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.

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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.

The post Payal Ramchandani, dance and the unsaid truths of motherhood appeared first on Quays Life.

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.

“I’ve lived an extraordinary life! I really have. I’ve done some amazing things and I’ve been very lucky,” says Cheryl.

Cheryl has so many stories to tell, and after trialling this format of event on cruise ships she is excited to bring it to Manchester and share her memories with audiences in an intimate setting. “Fans can expect honesty. I’m unfortunately to my detriment a very honest person!

“I’m giving it a try, opening at The Lowry, which is very nerve-racking, but I’m really looking forward to it!” However, Cheryl admits that she may struggle to include everything, “I can’t pack it all in!

“I’ll talk about Bucks Fizz, and I’ll talk about my TV days, but there will probably be things from an audience point of view I won’t talk about, so the QnA will be their opportunity to ask me questions that might not be on my list of things to talk about”.

Bucks Fizz won The Eurovision song context in 1981 with the feelgood hit ‘Making Your Mind Up’, which Cheryl says was ‘absolutely the highlight’ of her career. The group then went on to have three number one hits and oppportunities to play all around the world.

“It was wonderful, and we did everything first class! We flew first class, went to the best hotels, we were travelling in limousines, but what they didn’t tell us is that they would recoup that money out of royalties. I’m glad we didn’t know or we never would have done it.”

Although Cheryl has accomplished some incredible things, on this occasion she intends to take audiences through both the ups and the downs of her life. “There will be a lot of laughter. There will be a lot of laughter but also be prepared for tears.”

One of those sad incidents, she recalls, is when members of Bucks Fizz were injured in a coach crash in 1984, an experience that has stuck with her all these years later. “It’s like it happened to somebody else, but it was me that woke up in hospital. It’s really weird when something like that happens to you”.

After a successful career in the music industry, Cheryl ventured into the world of television presenting. “I left Bucks Fizz in the nineties because I was pregnant, and I thought I can’t have my kids and take them on tour and go around the country gigging, whereas TV was like a proper job,” she explains.

Cheryl then spent a lot of time in Manchester as television presenter, “I’ve got a lot of personal ties with Manchester, a lot. The Funny Side, My Secret Desire. A lot of BBC shows I did were filmed in Manchester.”

Cheryl is optimistic about this tour and willing to ‘take it nationwide’ if it goes well, she insists that the group is still where her heart is.

“I’d like to go all around the country. It would be nice to think I can expand on these three dates and do a proper tour. But I will still be fizzing, there’s no way this is gonna take priority, because Fizz is my happy place.

“Making Your Mind Up and Bucks Fizz opened so many doors to me and gave me so many opportunities that I am so grateful for. In the show at the Lowry, I can talk about them and relieve them. That’s the joy of it, that’s the joy of my career, that’s why I love it so much and I don’t want it to stop.”

Wearing Cheryl Baker is at Lowry, Salford on 25 March 2026.

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The show, which brings together agility, acrobatics, dance, digital projection and a shape-shifting set, is the Warwickshire-based company’s most ambitious theatre production so far – and, say the team, audiences have been responding brilliantly to its jaw-dropping feats and its important message.

Created by Motionhouse co-founder and artistic director Kevin Finnan together with the company’s associate director Daniel Massarella and the dancers, Hidden explores our sense of shared humanity and how, even in the darkest of times, people will come together to support each other.

“The reaction from audiences has been quite overwhelming,” Daniel says. “We’ve had standing ovations at every venue. When a work is being created you think it’s going in the right direction but it’s only when it’s in front of an audience that you really get to see its success.

“What is great about the work is that it’s not one-dimensional. You can take away from it however you are feeling on that day, or whatever has come out in the press or has happened in the world at that point.

“Hidden strips people back to their basic humanity, when all we have is each other and that’s the only way we can get through life’s challenges.”

The show makes bold use of projection, with performers interacting with moving images of land and cityscapes, speeding trains and digital screens.

