Altrincham Garrick Playhouse Archives

The Crucible – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

12May

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Crucible – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Since becoming artistic director of Altrincham Garrick Playhouse, Joseph Meighan has steadily transformed the venue into one of the North West’s more adventurous amateur theatres, programming work that aims beyond easy familiarity. His production of The Crucible continues that run with intelligence and confidence, offering a reading of Arthur Miller’s drama that shifts attention away from political allegory and towards the intimate failures that allow hysteria to flourish. Miller famously wrote The Crucible as a response to McCarthyism and the anti-communist paranoia of 1950s America, and productions often lean heavily into that parallel: Salem as a warning about authoritarianism, ideological persecution and the dangers of collective fear. Meighan takes a quieter approach. Rather than f...

The Railway Children – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

9Apr

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

The Railway Children – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

At the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse, opening night of The Railway Children, brought to the stage through Mike Kenny’s adaptation was met with eager anticipation from an audience ready to be transported into a timeless family classic. This much-loved story, originally written by Edith Nesbit, follows the lives of the Waterbury children, Roberta (Bobby), Peter, and Phyllis whose comfortable Edwardian life is turned upside down when their father is suddenly taken away. Forced to leave their London home, they relocate with their mother to a modest cottage called Three Chimneys in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside. Here, against a backdrop of rolling hills, wide skies, and quiet railway cuttings, the children begin a new chapter of resilience, discovery, and growth. Under the directi...

25Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Pomona – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

For the fourth instalment in its “Season of Manchester Drama”, Altrincham Garrick Studio opts for the unexpected. Alongside the more familiar Hobson’s Choice and A Taste of Honey, it is Alistair McDowell’s Pomona — a dense, disorientating work from 2014 — that proves the boldest programming choice. In Mark Goggins’ assured and imaginatively realised production, it becomes something close to unmissable. The programme’s content warning is exhaustive — violence, abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, suicide — and suggests an evening of grim endurance. Yet what unfolds is something more intellectually disquieting than viscerally shocking: a slippery, elusive blend of dystopian satire, urban noir and cosmic horror that owes as much to Black Mirror as it does to H. P. Lovecraft. The shock...

The Mirror Crack’d – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

24Feb

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

The Mirror Crack’d – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Directed by Mike Shaw, The Mirror Crack’d graced the stage at the beautiful Altrincham Garrick Playhouse. Opening night played to an almost full auditorium, a testament to the theatre’s enduring reputation for quality productions. Under the assured direction of Mike Shaw, and in Rachel Wagstaff’s faithful and fluid adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, The Mirror Crack’d proved to be an absorbing and richly layered evening of classic mystery. Set in the village of St Mary Mead, the drama begins with the arrival of glamorous Hollywood actress Marina Gregg, who has purchased Gossington Hall. To mark the occasion, she hosts an elegant evening of cocktails, inviting the local community into her glittering world. During the party, a guest suddenly collapses af...

3Feb

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Quiz – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Quiz has become one of those modern plays that feels instantly familiar, and yet still thrilling, and James Graham’s sharp, playful script proves a perfect fit for the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse in this brilliantly executed production by the Garrick Ensemble at the Playhouse. Based on the infamous “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” coughing scandal, this production leans fully into the spectacle of television, celebrity and courtroom drama, while never losing sight of the human stories at its core. Tom Broughton delivers a compelling performance as Charles Ingram, capturing both the awkwardness and quiet determination of a man thrust into the harsh glare of public judgement. Melanie Beswick is equally impressive as Diana Ingram, offering a nuanced portrayal that balances vulnerability w...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

12Dec

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Altrincham Garrick’s ethos of offering ‘something for everyone’ was certainly present tonight as I caught a mid-week performance of their annual Christmas pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Not everyone is a fan of pantomime, myself included, and ultimately it is about children, families and friends coming together to have fun and silliness during the festive period and it was wonderful to see such evident joy and participation in the faces of young ones and the adults having a much needed and very welcome laugh. Set in Dame Gertie’s circus, hard up business owner Dame Gertie (Joseph Meighan) and her useless son, Silly Billy (Daniel Ellis) desperately need to pay their overdue ground rent to local landowner, Baron Wasteland (Mark Watkins), father of Goldilocks (Elise Evans). ...

Voices of Manchester – The Studio, Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

14Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Voices of Manchester – The Studio, Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Thankfully avoiding the stereotype of the modern Mancunian, with their bucket hat, Adidas tracksuit and simian stroll, writer Duncan Battman has succeeded in producing a new piece of writing that celebrates the values of Manchester without ever resorting to cliché, displaying its innate humanity through six stories of the people who have made their lives here. Rather than being presented with the rather austere format of six separate monologues, Writer/Director Battman chooses to fragment and overlap the stories onstage, the first three being set on a tram heading into the city centre with the trio after the interval moving the action into a city centre pub. So, boarding at Altrincham Interchange heading into ‘town’ are Jennifer (Louise Kershaw), Duncan (John Jones) and Lillian (Victori...

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

24Oct

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Arguably the most well-known of all Roald Dahls novels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is being performed at Altrincham Garrick Playhouse this week. Directed by Joseph Meighan, it is also a story with very popular film versions and so is a brave undertaking for any theatre to perform.For those few who have never heard of the story it is essentially about young Charlie Bucket and a winning golden ticket that entitles the holder to a rare entry into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Wonka, the eccentric and largely unseen owner of the factory, meets Charlie and the rest of the winners and the story ensues with much surrealism, a lot of sugar and some strange 'umpa lumpa' people along the way!Charlie Bucket is performed by Rui Yang Lau. He performs as Dahl described Charlie in his novels. W...

Bleak Expectations – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

30Sep

By Dan GrimesNo Comments

North West

Bleak Expectations – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

My son, Sam, and I were thrilled to have been invited to the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse to spend an evening watching this hugely entertaining and funny play. Full disclosure, I was a big fan of the original Radio 4 series that inspired this stage adaptation, so my hopes were set high. There is something quintessentially British about the combination of the surrealist, gag-filled scripts from writer Mark Evans and their gentle parodying of all things Victorian that just invokes a knitted tea cosy and a plate of hot, buttered crumpets. How to describe the plot of Bleak Expectations? Basically, take every Dickensian Sunday night telly adaptation you’ve ever seen, pop them all in a blender, add a liberal splash of absolute nonsense and, hey presto! Roughly speaking the story follows the h...

A Taste of Honey – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

24Sep

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

A Taste of Honey – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Opening the Garrick Studio’s new season of Manchester based plays is the iconic A Taste of Honey. It’s hard to believe that Shelagh Delanay was just 19 years old when she wrote this funny yet furious piece which still manages to hit hard and square 65 years on from its first production. Set in Salford, in a damp and draughty bedsit, we meet Helen and her teenage daughter Jo mid moonlight flit as they decamp from one squalid living quarter to another. Described in the text as a ‘semi-whore’ Helen is a single mother, trying to make ends meet by whatever means she can and grasping on to whatever opportunities may come her way. Jo is weary of their lifestyle and is searching for love and security, for guidance and comfort, where none is likely to emerge. When her mother leaves her for Pe...