallel with something you may be familiar with, it would be ballet — not stylistically, but in terms of its structure and the discipline it requires.

“It’s replete with footwork and hand gestures. It’s a way of communication and storytelling. We use a lot of facial expressions to communicate ideas and tell stories, really using the whole body. Rhythm forms the backbone of it, and it’s very rich musically — they go hand in hand, of course. I mean, music and dance naturally go together, so that’s essentially what Kuchipudi is.”

What inspired you to create this work around motherhood and miscarriage?

Payal: “It’s a combination of several factors. I’m at that stage where I’ve been contemplating motherhood myself, but I’ve also watched others on their own journeys. The work I make usually stems from a place of curiosity — that’s my entry point into any project. It comes from feeling like I don’t know enough about a particular idea or subject, and wanting to explore it further. Motherhood is not just a simplistic term. It is a landscape of emotions. I make work that I feel needs to be spoken about.

“For me, dance is the medium I choose because it gives me a way to discover and better understand that subject matter. Then I invite people onto that journey with me — I share it with the audience, who can take part either as spectators or participants, depending on how the work unfolds.”

Do you think it’s easy to cover powerful topics through art and dance?

Payal:“I don’t know if it’s easy, but I would certainly say that it’s my way. It’s my medium, it’s the medium that I know best, it’s the medium where I can express myself to the best of my ability. So that’s my medium. Dance helps me express myself best. I think there are a lot of things that remain unsaid. Art is a great way of telling people things. I think art remains with you, even when you leave a performance. The performance stays with you for a long time. And that is the beauty of art. That is the impact that art has on people.”

How long have you been working on ‘Just Enough Madness’?

Payal: “It was born, I think, somewhere around 2019. So, it’s been a long, long time. There were gaps in between, but it was always there in my mind. Even while I was working on other productions, there would be times when I would revisit it and then just let it simmer in the background and then come back to it. It’s been through different phases. It’s been re-researched and redeveloped, and now we’re finally doing this pilot tour with hopefully a more extensive tour next year.”

How can you convince someone to come watch?

Payal: “I think everyone has either been a witness to motherhood or experienced it themselves. You know, we’ve either seen our own mothers or watched a sister, a wife, or a friend go through the journey of motherhood. And if you are someone who has witnessed it or been on that journey yourself, I would just say: come see a glimpse of yourself in it, and come to recognise the emotional labour, the rigour that a woman goes through. I’m not talking about the physical aspect so much — I mean the more unsaid truths of motherhood. Yeah. So I think it’s really a way of celebrating motherhood in the truest sense of the word, not just superficially.”

Just Enough Madness & Caught in the Net of Rebirth is at Lowry, Salford on Tuesday 31 March 2026.

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Blending absurdist comedy with reflections of ambition, creativity and what comes next after a goal has finally been achieved, the show has been described as “demented, meticulous, oddly moving” and a comedy that feels like “a genuine work of art.”

Anastasia Tirca meets him to find out more about the origins of the show, the strange journey behind it and what audiences can expect when the curtain rises.

What is the main message you want audiences to take from the show?

Joz: “It’s such a stupid show. I’m a character comedian and the things that I most like are just really stupid.

“One of the big things we were trying to do was just make something that people would find very silly. But it’s also kind of about wishing your life away, I guess. Like the idea of it is that I play a character who has been working on his life’s work and throughout the show, it’s sort of vague, but he is promising to unveil it for the first time during this show. As it goes on, it becomes clear how much that’s cost him and how much he’s driven himself insane with the idea of doing this amazing thing.

“It is sort of talking about the way in which we put so much of our lives off into the future – once I finish doing this thing or once I’ve got that ready, then I’ll finally be able to do everything else. So it’s sort of about that state – what will it take for us to actually start living our lives kind of thing?

“The show does all that under the surface of something that is just very, very much about chaos and about nonsense”.

Does the comedy reflect the reality of the story the way it should?