“It’s the first time we’ve used this amount of projection and people are blown away by that,” says Daniel. “People are also blown away by the skill level of the company, it’s one of the ‘danciest’ shows we’ve done, integrated with the highest level of circus. So there’s something for everyone – some people like the digital, the gaming and the more cinematic experience and the more emotional people like that emotional draw, that it makes you feel something.”

Kevin was inspired to create Hidden after watching international catastrophes including floods, wildfires and war and seeing that with every disaster there is also resilience through human connection and kindness.

“Hidden is a show about us,” Kevin explains. “There are things that are very dark moments for people all around the world. And as well as this, within our own lives everyone encounters moments that are really truly dark.

“But then Hidden is the thing that comes through in the darkest moments – it is when people can be at their very best and come to work together and to be together. So, rather than worrying about ‘us’ and ‘them’, we help each other and support each other.

“As well as the darkness, we are seeing that element of support that is so often hidden – and we need to celebrate that and celebrate humanity and the very good people we can all be.”

Founded in 1988 and based in Leamington Spa, Motionhouse has built up a reputation for breathtaking outdoor spectacle and imaginative indoor productions. These visual and physical effects are the company’s way of telling its stories.

“When I make a show, all of the flying and the film, what that’s there for is to engage and make the show entertaining to a wide range of people,” Kevin explains. “But the reason to make the show is to connect with people as best we can.

“When someone comes up to me in tears and says ‘that moved me more than I’ve been moved in a long time’, even if it’s just one person on the tour, that’s the point. The fact that we are getting that in most venues on this tour is the whole point of everything we do.

“You come to the theatre to be together with the artists and share the experience and then hopefully after the show the audience will take something away. For me the most important thing is saying we are not alone and you can communicate – that is what we should all be doing.”

And the company promises there will be thrills for people familiar with Motionhouse and for those for whom Hidden is their first experience of the company.

“It’s not a dance show, it’s not a circus show, it’s not a film show. It’s combining all of those art forms. It’s like having a smoothie with very different flavours which ultimately makes a very nice cocktail.” says Daniel.

“When you come in having seen what we do before there is definitely a pressure and expectation there, especially for Kevin, because you always have to be better than your last show. But we did it, and the audience response speaks volumes for that.”

The team are looking forward to bringing the show to The Lowry in Salford

“The 2026 tour kicks off at the Lowry in Manchester in January,” Daniel says. “We’ve never been on the main stage of the Lowry before so we’re really excited about that.”

Hidden has already built up a strong reputation and has bookings into 2028 and Kevin promises all audiences are in for a treat.

“If you come and see any of our shows you will see a tremendous burst of exciting energy on the stage, you will see phenomenal dancers doing incredible things. It will be dynamic – there will be people flying through the air and all sorts of physical wonders and spectacle.

“Hidden is beautiful as well as powerful, engaging and fun. When you come away you will have had a wonderful evening where you have seen things that moved your heart and you will have seen things that made you joyful about who we are and what we can be.”

Hidden is at Lowry, Salford on Friday 30 January 2026 before continuing on tour.

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Could you introduce us to Murder at Midnight?

Jason: “It’s a brand new comedy-thriller from a great writer called Torben Betts, a follow-up to his play Murder in the Dark. It’s a blend of razor sharp wit and gripping murder mystery, full of twists and turns, dark humour, and chilling suspense. Throw in a suitcase full of cash, a bunch of ravenous dogs, a chainsaw and an unsolved murder, and what’s not to like? If Tarantino was to write a play, this would be it. And I can guarantee it will keep the audience guessing almost until the curtain comes down”.

Tell us about your intriguingly-named character, Jonny the Cyclops

Jason: “He’s such a colourful character, who lives in a luxury Kent mansion, where the play is set. Essentially he’s a one-eyed drug dealer, pig farmer, and notorious gangland killer, whose past is catching up with him fast. Everyone in the play is hiding something, not least Jonny. We also meet his mum, his girlfriend, his trigger-happy sidekick, a vicar, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown. It’s a heady blend, and I can’t wait to bring Jonny to life”.

