Forever immortalised in the nonchalant Velvet Underground line-up or gracing Chelsea Girl, Nico’s near mythical status as a muse, beauty and heroin addict is well known. Maxine Peake, who bears a striking resemblance to her,...
Read MoreI have a confession. Before last night’s performance of Queens of the Coal Age at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, I didn’t know much about Women Against Pit Closures. Born in the mid-80s and living in rural Warwickshire, I...
Read MoreRegular visitors to Manchester’s Royal Exchange will be familiar with seeing productions in the round, but Happy Days offers a new twist: a show in a mound in the round. What’s more, it’s a mound with a Peake...
Read MoreI have an enduring memory of a production of King Lear. I think it was a school trip, probably because the play was on the curriculum. While I later came to love this Shakespearean tour de force, I’ve rarely seen a version...
Read More“I love the mentality behind it,” Ben Batt tells me. He could be talking about his searing portrayal of Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire at Manchester Royal Exchange. Or ruminating on his lauded performance as Ted...
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