Joz: “I mean, for me, my favourite comedies are the ones that while laughing at it and while being in hysterics at something, it also managed to make you actually think about something in a new way. And I think comedy can make you do that in ways better than drama can.

“I really love making stuff that sits in that middle ground where you’re watching something very stupid and for some reason you’re being made to think about this bigger picture as well. I really like exploring those crossovers. When an audience is laughing, then I think in a way they are more receptive to the idea that when it turns out to be about something meaningful, it sneaks up on us more”.

What can you share about the process of writing and creating the show?

Joz: “It is a solo fringe show and the myth of those things is always that they’re very driven by one person. When you go to the Fringe, it’s all posters with one person’s face and one person’s name on it. So the show is like, Joz Norris. I did write and perform it, but this gets in the way of the fact that it’s still a product of such a collaborative process, because I had a director, and I had a consultant on it, who did a lot of story input and design input. So, I did write the material, but even then, that becomes part of a conversation with the team where we talk about other people chucking ideas for jokes or they’ll go, this bit should be streamlined or it would be funny if this bit went more in this direction.

“It’s technically written by me, but I always think the fringe in particular is quite bad at reminding people that there’s a whole team of people around things”.

Do you think taking it to the fringe has altered the show in any way, and did you modify it for the tour and the Lowry performance?

Joz: “It’s the model that I know, I started doing the Fringe years ago, I’m most comfortable with making shows that fit that format and I’m most comfortable knowing how to position something with that audience. But I think the more you do it, the better you get at learning how to make something that could speak outside of that as well, because the Fringe is amazing, but it’s a bit of a weird bubble. It has so much importance for the comedy industry.  So with this show, I think the fact that we’re now touring theatres with it and it had a nice enough run in Edinburgh to kind of to create that momentum to take it on tour. In Edinburgh, everyone’s already primed for something very chaotic and absurdist and stupid. The way in which it unfolds sort of plays out differently with different audiences. You can give a show a whole other life after the Fringe, because normally I do the Fringe and then I chuck the show in the bin and then that’s it. So taking it out to other cities around the place has been really cool, really fun.

“It wasn’t its first ever performance at the Fringe, but it was its first kind of launch.
It is my 1st time performing at the Lowry. I directed a show that launched there a couple of years ago. Eddie Hearst, who is an amazing comedian based in Manchester did a show, which was developed with the Lowry and premiered there at the end of 2024. I’ve worked with the Lowry before and was up there quite a lot helping develop that. But I’ve never actually performed there. So I’m really looking forward to it”.

What inspired you to write this?

Joz: “All of my shows end up being character comedy shows where I play a character with my name who is quite similar to me and in some ways it could be a stand-up show. The stuff that’s happening in the show is so stupid that it’s obviously fictional. So the things that happen to my character in this show are very much imaginative, absurdist, stupid things. But it was based on the feeling of once I’ve managed to complete this thing, then my life will carry on.

“I made a show in a literalising way, to try and tell myself to stop having that feeling. It is sort of a way of reminding myself how pointless it is to get stuck in thinking that way. Any stand-up is basically comics playing a version of themselves, so the character also has my name.

“It’s a one-man show, although there’s sort of offstage voices and things that we don’t see. It’s more of a narrative than a stand-up show.

“My background is mostly stand-up. I started doing it in University and then it just became what I did. I was like: I’m going to London and work it all out. I hopped from temp job to temp job for a while, until I had enough of a stable career in comedy that was what I did”.

How do you find doing this show with no ensemble? How is that different?

