Author: Kevin Bourke
Review: The Book of Mormon, Palace Theatre, Manchester
Written by the South Park team of Trey Parker and Matt Stone with Avenue Q’s Robert Lopez, The Book Of Mormon arrives at Manchester’s Palace amid the sort of hype that has made it a very hot ticket indeed, with most of the fuss seeming to be about how ground-breakingly outrageous, but hilariously funny, the show is.
Theatre Review: Home, I’m Darling, The Lowry, Salford
Laura Wade’s Posh from 2010 was a riotous and righteous savaging of the English class divide.
Theatre Review: Kingdom, HOME, Manchester
Barcelona-based theatre company Señor Serrano, contributing to the theatre element of this year’s year’s ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival 2019 at Manchester’s HOME, create what they call “cinema-in-real-time”, in this case using a live-feed camera, keyboard, guitar, microphones, drum kit, amplification and a huge number of smaller props carefully arranged across three large tables, as well as a willingness to show off their manly bodies.
Theatre Review: West Side Story, Royal Exchange, Manchester
West Side Story, conceived and nursed through a troubled birth in the 1950s by the powerhouse team of Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Leonard Bernstein with a bit of help from a youthful Stephen Sondheim, changed the face of musical theatre.
Music Review: Lines – Parts One, Two and Three, The Unthanks
Say what you like about The Unthanks, but I love them. Just to be clear, they’ve never been afraid of pushing boundaries, embracing challenges and kissing ambition on both cheeks.
Review: JB Shorts Reloaded, 53two, Manchester
I remember being invited to the first JB Shorts a decade ago and having little idea what to expect from a notion that had begun as a conversation over a few drinks between two writers, let alone imagining that it would blossom into one of the highlights of Manchester’s theatrical landscape.
Theatre Review: Barber Shop Chronicles, Royal Exchange, Manchester
Written by poet, playwright and performer Inua Ellams, Barber Shop Chronicles comes to Manchester’s Royal Exchange where it’s co-presented by Contact and credits Fuel, the National Theatre and Leeds Playhouse as co-producers (that being the nature of theatrical productions these days) following not only two sell-out runs at the National but also a world tour.
Theatre Review: Rags the Musical, Hope Mill, Ancoats
Stephen Schwartz launched his songwriting career aged just 23 with the score for Godspell.
Midnight and Closedown: Northern Soul chats to multi-award winning folk trio Lau
“In a way it’s been quite exciting to keep getting asked if calling this album Midnight and Closedown means it’s going to be our last album,” says guitarist and singer Kris Drever, one third of the multi-award winning folk-and-far-beyond trio Lau, along with Martin Green (accordion, piano, electronics) and Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle).
Theatre Review: SparkPlug, HOME, Manchester
As a self-proclaimed ‘launchpad for new talent’, Manchester-based Box Of Tricks pride themselves on championing the next generation of playwrights, commissioning and developing “bold and original new plays from the most exciting new voices”.
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