Tag Archives: Manchester

Writer: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E Lee (book) and Jerry Herman (music and lyrics) Director and choreographer: Nick Winston Reviewer: Dave Cunningham Hope Mill has earned a reputation for producing high-quality shows. However, the theatre has exceeded its own high standards with a blissfully intoxicating Mame. The title song is so famous it is easy to think you have already seen the ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Christopher Haydon Reviewer: May Mellstrom Shakespeare's murderous tale of power, greed and ambition is reinvented in Christopher Haydon's Macbeth, notable for the casting of a woman in the title role and therefore offering a fresh perspective on an oft-performed play.  With war raging it is Lucy Ellinson's Macbeth who emerges victorious from the battleground; hailed as ...

Book: Patricia Resnick Music: Dolly Parton Director: Jeff Calhoun Reviewer: Rebecca Cohen After a working day, there’s nothing better than time with friends and family and some sheer escapism to help you unwind - and the latest show to grace the Palace Theatre’s stage is one post 9 to 5 treat that you don’t want to miss. 9 to 5 ...

Writer: Jackie Kay Adaptor: Tanika Gupta Director: Dawn Walton Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The life of poet Jackie Kay (Sasha Frost) has strong dramatic potential. Illegitimate, Gay, of mixed race and adopted by a Scots Communist couple Kay endures a wide variety of racist and homophobic abuse. Yet the journey to trace her birth parents does not provide the cathartic relief ...

Writer: Luke Barnes Director: Josh Parr Reviewer: Andrea Allen Created in collaboration with inmates at HMP Wandsworth and written by Luke Barnes The Jumper Factory melds together authentic voices of prison inmates into a single narrative of a prisoner fighting to exist in a world that moves on without them. Though the prisoners who inspired Barnes’ central figure have been unable ...

Composer, Lyricist, Book: Richard Thomas Additional Lyrics & Book: Stewart Lee Director: James Baker Reviewer: Matt Forrest Talk about making a statement and putting yourself on the map! That’s precisely what Northern Ricochet have gone and done with their inaugural production. Choosing to stage Jerry Springer The Opera as your first production takes some balls: it’s a risky strategy, but it’s ...

Writers: James Yeatman and Lauren Mooney Director: James Yeatman Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The challenging nature of There Is a Light That Never Goes Out at The Royal Exchange is made clear in the tag line: Scenes from the Luddite Rebellion.  The play does not attempt to give an exhaustive examination of the disruptive events during the industrial revolution when workers, fearing ...

Creators: Idris Elba & Kwame Kwei-Armah   Director: Kwame Kwei-Armah   Reviewer: Jay Nuttall   An umbrella of questionable ethics has become Tree’s canopy in the lead up to the opening of one of Manchester International Festival’s flagship productions. A high-profile disagreement between creatives and the role they should or should not be credited with has pushed this production into ...