The Met in Bury stages Aladdin December 8–26, produced in-house with panto professionals The Big Tiny Production Company, the team behind last year’s Dick Whittington. The cast includes Neil Jennings as Widow Twankey. Neil has worked with anarchic theatre company The Pantaloons for more than 10 years.
Month: September 2023
Ernani
Verdi’s fifth opera may feature the sort of implausibility that gives the genre a bad name, but it also contains such a succession of rich melodies, forceful duets, trios and choruses that make it all worthwhile. The rebel Ernani and Elvira are lovers, but she is also desired by Don Silva and no less than… Continue reading Ernani
The Crucible at The Crucible
Sheffield Theatres associate artistic director Anthony Lau will stage a new production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible—in the Crucible Theatre. The venue will also stage a world première of Wish You Weren’t Here, staged in the intimate Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse besides touring schools. Roots Mbili Theatre returns to the Playhouse for another world premiere, Lines, in a co-production… Continue reading The Crucible at The Crucible
Pieces of Us
Jessica Munna’s play Pieces of Us is about modern America, and the failures of the structures which should protect people is clearly a call from the heart. It’s a verbatim piece, weaving a series of mini-tapestries which all thematically match, despite the disparate locations and people. Winding its way from such disparate points of view… Continue reading Pieces of Us
Fiery Romeo & Juliet for Manchester
Nicholai La Barrie’s production of Romeo and Juliet opens at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, October 20. The fiery retelling of Shakespeare’s love story runs to November 18 and encapsulates the hope and tragedy of love, the power to make change even when everything feels impossible. Inspired by young people and visits to schools across Greater Manchester, La Barrie’s… Continue reading Fiery Romeo & Juliet for Manchester
Bang
Bang is the story of Joan Vollmer, one of the pivotal women in the group that defined the Beat Generation who, despite being one of the keenest intellects in the seminal group of writers and poets, died tragically young after a bitter life. It’s a tale of drug addiction, mental illness, incarceration and tragedy opening… Continue reading Bang
Matrix re-imagined for Manchester
Factory International in Manchester presents Free Your Mind, a large-scale immersive performance based on The Matrix films and created for the official opening of Aviva Studios, the city’s new cultural venue. Premièring October 18, it’s a dramatic retelling of the classic 1999 sci-fi film through dance, music and visual effects. Featuring more than 50 professional dancers from… Continue reading Matrix re-imagined for Manchester
Lucy and Friends
Lucy McCormick has no friends. Or so she’d have you think. In a change to the style of her previous Fringe appearances, she is on her own, performing solo as it were. But why should that bring any change to her usual manic madcap queer clownish burlesque? If you haven’t ever seen McCormick’s work before,… Continue reading Lucy and Friends
Golden return for Ailey 2
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Ailey 2—the second company of the iconic Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—returns to The Lowry, Salford October 13–14, its first visit since 2011. The company’s young dancers are among the most talented of their generation and the company is renowned for merging spirit and energy with the creative vision… Continue reading Golden return for Ailey 2
A Mirror
The foyer and theatre are decked out for a wedding with balloons, pink and blue ribbons and flowers; there is a wedding cake on the table just inside the theatre, the audience are the guests. “We’ve been here before,” do I hear you say? No. It’s not another immersive show, at least not that wedding… Continue reading A Mirror