Joz: “It takes a while getting used to it because particularly the stuff I grew up with loving the most was TV comedies, which obviously are lots of characters interacting with each other. So the way my brain automatically goes towards finding things funny is that I very often make characters have phone calls in shows or talk to somebody off stage or trying to put them into dialogue with things. I think I’ve also got better in the last few years with having a team around a show, so it feels a bit less isolated. I’ve got an amazing tech and a tour manager who goes around with me and it’s so good on the timings of everything. So it’s nice when there’s a family of people around a show in a way, and it slightly insulates against the fact of it’s just you on stage for an hour.  Part of the team was John Britton who was the director. Miranda Holms was the creative consultant and script consultant. James Hingley was the technician. Grace Gibson did movement direction on it, because there’s a little bit of dancing in it, she taught me just how to dance well enough to get away with it”.

What goal do you want to reach with the show?

Joz: “I think with this particular show, it already surpassed so many goals for it because it had such a lovely run in Edinburgh and this thing of being able to take it on the road and meet more audiences. I think that’s always the hope with a show is you just keep finding new ways to reach more people with it, which this one is in the process of doing.

“We would like to film it because once you’ve taken it to all the venues that want it, then comes the thing of how do you preserve it so that it’s not just something everyone remembers? So I think we might try and film one of the performances. There is also a bit of me that wants to try and explore the idea of it as a feature film as well. But obviously making a film is another mountain to climb. So I think it’s nice that there’s a blueprint for something.

“I think this is my best show yet. I always hope that every show I do feels like it’s an evolution from the last one. I think by the time you finish a show, you can always see what you couldn’t see while you were inside it, which then means the next one, you’re sort of deliberately going in the right direction. We’re doing about 12 dates in 12 places around the UK.  Which is great and I feel very happy with that and it’s my 1st tour around the UK. This is show number 7 that I have done overall, but 3 of them are probably in the comedy theatre space”.

Do you think the comedy  aspect of the show transmits the message that you want to the audience to gain in the correct way?

Joz: “I’m never precious about exactly how I want audiences to leave and it tends to be either because of the way in which the show is structured and because of what happens towards the end. People either leave at the end just very hysterical and giggly, because the ending is very stupid and dumb. Or it becomes so stupid by the end that there’s almost a glimmer of pathos in it or actually meaning something. So sometimes people leave, weirdly moved by it and they come up to me and say: thank you so much. I really don’t have a preference on those 2 things. I think both are really valid responses. When I see people just leaving very giggly and trying to calm down after losing it for a bit, then I find that really lovely. And when I see audience members who took something away from it I am a bit touched”.

Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes is at Lowry, Salford on 24 Aril 2026.

The post Joz Norris on getting silly and serious in You Wait. Time Passes appeared first on Quays Life.

Taking on the iconic role of the titular crime-solver in ‘Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts’, Tom Chambers admits to being daunted at the prospect of following in the footsteps of John Thaw from the much-loved TV series. “But it’s a thrilling challenge,” he smiles, “and it’s a delicious treat for anyone who is a fan of Morse, like I was and indeed have been throughout the decades.”

For most theatregoers ‘House of Ghosts’will be a brand-new story full of surprising twists and turns. It was written in 2010 by Alma Cullen, who (along with Anthony Minghella and Danny Boyle) was one of the original writers on the ‘Inspector Morse’ TV show when it premiered in 1987. Cullen’s play enjoyed a small tour and a Radio 4 broadcast, but the UK tour marks the first major production of the first-ever Morse story on stage.

Reunited with director Anthony Banks after ‘Dial M for Murder’, Chambers says: “Morse is such a fantastic brand and we’re both really excited about the fact that the audience is going to see something that the vast majority of them won’t have seen before. And given that Alma was one of the original writers, he’s very much the Inspector Morse that we know and love.”

The ITV show has been hailed by Radio Times as the greatest British crime series of all time and it inspired the equally beloved spin-offs ‘Lewis’ and ‘Endeavour’. In ‘House of Ghosts’ a chilling mystery unfolds when a young actress suddenly dies on stage during a performance and Detective Chief Inspector Morse and his sidekick DS Lewis are called in to investigate, as what begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when they uncover a connection to sinister events in Morse’s own past at Oxford 25 years earlier.      

