Carmel ThomasonThe emerging urban gang culture of Victorian Manchester is a gift for dramatists who are only really beginning to scratch the surface of these complex and fractured lives. Last year, HOME staged the immersive and challenging, Angel Meadow, on the...
There’s something for everyone at The Lowry this Christmas, and for little ones the show of choice is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. My two-year-old nephew had spotted the posters, and although it wasn’t a story I was familiar with, he recognised it...
If there’s one thing you can be sure of about the star of Snow White – Priscilla Presley is not in it for the money. She returns to her role as the Wicked Queen, after making her panto debut in Wimbeldon last year, seemingly for the joy of it, and...
Although a performer for almost 20 years, Theo Clinkard’s dance company is relatively new on the contemporary dance scene. A resident artist at Greenwich Dance and an associate artist at Dance4, Clinkard established his own company in 2012, and Of...
Following the success of World War I drama The Accrington Pals last year, it’s good to see director James Dacre return to the Royal Exchange, this time with his equally immersive interpretation of a classic play, Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer prize...
Stomp has come a long way since its 1991 premiere at the Edinburgh Festival. More than 20 years on, the show, created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, has become a global success and its popularity doesn’t show any signs of slowing. Part of...
There is something very worthy about the latest new play from the Developed with the Lowry programme that makes me want to warm to it much more than I can. The writer, Tuheen Huda is also a practising hospital doctor, working in intensive care, and...
As Resident Artists at The Lowry, there was clearly a celebration going on for the premiere of Company Chameleon’s new show, Beauty of the Beast. I must admit that I found both the idea and the title unappealing. The theme of the show is about male...
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical that audiences never tire of seeing, no matter how many times it tours, and I count myself in that. There’s good reason for its enduring popularity – the story, taken from the Bible’s book of...
It’s hard to imagine that the first ever production of Swan Lake was panned by critics for its poor choreography. More than 135 years later, it is now the world’s most popular ballet and its swan maidens have become iconic representations of the...