You go back a long way with the director, Philip Franks

Jason: “I do. He played Sergeant Craddock to my PC Mike Bradley back in our Heartbeat days, when we spent several happy years up in Leeds filming the show. And he’s become not just a dear friend but a terrific director as well. So it’s lovely to be working with him again. And I’ve wanted to work with Original Theatre since they started 20 years ago, so it’s great we’ve finally made it happen”.

There are also some fellow TV stalwarts in the cast, including Susie Blake, Max Bowden and Katie McGlynn

Jason: “It’s a fantastic company, we’re really blessed. When you get to work with people with naturally funny bones it’s just such a delight. We’re still in rehearsals but we get on famously already, so I’m sure that’ll continue out on tour. We’ve got a great support cast as well, an outstanding bunch of actors. I think one of the challenges will be that we might have too much fun, and I’ll be struggling not to laugh the whole time”.

Do you enjoy the touring life?

Jason: “I do, and I know a lot of the venues we’re visiting very well. They’re just right for the show, intimate enough that the audience will feel they’re really part of the show. I’m looking forward to seeing how audiences in different parts of the country react, and keeping them on the edges of their seats. I’m really excited to get out there”.

What was the initial instigator for you becoming an actor?

Jason: “I always knew I wanted to act, every since being a young boy. We had a dressing up trunk full of funny hats and props, which I loved playing with then and have ever since. I’ve been fortunate in my career, starting off at the Royal Shakespeare Company and then getting to explore a huge range of roles on screen as well”.

Do any particular roles stand out over the years?

Jason: “I love variety and mixing things up. I’ve got to play everything from a knight in shining armour in Gawain and the Green Knight, to a gay punk in Young Soul Rebels, to a sociopathic serial killer in Above Suspicion. I even played Tony Blair on stage in the satire Follow My Leader, which was a riot. It’s difficult to pinpoint a favourite, but I just try to bring humanity to all of them. The most interesting role is always the next one, and Jonny is certainly interesting!”

What do you most often get recognised for?

Jason: “I still get people talking to me about Heartbeat, and saying they’d love the show to come back. I also often have people ask me about my character in Casualty, who had bipolar disorder, and they’ll say he helped them to understand the condition better, which is lovely. But every conversation is different. It’s still the strangest thing when you’re on holiday somewhere and someone will walk up to you and say how much they enjoyed Above Suspicion”.

How do you relax away from acting?

Jason: “I live in the Cotswolds, and I love being surrounded by nature. I probably need to get out more, because I spend more time talking to animals than people. But I also love to keep fit whether it’s going to the gym or climbing, and I read a lot as well. When you’re on stage or filming a TV show it can be very intense, so living in a rural setting is the ideal way to get away from it, and spark new ideas”.

Murder at Midnight is at Lowry, Salford from 19-24 January 2026.

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This year there are even more ways for visitors to get involved, from playful interactivity to photo walks. Isabelle Fallows talks to Rachel Candler, Head of Programmes for organisers Quays Culture, to find out more:

Q: First of all, can you give us a general overview about the event – what can people expect when they’re there?

Rachel: “It’s going to be a trail of 12 colourful light art installations, it’s basically going to inspire the visitors to explore Salford Quays and Media City by night time. It’s completely free to attend. The 12 artworks – many of which are going to be interactive this year – they use light music and digital technologies to inspire people to dance, play and perform.

“The artworks vary in their own themes from celebrating nostalgia, with a seaside arcade to highlighting climate change and our connection to the natural world. So, it’s a real breadth of topics for everyone to engage with.

“We also offer tours, there are two public tours which are at 6pm on the Saturday and the Sunday. There’s also a British Sign Language (BSL) tour and an audio described tour which is at 5pm on the Sunday. For the first time, Simon Buckley, is doing a photo walk called, ‘Not Quite Light’. A photo walk is a first for Lightwaves and people can sign up to come do that”.