As for why he’s both thrilled and daunted about heading the cast for the tour, Tom says: “The thrill for me is in the dialogue and the writing, the camaraderie between Morse and Lewis and their relationship – where you have that classic thing of him putting Lewis down but with a sense of irony or jest and sometimes despair.

“So it’s great fun but daunting too, because you know that an audience is going to want to see something in the style of what they’ve seen before. They don’t want to see something that’s completely, shockingly unexpected, although there’s a different kind of energy to the setting because we’re back in 1987 where there are no mobile phones and it’s all analogue.”

Born in Derbyshire, the actor attended the National Youth Music Theatre, studied at the Guildford School of Acting and came to fame as Sam Strachan on ‘Holby City’. His theatre credits include the musicals ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Crazy for You’, as well as the thrillers ‘Murder in the Dark’ and the aforementioned ‘Dial M for Murder’.

Asked why he feels murder mysteries are so popular, especially on stage, Tom muses: “We are curious creatures, aren’t we? We like a puzzle, we like a challenge and the stimulation that goes with it. And in the theatre, of course, everyone is in the same space, in the dark, watching the mystery unfold on stage.”

Now 48, Tom adds with a smile: “I’m not necessarily someone who’s really modern and really cool, and I think Morse is like that too. He’s not necessarily chivalrous, because he can be quite hard at times; he can harsh, very black and white and very honest. He says it how it is, but he does have a sort of gentlemanly manner about him. I like playing that and exploring it.”

Tachia Newall plays Detective Sergeant Lewis and says of the character: “He’s pretty down-to-earth and hard-working. He loves his family and he’s usually thinking about getting home to his wife and kids, but he also wants to get to the bottom of the mystery.”

Is Tachia anything like that? He laughs: “I’m probably quite different because I wouldn’t say that I’m relatively chill. I’m down-to-earth, but I’m a little bit nutty. People will tell you that I’m very excitable.”

The banter between the characters is fun to play. “Lewis is really loyal to Morse and Morse in turn respects his views, even if he gets exasperated by him at times. Morse is from quite an educated background, while Lewis’s accent leads people to believe he’s not that well-educated by comparison.”

Born in Manchester, Tachia grew up watching ‘Inspector Morse’ on TV but is avoiding rewatching episodes now. “With most acting jobs that I do, if there’s been a previous iteration then I tend to stay clear of it until the job’s finished, just because I don’t want to try and emulate anything that’s been done before.”

Best known as Bolton Smilie from ‘Waterloo Road’, Newall is pleased to be reunited with Tom. Their paths crossed when Chambers did a stint on the show in 2009. “I hadn’t seen him since, so it’s good to be back in the room with him. He’s a cracking lad and he’s not changed at all. He’s still got that playful bounce about him.”

Tachia’s theatre credits include ‘Macbeth,’ so is ‘House of Ghosts’ a doddle compared to doing Shakespeare? He laughs. “I wouldn’t say it’s a doddle! This is a complex show, with complex timelines. It’s maybe easier emotionally for me, but it’s still challenging. And I just love being on the stage. With theatre, it changes every night. Just having a live audience in front of you, it brings you to life because anything can go wrong and you’ve got to be on your toes. You’ve got to be able to bring it back around.”

Murder mysteries are popular, he feels, because: “They’re such an escape from everyday life and you get to unpick things. You get to go on this journey with the protagonists, and you get to go ‘So they did it? Amazing!’.”

As for whether he’s make a good DS in real life, Tachia reckons: “Probably not. I think frustration might get the better of me. If I hit a brick wall, I might find it difficult to jump outside the box and view things from a different angle.”

Having helmed ‘Dial M for Murder’ as well as ‘The Girl on the Train’, ‘Gaslight’ and ‘Strangers on a Train’, director Anthony Banks is well-versed in stage thrillers. Summing up the appeal of Morse and Lewis in ‘House of Ghosts’, he says: “They are ordinary people who, by chance or by accident, have found themselves in these jobs as policemen working for Thames Valley police. They’re told to follow the rules, but people love them because they are messy, accident-prone individuals who are just doing a job. They’re not superheroes.

