I didn't want to end the year without shining a spotlight on the theatre companies that I discovered in 2019 who have really excited me. They have all produced outstanding, innovative work, which has pushed boundaries and showcased incredible talent. It has been a pleasure to discover these theatre companies, so I wanted to write... Continue Reading →
Top 10 Theatre Shows in 2019
2019 has been quite an eventful year for theatre in Manchester. It has been a year of new beginnings, with Sarah Frankcom stepping down as the Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange, paving the way for Roy Alexander Weise and Bryony Shanahan to put their own stamp on the theatre. This year also saw 53two... Continue Reading →
Virtual Reality – The Future of Immersive Theatre?
Immersive theatre appears to be everywhere at the moment. More venues, like London's Bridge Theatre, use thrust stages, with the audience surrounding the action, to provide a 'fully immersive experience'. This is what the Bridge Theatre's website boasts when booking pit tickets. For their recent production of Julius Caesar, the audience became the citizens of... Continue Reading →
GM Fringe Awards 2019
A month of incredible fringe theatre came to an end last night with the 2019 GM Fringe Awards. Across July, there were over 250 productions that showcased local emerging talent. A multitude of venues welcomed artists, from pubs to train station platforms, and Manchester was a buzzing hive of creativity. Every single person involved in... Continue Reading →
“I don’t like opera!” – How Opera North Proved Me Wrong
A year ago, I would never have considered going to watch an opera. I had many ingrained preconceptions about it. Being a working-class Mancunian, having grown up on a council estate, I saw opera as something that only wealthy people could enjoy. I thought I would hate the experience of going to see one. Being... Continue Reading →
Pride in Trafford: Celebrating identity and LGBTQ+ life in Trafford
Inspired by the success of Nathaniel Hall's First Time, and the popularity of subsequent activities marking World Aids Day, Sale Waterside Arts made plans for a series of events that celebrate and explore LGBTQ+ life in Trafford. They worked in collaboration with Trafford Council, Creative Industries Trafford, Contact Theatre, and many others, to create a... Continue Reading →
When It Breaks It Burns – ColetivA Ocupação Bring Brazilian Political Activism to Moss Side
"Let's occupy the schools. Let's occupy the streets. Let's occupy the theatres. Let's occupy everything." ColetivA Ocupação is a collective group of students from various districts of São Paulo. Their lives were drastically altered by the high school occupations of 2015 and 2016 across Brazil. Combining dance, live music, political activism and performance, they bring... Continue Reading →
Theatre Highlights of 2018
Since 2018 is coming to an end, it is only natural to look back over the year and reminisce over its highlights. This year was special for me as it was when I started blogging about theatre. Previously, I wrote mini reviews in my diary but then I made the decision to move online. As... Continue Reading →