Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Monday, March 17

Tag: Greater Manchester Fringe

Tigers In the Wisteria – Greater Manchester Fringe (GMF Digital events)
North West

Tigers In the Wisteria – Greater Manchester Fringe (GMF Digital events)

Tigers in The Wisteria is a 30-minute monologue in digital format that was inspired by Ottoline Morrells Stonemason ‘Tiger’. The digital monologue is available in virtual format and is a performance for Greater Manchester Fringe Digital Events. Written by award winning writer, Lita Doolan, it tells the story of a challenging romance and all its complexities. Doolan is undoubtedly a talent and has had a previous show at the Manchester Fringe with her digital show ‘After Shark’ which is nominated for an Off West End Award. The film is only 30 minutes and for the first few minutes ‘Tigers In the Wisteria initially feels chaotic and somewhat complex to the viewer. Set in 1922, it is a story about Lady Morrell who is searching frantically for the correct love letter to put in a memorial for ...
Award winning theatre company return to Greater Manchester Fringe
NEWS

Award winning theatre company return to Greater Manchester Fringe

Award winning theatre company, Northern Rep, are returning to Greater Manchester Fringe Festival in 2023, this time with two original plays. One man show BOSIE, written and performed by Rik Barnett, tells the story of Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (Bosie), the illicit lover of Oscar Wilde and reminisces on the destruction left in his wake. After being forced into exile, Bosie is powerless and angry. Compelled to face his past and the persecution endured by his father. Battling his own tour de force of personal philosophies and deep reflection on how his actions led to Oscar Wilde’s disgrace and how he, Bosie a gentleman of Victorian high society is now trapped, degraded and alone. The scandal and outrage of this overshadowed character in Wilde’s downfall is finally examined throug...
Not Drunk But Disorderly – The Empty Space
North West

Not Drunk But Disorderly – The Empty Space

As part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, Liverpool based Hindley and Amos presented their comic murder mystery to a supportive audience at The Empty Space in Salford. Brimming with energy, this fast paced, devised piece of theatre entertained us as we were introduced to Howard and Geoffrey, two local police officers, and the various residents of the fictional Newpool as they investigate a sudden murder on their patch. Hindley and Amos took on all the roles with skill, imagination and great comic timing. Strong physical theatre skills combined with a video backdrop helped set the scenes and present their many characters and situations with much humour and an excellent rapport between the two performers. At 45 minutes long, this is a short piece of well-crafted slapstick ...
Mother There Art Thou – King’s Arms, Salford
North West

Mother There Art Thou – King’s Arms, Salford

Most plays, essentially, are about families and that age-old conflict between kids and their parents. If you go back to ancient Greek drama and myth Oedipus and Electra have complexes named after them. A child’s view of the world is created by their parents. They can, if they want, make it seem to be a scary place their kids should hide from, or they can say it is wonderful and should be embraced and enjoyed. The set-up for this darkly comic play is that a domineering rule-setting, brutal, mother has died, and her son and daughter are left to ponder how they want to live their lives. There is no mention of a father in the piece, so it is assumed the mother brought up the children on her own. Within the family dynamic son Charlie is clearly willing to follow the rules and is extrem...
It’s Not Rocket Science – The Empty Space
North West

It’s Not Rocket Science – The Empty Space

Letter for Letter Theatre presented ‘It’s Not Rocket Science’ at The Empty Space Theatre in Salford during our Greater Manchester Fringe season. The cast of three Alice Connolly (Eve), Stef White (Dad and other male roles) and Helen Knudsen (Mum and multi female roles) tell the story through eight chapters of Eve Jackson the author of book titled ‘It’s Not Rocket Science’ which depicts a women’s journey into a male dominated career. The journey starts with Eve’s desire and motivation to be involved with Space and rocket ships from early childhood believing she belonged in the stars, different from other girls in her school she clearly excels in physics and goes on to attend University to study aerospace. In a male populated world of aerospace, she soon encounters prejudice against he...
A Midsummer Night’s Dream(ish) – International Anthony Burgess Foundation
North West