“There are various little asides where they kind of go ‘You know, we could be doing something else’ but I think that’s why people like them so much – because they recognise their faults and they are modest, and they don’t seek approval in the way that some heroes in fiction do.”

When Anthony read Cullen’s play his first thought was that, having worked with Tom on ‘Dial M for Murder’, he’d be the perfect actor to play Morse. “John Thaw is from Manchester and Tom is from the North, so there was that connection, plus he’s around the same age that John was when he started the TV series. Tom has a presence on stage that the audience warms to.”

Then there’s Tachia, about whom the director says: “I met him and immediately thought ‘I’ve found my Lewis’. He’s Mancunian, so he brings a very fresh sound to the character in a slightly working-class and very on-the-nose, straight-down-the-lens kind of way.”

Cullen’s play is interesting, he continues, because: “It’s a feminist piece of writing. Wherever possible she brings into focus what professional life was like for women in Oxford in the 1980s. Very few women held the position of head of department or professor or chair even. These were very changing times and Margaret Thatcher was running the country, but there was a massive amount of work to be done in terms of equality between the sexes. Unfortunately I think there’s still so much work left to be done on that front.”

As to why he feels it’s timely to stage the play now, Banks recalls gifting his father a book about the making of the TV series back in the 80s, in which the author of the Morse books Colin Dexter talked how the world had gone sour, people were going from one crisis to another and the Inspector was just trying to make things a little better.

That memory prompted his decision to revive a play that is set in 1987 and was first performed 15 years ago. “Now here we are, the world has gone a little sour again, we do seem to be moving from one crisis to another, and here’s this guy who wants to make things better. That struck me as a story that audiences would enjoy today.”

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts is at Lowry, Salford from 7-11 April 2026.

The post The greatest British crime series of all time gets a stage makeover appeared first on Quays Life.

“Every year we did a show for the Stage Golfing Society. They did a ‘70s variety show and asked if I would do Eric Morecambe,” Jonty Stephens says. Sat buttoned up and thickly-bespectacled in the Lowry theatre bar, he could break into the act at any moment. Next to him, equally crisp with an easy grin, fellow actor Ian Ashpitel perches on his seat.

“And I said, well, I need an Ernie,” Jonty carries on. “And I looked over at the bar – it was the summer, and Ian had his shorts on because we’d been playing golf – and I saw his little, short, fat, hairy legs like Ernie Wise and thought, ‘he’s perfect’.”

Ian and Jonty have known each other for 43 years, only a year less than the original Morecambe and Wise. Self-confessed ‘anoraks’, the pair have built a joint career in bringing comedy’s greatest dynamic duo back to life. Following a string of sellout West End plays and an Olivier nomination, a special run of their latest show ‘Eric & Ern’ will come to the Lowry theatre this March, in celebration of the comedians’ 100th birthdays this year.

Cramming in classics from ice cream-police sirens to Mr Memory, ‘Arsenal!’, ‘Eric & Ern’ also teases a smattering of original material, based on the work of original joke-writer Eddie Braben. With the flick of a curtain and a guaranteed grand piano (if you know, you know), the show promises to bring love, sunshine, and laughter as it skips its way to the Salford stage for both old and new fans alike.

“The comedy and the writing is good,” Ian says. “It’s excellent, it’s timeless. It wasn’t cruel or horrible, it wasn’t crude, it wasn’t political. It looks easy and funny, and it should do.”

The original run of the show was a sellout, to rave reviews cheering nostalgia-done-well. With a list of gleefully manic, mischievously smug performances behind them, ‘Eric & Ern’ shapes up to be a variety act revived, promising a song, a dance, a string of gags, and if past performances are to be believed, a mystery stooge ripe for humiliation. “If this is living in the past,” one reviewer said of the 2022 run, “it is certainly a fun place to be.”

