Author: Stephen Longstaffe
Book Review – Seaside Special: Postcards from The Edge, edited by Jenn Ashworth
Last night my wife couldn’t sleep so I read her a story. Then I had to read her another one because the first one wasn’t conducive to restful dreams.
Read the full story..Theatre Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, York
The German traveller Paul Henzner, visiting London just before Shakespeare’s Globe opened, counted ‘above thirty’ heads of traitors on spikes on gate at the south end of London Bridge.
Read the full story..Review: Chester Mystery Plays, Chester Cathedral
Most of the surviving mystery plays come from the North.
Read the full story..Review: Long Day’s Journey into Night, HOME, Manchester
It’s now a cliché that each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Read the full story..Review: Mary Shelley – The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein, Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere
Her mother, the pioneer radical and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, died after giving birth to her and young Mary Godwin grew up having to pass the room she died in every day.
Read the full story..Review: Hard Times, The Dukes, Lancaster
It’s hard to imagine a Dickens novel as a stage play.
Read the full story..Review: Simon Schama, Manchester Literature Festival
Simon Schama is the kind of historian I want to be when I grow up.
Read the full story..Review: Clown Fest, Manchester
Before I went to Clown Fest I thought there were two kinds of clown: kiddy clowns and scary clowns.
Read the full story..Editor's Picks
- “Red wine is about depth of flavour, tannins, feel and weight in the mouth.”
- “People are a lot more aware of local businesses.” The founders of Roastea talk to Northern Soul
- “We have a basket that’s 4,000 years old, but looks like you can buy it in B&Q.” Campbell Price, Egyptologist and curator at Manchester Museum
- “It’s given us the time to sit down and realise where we want to go with our music.” The Orielles chat to Northern Soul
Advertising and Sponsorship Opportunities
Is your organisation interested in supporting quality journalism about culture, life and enterprise in the North of England?
For advertising and sponsorship opportunities contact Northern Soul’s Founder and Editor Helen Hugent at helennugent@northernsoul.me.uk.
Sign up for Northern Soul newsletter
The Northern Soul Poll

Recent Tweets for @Northern_Soul_
to tell some of the lesser known accounts of radical women who have contributed to the battle for the ballot and the fight for equality and rights. The highlights will be shared on @PHMMcr's Instagram.
Happy #IWD2021 👩👧Two of PHM’s Community Programme Team, Muliana Adjamian and Agnes Fough (pictured) have created an International Women’s Day tour of the museum’s galleries that looks beyond some of history’s well known female political figures pic.twitter.com/QYcuYTJjHM
"Levinson has created a feature film that’s unlike anything we have seen before." Film Review: Malcolm and Marie northernsoul.me.uk/film-revie… pic.twitter.com/7XDPlMh2br
“Red wine is about depth of flavour, tannins, feel and weight in the mouth.” Graze Delicatessen sponsored Food Friendly Wines: Reds for Hearty Meals category, won by St Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 northernsoul.me.uk/winners-th… @PCDrinksAwards @GrazeRamsbottom @taylorswines pic.twitter.com/O7JK3hiiYZ
"We think that people are a lot more aware of local businesses and want to support local." A Manchester couple were grounded from their flying jobs. But they went on to start their own business - Roastea. northernsoul.me.uk/people-are… @canalstmancs @AviationNews pic.twitter.com/GZM7PpBGXS