In Electric Rosary, sci-fi collides with religion against a backdrop of climate crisis and social upheaval. Artificial intelligence is introduced into a convent and, although a ‘robot-meets-nuns’ scenario would seem to invite caricature, this production actually presents us with a genuinely interesting interrogation of what makes us human. The action takes place in a struggling … More Electric Rosary – Royal Exchange
Writer David Greig must have been in a particularly fertile creative place when he conceived The Strange Undoing of Prudentia Hart. It is ripe with wild contrasts: from Kylie and football chants to a post-structural analysis of folk ballads; from an Asda car park to the depths of Hell; from drunken group vomiting to tender … More The Strange Undoing of Prudentia Hart: Royal Exchange
A bare bulb illuminates a sleeping man and a woman, tied back-to-back to wooden chairs. We don’t know who they are, where they are, why they are there or whether they even know each other. As they regain consciousness, it emerges that they are as clueless as the audience… Spinach is not exactly a musical … More Spinach: The Edge
Bloody Elle is a joyous experience – engaging, funny and warm-hearted. At its core, it is a fairly slight story of first love, but writer and performer Lauryn Redding gives it substance with a lesbian theme and a message about the importance of authenticity in a challenging world. But I’d hazard that it wasn’t the … More Bloody Elle – Royal Exchange Theatre
Seventeen year old Jack is a boy with Potential. His devoted, liberal parents, Di and David, have brought him up ‘properly’, sent him to a ‘good school’ and are confident of the bright future that lies ahead for him. They then discover that a sex video of Jack with his girlfriend, Cara, has appeared online … More Four Minutes Twelve Seconds – Oldham Coliseum
Shangri-La is the wonderfully ironic name of a faded seaside boarding house, where the lights don’t work properly, breakfast is a ham and beetroot sandwich, and the landlady boosts revenue by telling fortunes and hosting swingers’ parties at the weekends. The three permanent residents are as jaded as the wallpaper but a new guest arrives … More Welcome to Shangri-La – Hope Mill Theatre
Everybody loves a good musical at Christmas, and the Royal Exchange seasonal production is always eagerly anticipated. In 2017, we saw the wonderful Guys and Dolls given a jazzy Harlem twist, and in 2018 we were treated to The Producers – that delicious celebration of irony and bad taste. This year the Exchange has gone … More Gypsy – Royal Exchange
Lady of Jazz showcases Michaela Bennison, who holds the stage for nearly ninety minutes as fictional American jazz singer, Honey Grey. Her story starts in 1920, just as membership of the Klu Klux Klan rises to 100,000, and is a deeply personal story of a deeply troubled time. The narrative is punctuated by songs, both … More Lady of Jazz – Hope Mill Theatre
An alcoholic mother (Christine) narrates her own death and, in her final moments, wants only to know where and how her three grown-up children are. Playwright Simon Stephens grants her this wish, and, in this gentle and understated drama, transports her and the audience briefly into the lives of daughters Jess and Ashe, son Steven, … More Light Falls – Royal Exchange
Depression is an invisible but brutal and debilitating illness. Often accompanied by profound shame, it can generate a level of hopelessness and despair which makes the mundane business of normal life feel simply impossible and/or intolerable. Author Matt Haig knows all this only too well, having himself been plunged into depression at the age … More Reasons to Stay Alive – HOME
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