Finisterre, the sixth studio album by English pop group Saint Etienne, features a series of spoken word interludes from actor Michael Jayston. ‘Rock could be so good’, he solemnly intones, ‘but we make it all so rubbishy.’ It’s hard to disagree...
Shows about bad acting are nothing new. Tom Stoppard’s Real Inspector Hound probably got there first, closely followed by Michael Green’s Art of Coarse Acting, and later Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s enduring farce within a farce. The irony is that it...
I’ve always been drawn to plays with enigmatic titles. Some writers have a particular flair for this, Philip Ridley being easily the best (Pitchfork Disney, Mercury Fur, Piranha Heights). The Royal Exchange has some form in this area; I got excited...
Steve Timms finds Nora: A Doll’s House to be a bold, impassioned piece of work and the most thrilling Exchange production he’s seen in a long time. Patriarchy is a word most people are familiar with, though may struggle to describe. So let’s...
Calling a play ‘The Last Quiz Night on Earth’ is asking for trouble. The latest from Manchester based new writing company, Box of Tricks was originally scheduled two years ago, but a global pandemic put the kibosh on a planned tour. Alison Carr’s...
‘Fatal Attraction’ is a show which starts off in high gear, and just keeps getting faster finds Steve Timms. A seminal performance text, Peter Brook’s ‘The Empty Space’ has served as a blueprint for many theatre practioners since its publication in...
Everyone loves Morecambe & Wise, right? Not necessarily. My dad had a strange dislike of ‘Britain’s best loved duo’, and so their show was never allowed in our house (though we did watch Stanley Baxter, The Two Ronnies, and Les Dawson). Trailer...
The genre of films that combine live action with animation is notoriously small, probably because of the huge technical challenges involved. Try and think of a dozen such movies and you may struggle – though Anchors Aweigh, Mary Poppins...
There’s no such thing as an unlikely musical, though some don’t stick around long enough to make an impression. Does anyone remember Fields of Ambrosia, a mid 90’s affair about a travelling executioner who falls in love with one of his victims...
What is comedy? Many actors have tried to give a suitably succinct description. For Charlie Chaplin, ‘Life is a tragedy when seen in close up but a comedy in long-shot.’ Stan Laurel chose to be less analytical: ‘What is comedy? I don’t know. Does...
Steve Timms