Even These Things- The Royal Exchange, Manchester

Writer: Rory Mullarkey

Director: James Macdonald

So far the Royal Exchange’s 50^th anniversary season has involved revivals of established plays. Rory Mullarkey’s new play Even These Things is a distinct change in tone in more ways than one.

In 1996, an IRA bomb exploded just fifty metres away from the Royal Exchange building. Opinions differ on whether this was a benefit in disguise. Some argue the event resulted in funds becoming available for renovation and new build while others feel credit for the city’s rejuvenation should be accorded to rising self-confidence due to success in organising large-scale events like the  2002 Commonwealth Games. Mullarkey’s play embraces, rather than ignores, such contradictions being a sprawling epic covering generations but featuring just two professional actors with a third making a cameo.

In 1846, in the then-notorious Angel Meadow district of Ancoats, Annie Donovan (Elaine Cassidy) is a complex figure. Daughter of a schoolteacher she is able to quote Virgil and serves as a Forrest Gump type character inspiring political theorist Friedrich Engels to consider whether environment and living conditions might be a greater influence upon the behaviour of individuals than their country of origin. But, despite being heavily pregnant, Annie also carries a grudge and is determined to take revenge upon the woman she believes has consumed her pet pig.

On 15 June, 1996, Jenny (Katherine Pearce) oversees a massive community cast and collection of choirs from local schools in a minute-by-minute recreation of Mancunians undertaking their daily activities leading up to the moment of the bombing.

In the present day Jenny, English but of Irish ancestry, returns to Manchester seeking accommodation in the now-gentrified Angel Meadow area and encounters Kaz (Elaine Cassidy in a second role), who is Irish by birth. They discuss forgiveness, mourning and, most significantly, the continuing emotional trauma suffered by people who endured the bombing.

James Macdonald directs with clockwork precision. The centrepiece of the play is a series of brief vignettes, based upon factual recollections, performed by members of a community cast. Macdonald exploits the availability of such a large resource to great effect- when the script calls for a choir of 27 ten-year-olds they promptly appear on stage.

Rather than anger Macdonald sets a positive atmosphere paying tribute to the everyday heroism of the Manchester community.  As mobile phones are not ubiquitous in 1996 people caught up in the bombing queue to use public telephones but simmering resentment is eased by the antics of a would-be comedian. There are numerous examples of simple goodwill- children offering elderly people a place to sit- instead of panic. The overall mood is poignant; a premonition things are going to change comes from shop owners turning off the store lights for a final time and the owner of Games Workshop having an existential crisis contemplating his life’s work.

There is a dream-like quality to the play with a woman swimming backstroke across the stage and a statue of Queen Victoria (Fionnuala Dorrity) observing events from above. Even the occasional sequence which might be expected to invoke tension – the ominous appearance of the post box which survived the bombing untouched- does not break the positive mood. The depiction of the bomb-laden vehicle is almost surreal; from the viewpoint of a Helicopter Pilot hovering over the stage it resembles a toy car rather than a vicious threat.

Rory Mullarkey’s script is shamelessly parochial and nostalgic, name-dropping long-gone stores like Stolen from Ivor or Littlewoods and wittily trying to explain the qualities which define a Mancunian. The Royal Exchange Theatre is featured in the play although, strangely, the magnificent understatement made in the aftermath of the bombing ‘’ I think we’re going to lose the matinee’’ is absent.

Even These Things is uneven – the three sections working better in isolation than as a complete unit. The opening is a masterclass in acting with Elaine Cassidy delivering a storming monologue and creating a forceful, memorable character.  Katherine Pearce provides a complete contrast, channelling the late national treasure Victoria Wood with an affectionate, understated narration of events on the day of the bombing. Making a connection between the different sections feels a bit contrived – the play opens with a character called Ann and Kaz, in the closing section, has a daughter by that name.  The closing sequence does, however, make the point that, despite any attempt to put a positive spin on the events of 15 June, 1996, people still suffered.

Imaginative use of an extensive and enthusiastic community cast and a pair of scorching-hot professional performances makes Even These Things an unusual but moving tribute to the resilience of the Manchester community.

Runs until 15th June 2026