Q: So, for this year, what do you think will be the highlight of the light festival? Could you tell me a little bit about the installations and the artists?

Rachel: “I think they’re all really high quality and they all offer something different and unique. I’m really looking forward to seeing visitors dancing on the red bridge, and I’m really looking forward to ‘The Relic of Merchwood Forest’ watching this beautiful, animated piece come to life about the life of a fern.

“‘External ensemble’, which is by ONYVA! Studios is a projected piece and it’s a woman playing a cello, but it creates a quartet. So, there’s four separate screens and you’ll see her four times play in the quartet as she’s playing all the different parts, and that with the background of the water and everything I think will look really spectacular.

“We have an artwork in the University of Salford and this year an artist called Emma Nuttall has created an artwork called ‘Constellations of Us’. This is about engaging the audience so they can interact with the artwork, but it’s all about the constellations of the sky. The students have responded to this artwork and there’s a really lovely exhibition of a variety of different artworks and a chance for the audience to go in somewhere and keep warm and brace yourself to come back out again for the other artwork. I do think what is really different this year is that there’s a lot of new pieces and there’s a lot of interaction and colour and play, and I think that really is what will show us a slight difference for the festival this year. It’s got a different kind of angle and I think that would be really nice. The Makers Markets are also coming to join us every day, so they’ll be open from 4pm until 9pm on each night that we’re there”.

Q: The light festivals are focused on creativity and artistic passion. How do you think that the artists expressed this within their work?

Rachel: “Every work is different, and we don’t tend to repeat our artworks from previous years so everyone gets a chance to look at something new and explore something new. The artists like to communicate with their work, and I suppose I would encourage the people to read each piece. Often the artists themselves, will be around as well so they’re also happy to take advantage of what they want to dig into deeper. So, there’s a chance for the community to engage by reading, looking, thinking about what the artist wants to say and actually perhaps speaking to them or speaking to a coordinator, which is a really lovely opportunity for the audience.

“I think light festivals are cold and I think it’s about bringing a lot of colours, it’s very colourful and interactive. So, they want they want their audiences to enjoy their evening, but also some have really important messages, like the ‘Happy as the Day Is Long’, is on the big Red Bridge in Salford Quays, so that gives the audience a chance to dance with the artwork”.

Q: It’s the 12th year of Lightwaves, how do you think that the event has changed since the beginning to how it is now? How do you think it’s developed over those 12 years?

Rachel: “We’ve grown in number of artworks – each year we go up and down between 12 and 15 or 16 artworks, so it varies each year. I think it’s developed by the sense that we’re engaging audiences in a different way, that they get to be playful. About five or six of the 12 artworks are all interactive, so there’s so many different things for the audience to do. Whereas I suppose at the beginning, light art, there’s a lot of watching certain things and looking at artwork but this interactivity really engages the audience.

“We’ve got a work called ‘Stitching Light’, which is a community driven piece. We’ve worked with a local Bangladeshi community to create this piece. Not just from Salford, also from a long running group, we’re part of ‘Light Up the North Network’. So, that’s about 15 light festivals all coming together to deal with their own expertise. It’s a co-commission so we’re working with some groups from Leeds, and then this year we’re all coming together. So, all the different community groups are coming together, there’s lots of work with the community, I think that has developed over the 12 years too”.

Q: So, would you say community is at the centre of the artists’ collaborations?

Rachel: “It is for some of them, I think it really varies. So, the artworks for ‘Our Town’ by Elisa Artesero and her piece is commissioned with the Lowry and the National Lottery Heritage Fund and it’s part of the Lowry’s 25th birthday, and it’s using L S Lowry’s painting ‘Our Town‘ as an inspiration, but it engages people, they kind of move in front of the piece, they can engage with the artwork, and then they can also hear the stories of the local community. So, we engage the community in a in a very different way with different artworks”.

Q: Finally, would you just be able to tell me anything about the partnerships, the funding side of it?