“It’s an exciting thing,” Jonty says. “The die-hard Morecambe and Wise fans, who grew up with Morecambe and Wise, bring their children or their grandchildren now. You get three generations of the same family, sat in the front row, all laughing at the same thing – that’s just so rare now.

“We’ve done a few [original] bits and bobs and people go, ‘Oh, I loved them when they did that’. And I say, ‘Well, they didn’t do that – we really did that!’. But it’s still very true to Morecambe and Wise.

“We’re in continual touch with the family, and they’ve been supportive of everything we do. They’ve seen the show, they know what we’re doing, they know what we’re including – and in fact, they’re coming to see it in Morecambe!”

In keeping with the spirit of authenticity, ‘Eric & Ern’ has already been put through the wringer of trial and error – and now stands “in the best shape it’s ever been”, according to Ian. That said, for the benefit of the audience, the pair insist there’s a line to be drawn between going through the motions and a faithful rendition.

“We’ve often talked about it,” Jonty says, “we were inspired by a live video of Eric and Ernie live at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon in the ‘70s. And we watched and watched and watched it and tried to do every mannerism, every little tick and be faithful to that, and of course we soon discovered that you’ve got a live audience in front of you that may not laugh at something that they got a laugh for at Fairfield.”

Jumping in, Ian draws an invisible string with his hand. “Tring to move your hand on a line literally drives you insane. [This show] is abandoning that,” he says. “That’s an impression, and what we’re doing is a portrayal – we’re portraying these ‘characters’. As actors, we’ve studied them as characters, and then added onto that is all the other information we’ve come up with.

“[Morecambe and Wise] were very different sorts of people, which works, because they’re a bit like me and [Jonty]. We’re like the ying and yang of each other, and I think Eric and Ernie were like the ying and yang of each other. That’s why they worked. That’s why we work.”

The pair have come far since their early golf club days, and their even earlier days in acting school where they were routinely asked if they were a double act (to which they would answer, in unison, ‘no’). Having since exploded as the UK’s most successful Morecambe and Wise duo, neither see themselves hanging up the jackets just yet.

“We are Eric and Ernie, for this set amount of time, and then after this, we’re still actors trying to do other things,” Ian says. He smiles: “But we never had a clue it would be this successful or last this long. This is our baby.”

“Without the talent of Morecambe and Wise, we wouldn’t be doing it,” Jonty nods. “We shine a light on that talent, and for that moment, that two hours that you’re in the theatre, we hope people forget where they are and all the horrible things that are going on in the world, and we take them away from that and they have a good old laugh.

“They were loved, so hopefully if we do a good job, we get a bit of that love from the audience. We’re very lucky in that respect: it’s wonderful to do.”

It must be an incredible feeling to get to perform with your best friend, too. “Yeah, it is,” Ian laughs. “He’ll be here in a minute!”

‘Eric & Ern’ is at Lowry, Salford from 24 to 28 March 2026.

The post “You get three generations of the same family, all laughing at the same thing – that’s just so rare now” – Jonty Stephens appeared first on Quays Life.

Now arguably the biggest showdown in pop history has opened a new front – on the stage, with ‘The Battle’ transporting modern-day audiences back into the midst of what has been described as ‘the sweaty mid-90s carnage of the Battle of Britpop’.

Blur verses Oasis, art school intellectuals verses plain-speaking working-class lads, South verses North. The battle lines that were drawn then are revisited here in writer John Niven’s swaggering and audaciously funny story.

But while the production is infused with the sounds of the Britpop era, anyone expecting a 90s jukebox musical or a live gig may be in for the first of several surprises.

“We’re much more interested in the drama of their lives than in the drama of the music,” explains ‘The Battle’ director Matthew Dunster. “Really, it’s a play about friendship and ambition, and how the latter might break the former.

“When John thought about the events, in his mind he thought it could be like a sweaty David Mamet play where people were in rooms, and the emotional temperature is ramped up a little bit more with each scene.”

