Theatre Through the Eyes of a Manc
Hailed as one of the greatest anti-war plays, Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children was written in the midst of the Second World War, as the Nazi party controlled the majority of Europe. Anna Jordan's adaptation is set in a dystopian 2080, with Europe being divided into different grid sections, much like The Hunger Games. Warring factions fight... Continue Reading →
The Royal Exchange's decision to stage The Producers as their Christmas show is a risky choice to make. Like most of Mel Brooks' work, it is unashamedly controversial. It satirically depicts the lengths that failing Broadway producer, Max Bialystock, will go to in order to make money. With his accountant, Leo Bloom, he comes to the realisation that... Continue Reading →
The Mysteries is a series of six one-act plays rooted around different locations in England, depicting a day in the life of their inhabitants. Two plays are staged each night, with 'Eskdale' and 'Manchester' being performed on the night I attended. As soon as you enter the studio, you feel like you are part of... Continue Reading →
Arthur Miller's psychological tragedy, Death of a Salesman, is familiar to anybody who has studied it as part of the GCSE curriculum. Its examination of the fragility of dreams, success and the decline of mental health, causes the play to remain relevant decades after it was written. In this production, Don Warrington returns to the... Continue Reading →
Queen Margaret is the first play in this year's Autumn/Winter season at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. Margaret of Anjou appears in four of Shakespeare's history plays, including the immensely popular Richard III. She has more dialogue than any other female character in Shakespeare, even Rosalind. However, because her story is fragmented across several... Continue Reading →
Britain in the 1980s was a period of civil unrest, political and industrial dispute. The most prominent of these was the Miners' Strike in 1984, where working-class mining communities protested against the closure of coal mines, which jeopardised hundreds of thousands of jobs, and an entire way of life. Violent scenes erupted as the police... Continue Reading →
Maxine Peake has a long affinity with Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre. She has appeared in several plays here over the years, most notably playing Hamlet and appearing in A Streetcar Named Desire. However, this is the first time I have ever been lucky enough to get tickets to see her live on stage. As she is such an... Continue Reading →
I remember working backstage on props at Northenden Players when we staged a production of Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. I have to admit to taking an immediate dislike to the play as it was longwinded and basically revolved around philosophical deliberation and extensive dialogue and monologues. Having to watch this play time after time during rehearsals,... Continue Reading →
It is a time of change in Russia. The old world of the aristocratic society ruling over serfs has come to an end. Privilege and wealth is giving way to educated, young entrepreneurs. It is this world of change that Anton Chekhov uses as the backdrop for his brilliant play, The Cherry Orchard. This play is... Continue Reading →