Rachel: “So Lightwaves is funded by the Arts Council England. It’s a grant that comes through the Salford City Council as part of the National Lottery Project Grants program. Quay’s Culture is gratefully funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority through their culture fund programme. Lightwaves Salford is part of the Light up the North Network that’s not necessarily a funding stream, but it’s a network of northern light festivals which come together to share their expertise. So, there’s a lot of support there for the culture and the festival”.

Lightwaves takes place in and around Salford and Media City from Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 December, from 4pm to 10pm.

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Worn Out, a bold retelling of the story of The 12 Dancing Princesses, runs at the Salford venue for four performances from 1 – 3 August. We spoke to the show’s director, Francesca Goodridge about staging the production:

What excited you most about working on this project with BYMT?

Francesca: “I really loved the story of empowerment that this specific project is based on – it’s about rebellion and standing up for what you believe in so I think it’s a great project for young people to contribute to.

“I was also really drawn to the ethos of BYMT and what they stand for. I think that they do a brilliant job of putting teams together, finding really wonderful creative and professional people who are also lovely to work with. Working with kind people on an important story is the dream”.

What can audiences expect from this production?

Francesca: “It’s punchy and it’s got a lot of heart. The music really sticks and stays with you. I think it will be really physical as Paul Smethurst, the choreographer who I’ve worked with before, is brilliant and really smart with how he puts movement into a piece”.

How have young people influenced or inspired the development of this show?

Francesca: “Meg McGrady and Zoe Morris, the writers of Worn Out, have done a lot of work with young people throughout the development of this show including workshopping the material at a BYMT Summer Camp in 2024. They’ve explored ideas including revolution, protest and democracy and what it means to write a musical about princesses today, which has all fed into the show as it stands right now.”

What makes this production particularly relevant for 2025 audiences?

Francesca: “The show is about a group of people that see injustice in their home and they want to make things right in their community, which I think is an important message at any time. For young people especially, I think it will get them thinking about where they’re from and the community that they’re involved in, and recognising that they do have weight, influence and skills to bring good to their community”.

Can you describe a moment in the show that you’re especially proud of or excited for audiences to see?

Francesca: “I’m really excited about the staging of the rebellion, which involves the whole company and is a powerful moment where the characters take a stand for their beliefs. It’s especially meaningful to explore this with a room full of young performers, as we get to discover what standing up for something looks like through their eyes. We’re having important conversations about protest, what it means to them and how they want to express that on stage. A lot of the work is devised by the cast, so it feels deeply personal and authentic, and something audiences will really connect with”.

What does it mean to you to direct a story that empowers young women, especially while working with a majority female cast?

Francesca: “I love working with women and a lot of work I do is usually lead by female stories. I think I’ve come up in my career in a very privileged way and I’ve been mentored by lots of amazing female leaders. I didn’t study directing so I’ve learned through assisting directors, a lot of whom were female artistic directors. I’m just really interested in women in leadership roles and it’s really important to me that the work I make reflects female perspectives, women’s stories and non-binary stories. Working with predominantly female and non-binary performers is ideal for me as I’ve tried to forge a career which focuses on empowering women”.

You’ve recently taken on the role of Artistic Director at Sherman Theatre – how do you feel your role in leadership will affect your approach to this story about power and change?

Francesca: “That’s a great question – and massive. Stepping into a leadership role with a theatre context makes me reflect not only on the themes of power and change within the story, but also on how those ideas are mirrored in the process of making theatre itself. I’m particularly aware of the responsibility to listen to the needs of the young people in the cast, especially those who aspire to work in the performing arts. It’s clear that many of them are on a trajectory towards drama school and it’s important to me to understand what they need from the industry to feel supported and encouraged. Not everyone will have access to formal training, so building real connections and creating space for all kinds of young talent feels essential to help shape a sector that’s open and responsive to the next generation of performers”.

BYMT’s Worn Out runs at Lowry on 1 Aug at 7.30pm, 2 Aug at 2.30pm + 7.30pm, 3 Aug at 2.30pm. Tickets: £22.50 from www.thelowry.com
Suitable for ages (6+)

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