Liz RatcliffeIf the launch of new three-week festival, Turn on Fest is anything to go by prepare for a smörgåsbord of talent – with watermelons and crumpets! After a glorious rendition of ‘Don’t rain of my parade’, host Belinda Scandal, looking fabulous in a...
The Lowry saw the transformation into the present day of a truly great female character in Cordelia Lynn’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler. This play asks what we inherit, what we endure and how we carry our history. Holly Race...
I was so looking forward to Macbeth at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. A female, Lucy Ellinson, was going to be playing the lead, and I thought that this would provide an exciting perspective on the play. I have seen many productions of...
How would you survive in prison? ‘The Jumper Factory’ provides the audience with insights into that very question. This production, written by Luke Barnes, was created in collaboration with eight inmates from HMP Wandsworth. During this...
Having attended many 2019 Pride events all around the country, Liz Ratcliffe gives her verdict: Manchester was simply the best! Oh, Manchester! You did us proud this year. What an incredible Pride. Here’s six fabulous reasons why...
So, burn me at the stake but I was completely bewitched by Joan – part compelling theatre, part horrible-histories, part drag act and all hugely entertaining. The basic set comprises four mirrors and four crates forming a cross in the centre of the...
On a city break to Copenhagen, Liz Ratcliffe discovers hygge might be the real secret to Danish happiness. I decided to book a city break for my partner’s birthday and wanted to go somewhere that neither of us had been to before. A Copenhagen city...
I feel lucky to have been at the debut performance of Wolf Hours, Minute Taker, aka Manchester-based Ben McGarvey, superb soundtrack to a series of short-film clips, made by a variety of film makers. The show is designed to give a depiction of the...
With her body, a tightwire and a physical composition that draws on the Japanese rope art of Shibari, Hanna Moisala’s WireDo tells a mesmerising story of stepping out into the unknown. Moisala is a Finnish tightwire dancer and has...
The Re:Fract Festival at Waterside Arts Centre, Sale kicks off 10 days of experiential performance, music and events, aiming to challenge the audience to see things differently, with the Re:Flect exhibition. Re:Flect is a ‘please do touch’...