Thus, this battle unfolds not on amp-stacked stages in front of thousands of music fans, but on the fringes of award ceremonies, in recording studios, pubs and dressing rooms, beyond VIP ropes and at home behind closed doors.

Dunster was approached to join The Battle’s creative team early on and has worked closely with first time playwright Niven to recreate the intense, simmering sense of rivalry and rising tension underpinning the real-life 90s clash which spilled over from the charts and tribal fan factions and into the wider public consciousness.

It’s an era both know well – Niven as a former A&R  (Artists and Repertoire) man in the record industry and Dunster as a music fan who was there in the middle of it.

“As soon as I heard ‘Battle of the Bands’ it transported me straight back,” says the director, who reveals he saw Oasis play their fourth ever gig when they supported his friend’s group at The Hurricane Club in Oldham.

As for the ‘battle’ itself, he says he bought both singles and “was more excited about the event and the competition than taking sides.”

“I think I was probably emotionally team Oasis,” he admits, “but artistically I thought at that point that Blur were streets ahead. Then in the next 12 months, Oasis released ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ and from that point on…it was all Oasis.”

Meanwhile actor Mathew Horne was a music-mad 16-year-old, although he too maintains he didn’t mind who won the chart-busting head-to-head.

“It probably sounds like an actor being diplomatic, but from my experience, everybody I know was both Blur and Oasis,” says Nottinghamshire-raised Horne, who plays the late Blur manager Andy Ross, the man who signed off the decision to release Country House on the same day as Oasis’s Roll With It.

“My record collection is of equal size, and the number of times I’ve seen Blur and Oasis are the same too. And I think the outcome of the battle for number one didn’t really matter. What mattered was our movement, the thing we were part of, was suddenly seen by everybody.”

It means that alongside decades of storytelling experience, both director and actor bring with them first-hand knowledge of the cultural phenomenon that was Britpop.

Horne has also, rather like his character, found himself in the position of a kind of paternal figure to the young cast, some of whom weren’t even born when the real-life showdown took place and have scant knowledge of the time – a fact which, it turns out, has also informed the creative approach when revisiting the events of 30 years ago.

Dunster recalls: “When I was auditioning people I’d ask: ‘did you know about this?’, and they didn’t. They said: ‘I know about Blur and Oasis because my dad’s into them, but I didn’t know about this battle’. So, the audience (too) could be very split in terms of who knows the outcome and who doesn’t.”

But whether or not theatregoers already know what ultimately happens, he says “I think you’ve just got to play the stakes of the characters on stage. And they get increasingly wound up and neurotic and frazzled by the competition they’ve found themselves locked in. It’s the biggest thing any of them had ever been part of.”

Saying that, he adds: “Having been to see Oasis last year in Heaton Park, it was incredible how there was a real mix of people, from 16 to 65, and everybody seemed to be as into it, and everybody seemed to know every word to every song.

“It would be great if we had a similarly broad range of ages (in the theatre). That would mean people will get different things from it. I’m not afraid of the nostalgic side of it: that’s really good fun, exploring a moment in time.”

Meanwhile Horne, who also saw the Mancunians on their triumphant 2025 reunion tour, points to the current “huge zeitgeist of 90s nostalgia”. And it’s true that right now the music, fashion and culture of the final decade of the 20^th Century is certainly enjoying a resurgence.

Between those who lived through the era, the music of the time being sought on streaming platforms and shared on social media, and with rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar keeping the grand tradition of the music feud alive, ‘The Battle’ should hopefully resonate with everyone who sees it.

“At the end of the day if you have even a passing interest in music, which most people do, there’s something in there for you,” Horne says. “I’m really excited to see what people think.

“I hope we deliver for audiences on a nostalgic level. And I also hope that we deliver for them in terms of making a really funny piece of theatre – one with a huge, hilarious twist.”

