Making Maxine Peake an Associate Artist of the Royal Exchange has enabled a growing creative partnership with Artistic Director, Sarah Frankcom, in which both actor and director are given freedom to explore the boundaries of their disciplines. After...
Rudyard Kipling’s collection of short stories, ‘The Jungle Book’ has been enchanting children for more than 100 years. Today most people know his famous characters, Mowgli, Baloo and Shere Khan, from the Disney adaptations – a cartoon...
At a time when Cold War rivalries are re-emerging, we could once again be facing a period of history where Russia appears a very different land. A new translation of Chekhov’s final play, The Cherry Orchard, by Rory Mullarkey promises to be truer to...
At the toss of a coin the company decides on stage which of two actors will take the crown as Elizabeth I and who will lose her head as Mary Stuart. This device, more a spin than a flip, is magnified on screens around the auditorium, while Juliet...
One of the great beauties of circus is its ability to cross boundaries of language, age and, for many of us, what we might imagine is physically possible. In the Little Mermaid, the multi-talented Metta theatre team use their circus skills to push...
In the last nine years Ballet British Columbia has been reimagined under the vision of artistic director Emily Molnar, to become Canada’s leading contemporary dance company. In that time the company has supported the development of 45 new works from...
Fairy tales and war are strange bedfellows, so setting the timeless romance of Cinderella in the London Blitz of 1940, already suggests this may be a magical story, but not as we know it. Fans of Matthew Bourne’s innovative New Adventures company...
The 10th anniversary revival of Kneehigh’s musical adaptation of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter has been one of the most anticipated theatrical events this year. And in many ways, a story about longing is all the better for the wait. Embracing the...
Dance: Sampled is exactly what the title suggests – a taster of different dance styles from several dance companies. It is a chance to see some of the finest dancers from across the globe for a fraction of the price and to discover new acts and...
Mental illness, once hidden away, is now being talked of in the public sphere like never before. It therefore feels timely for the Royal Exchange to make it the topic of a new play, but with that comes a heavy weight. Despite the constant feed of...
Carmel Thomason