While it’s always special to see Ballet Black, it was particularly special to see this talented, versatile and innovative company at the Quays Theatre for the opening night of their autumn tour – their first live performance since the pandemic hit...
Wim Vandekeybus’ work for Rambert was originally created and streamed live last year, when people were “desperate for old-fashioned physical interaction,” with the camera placed in the midst of the company dancers. It’s impossible to recreate this...
Having seen Theatre-Rites’ wonderfully immersive The Welcoming Party at MIF 2017, expectations of The Global Playground – the company’s offering for this year’s festival – were high. The fact that it was my first in-person, indoor theatre trip since...
As Hope Mill Theatre’s Executive Director William Whelton observes in his programme notes, the journey to bring their production of Rent to the stage has been a difficult one. Originally scheduled for performance in the summer, national lockdown and...
After seven months with no live theatre, it felt like a miracle to be part of the audience that gathered outside The Lowry on a dark October evening to watch Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show. Imitating the Dog’s new touring work – created with the...
The night of Opera North’s performance of The Turn of the Screw at The Lowry was a dark and stormy one, fitting weather conditions for the Benjamin Britten opera based on Henry James’ ghostly short story. The set up is, to an extent, familiar: a...
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake – conceived by Sir Peter Wright and Galina Samsova – first premiered at the Palace Theatre back in 1981, but this is not a production that looks nearly 40-years-old. The curtain rises on a striking funeral scene...
It’s a little-known fact that Quality Street chocolates – that staple of Christmas in the UK – is named after J.M. Barrie’s play from 1901 (before he wrote Peter Pan). A comical tale of love, identity and misunderstanding set during the Regency...
From the moment that the audience sets foot in the Quays Theatre, it’s clear that Kneehigh’s Ubu! will not be an ordinary night at the theatre. All the seats are removed to make space for a circular stage, pop up bars, and floor space for the...
Dementia, loneliness and social isolation are huge problems affecting today’s society, and yet they aren’t often the focus in theatre, dance and other art forms. So it’s refreshing to see Lumo Company address these issues in their contemporary...
Georgina Wells