The Battle is at the Opera House, Manchester from 17 to 21 March 2026.

The post Matthew Dunster and Mathew Horne on bringing the ultimate battle of the bands to the stage appeared first on Quays Life.

“Salford is always the other city,” she says. “It has a confusing, complex identity that is often squashed, forgotten, or associated with negative things, because it is quite a complex place.”

The twinned history of Manchester and Salford’s manufacturing, engineering, and the arts give way thanks to the split of the River Irwell, from which has grown two separate identities that define the two cultures – or not, according to many. Now back in Salford, Emily is once again exploring the veins of their background, and – alongside fellow artist Chris Alton – is recapturing Salford’s identity, one stitch at a time.

“I make banners for quilts, and a lot of it is about celebrating identity,” Emily says. “We wanted to work with a Salford audience to create a banner and pick out areas of that that offer identity from a past history, while looking forward and trying to figure out what it means to be from a very specific place.”

The Salford Voices banner exhibition comes from a collaboration between the artists and the residents at the Broughton Community Centre, and marks the centenary of Salford’s city status. Nine banners are now on display at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery until this summer, with each piece providing references to local history, landmarks, greenery, and community.

One banner in particular – larger than the others – is set to be a cultural centrepiece in the museum. “There’s a rose-ringed parakeet on the left-hand side,” Emily says, “to celebrate and represent the recent migrants in Salford who have made it their home. And just like the rose-ringed parakeet, there’s a book that represents Salford being the first city to have a library.”

Throughout the project, the residents were taught textile and sewing techniques while contributing their own ideas on what makes Salford, Salford. Following a period of what Emily describes as “weird warmup activities” – including drawing one piece in a group or with one’s eyes closed – they noticed key themes appearing time and time again. “From all the group activities that we’d done, we came up with the key ideas that kept re-emerging,” they say.

“Then Chris worked on the design, and we presented it to the group to make sure everyone was happy with it, and then we began sewing together.”

Work on the banner project went forward alongside a host of other projects celebrating the anniversary. The wider Salford Voices exhibition, created by Art with Heart, includes a special Centenary Celebration Book which will be specially displayed with the banners, where visitors can write and reflect on what they think Salford may look like a century into the future.

Following the enthusiasm of the Broughton Community Centre residents, Emily says their reactions only cemented their view that the arts are “a fundamental part of being human”.

“Everyone should be given permission to be creative on the daily, as regularly as they want,” they say. “More often than not there’s people that had a love [for art] as a child, and then just haven’t been given the space – or haven’t felt they have permission – to continue.

“This group was largely quite creative, but many in different ways that they wouldn’t see as ‘art’ – there were a lot of crocheters and knitters. There was one person who used to sew quite a lot, but hadn’t done so in years, and had really lost the confidence and felt like it wasn’t something she could do anymore. It was really nice to see her get back into it and build that confidence back up.”

Far broader than the effect the project has had on the Broughton Community Centre residents is the affect it will have on other Salfordians who come to visit. Thanks to access consultant Ada Eravama, steps have been taken to ensure the exhibition is accessible for people with visual impairments through texture displays and audio descriptions influenced by the residents’ input. When the exhibition finishes in early May, the banners will be toured across the region to be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

Given the ever-present flurry around Salfordian heritage, it’s easy to wonder what crowds may be encouraged to consider at the exhibition. According to Emily, however: “It’s open to interpretation.

“I’d like it to be a space for [Salfordians] to reflect on their identity in their community, who makes up the city, and about how diverse and unique it is. I want them to try and think about the people around them, because as the banner says, there’s strength in community.

“It’s very vibrant and full of lots of different colours and textures, so hopefully people could bring a bit of colourful joy with them as well.”

Art with Heart’s Salford Voices Exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery is free and drop in – running from Saturday 21 February to Sunday 10 May 2026.

The post Artist Emily Simpson on capturing Salford’s complex and diverse identity in textiles appeared first on Quays Life.