A Midsummer Night’s Dream(ish) – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

It is not often that a reviewer becomes part of the show but that is what happened to me as part of this entertaining, engaging and extremely fun one-woman re-telling of Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy. Your humble scribe was plucked out of the audience to play a wall. It took all my theatrical skill to stand on stage holding a plastic brick and it would not be correct to comment on my own performance but the other audience members who were chosen to appear on stage with me were all excellent. Yet, the real energetic, frenetic and comic star of the show was Abey Bradbury. She wrote and performed this whistle-stop tour through the Bard’s classic play with such verve and sheer pizazz it was a joy to behold. Her playfulness and obvious love of clowning were such a treat she really brought...
In The Plus – Lock 91, Manchester
North West

In The Plus – Lock 91, Manchester

Imagine a world obsessed with cabbage. Arguably defined by cabbage. Poets and oil painters are inspired by the vegetable as they create their great works. The problem is you don’t care for cabbage. It might sound bizarre. But swap cabbage for sex and suddenly it’s an incredibly accessible way of explaining how some people experience their asexuality. The idea is one of the highlights of James Reilly’s deeply personal one-man show In The Plus. Reilly’s ambition is clear. Celebrate one of the identities and orientations represented by the plus in LGBTQ+. He absolutely achieves that and will surely educate his audience at the same time. However, there’s also potential here for something greater and more powerful. Potential that isn’t quite met. The show opens with an audio montage of...
BABA comes to Greater Manchester Fringe
NEWS

BABA comes to Greater Manchester Fringe

Poppamost Productions are bringing their brand-new comedy play BABA to this year’s Manchester Fringe! BABA is an expansion on their short play Project Baba, part of their sellout 2021 show ‘Oomph’ and, after some sensational feedback, the company has made the choice to revive and expand the story into an hour-long play. Set in the 80s, BABA, is a comedy about a down on his luck salesman called Tommy, trying to sell military grade baby dolls designed to bring down teen pregnancies. However, he must check his priorities when his long-lost teenage goth daughter walks into his life, or risk losing everything. Add to the mix Tommy’s failing love-life, a corrupt Statesman brother, a teenage niece and her boyfriend who have a point to prove, and the madness is set for an explosive comed...
Lydia – Greater Manchester Fringe
North West

Lydia – Greater Manchester Fringe

She’s capable, skilled, eloquent. Without a doubt Lydia will go places in life. In that case why does she never reach her destination? ‘Lydia’ is an auditory gem in which we hear us our protagonist growing up solely through the voices around her. On paper everything seems like it will work out, her family has high aspirations, and she has the skills to accomplish it all. However, as her life steadily journeys downhill, we realise that some things do not stand the test of time and soon will become forgotten. The entire world the audience perceives is built up with soundscapes, voice acting and special effects. This leaves us entirely immersed through every segment and trial faced. I must commend the sound designer Raimundas Paulauskas for the gritty, unnerving, surreal atmosphere c...
Greater Manchester Fringe’s most iconic venue reopens this weekend
NEWS

Greater Manchester Fringe’s most iconic venue reopens this weekend

Iconic Salford pub The King’s Arms reopens its theatre in August with a series of themed live music Saturday Night Specials, after a massive refurbishment during lockdown.  The Bim Williams Quintet kick off the Saturday Night Specials with jazz on Saturday 7th August; folk with Irish band Quare Craic play on Saturday 14th August; there will be a funk and soul DJ on Saturday 21st August and jazz again on Saturday 28th August with the George Grundy Quartet. The current red brick building opened in the 1870s, replacing an earlier King’s Arms pub built in 1807 on the opposite side of Bloom Street. Tables and chairs have been added to the domed theatre space upstairs to make it COVID safe and create a cabaret feel.  A vintage vinyl record player, discovered during a clearout ...