Greater Manchester Fringe Archives - Page 2 of 4

10Jul

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Wannabe – The King’s Arms

Following on from Amy Webber’s awarding winning show ‘No Previous Experience’, Wannabe is an autobiographical exploration of her lifelong desire to be famous in the form of a one woman opera -standup - spoken word- pop song. Webber is extremely warm and welcoming to her audience, immediately putting them at their ease and instantly engaging them with her funny, quirky, humble and open style. From the moment she enters the space in the wonderful Kings Arms, she owns it and shares it in equal measure. Inspired by a visit home during which her mother ‘sorts out’ some of her childhood memorabilia, Webber uses her box of ‘junk’ - the trinkets, mementos, diaries, letters, poems and songs of her childhood, to shape a hilarious tale of longing, searching and learning that is utterly enga...

Phil Green: A Broken Man’s Guide to Fixing Others – Seven Oaks Pub

6Jul

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Phil Green: A Broken Man’s Guide to Fixing Others – Seven Oaks Pub

At one stage in A Broken Man’s Guide to Fixing Others, Phil Green acknowledges that he could spend an hour talking about the shocking rates of male suicide. However, he tells his Greater Manchester Fringe audience he has had another, tonally different, idea on how to fill the show. The good news: it is a great idea. Complete with a genuinely funny PowerPoint-style presentation, Green outlines his plan on how to save middle-aged men from themselves. It is something he has experience of. Partly because of his own breakdown (although he is fine now by the way - totally fine, actually) and partly because he’s had to help a few of his mates who’ve ended up in need themselves. There’s a really endearing opening section about luring these troubled men away from danger with trails of ...

Bloody Marvellous: A Comedy Show about the Middle Ages to tour UK Fringe Festivals this summer

26May

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Bloody Marvellous: A Comedy Show about the Middle Ages to tour UK Fringe Festivals this summer

Bloody Marvellous brings together Luke Connell’s academic and comedic personalities to offer something distinctive: a comic tour of the medieval world. Rather than the tired medieval themes of kings and battles, it is about medieval ideas, stories and inventions. Featuring props, songs and games, Bloody Marvellous introduces audiences to creatures like sea-centipedes and manticores, dogs with names like Havegoodday, and characters like Eilmer the flying monk. Luke shows off the old world’s taste in tourist tat, and tries to convince audiences that medieval medicine – with treatments involving things like dragons’ blood – was more exciting than the modern kind. The show will be performed at the Newcastle, Durham, Buxton and Greater Manchester Fringes in July before it hits the Edinburgh ...

Yoga and sex (for Women over 40) – The Peer Hat

31Jul

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Yoga and sex (for Women over 40) – The Peer Hat

There are probably very few circumstances where a woman will sit watching her husband kneeling on a yoga mat with another woman’s bottom thrusting towards his face, whilst discussing the physics of positions in the Kama Sutra, and her reaction be hysterical laughter. But that’s where we find ourselves, in the company of spunky Aussie yoga instructor Kath (aka Kathryn Haywood) who may still be trying to find the perfect ‘Brangelina’ word- combo for the sex lecture (‘Slex-ture?’) that she is here to deliver. Clutching three yoga-based self-help manuals from the 1960s, Kath whooshes us through reflections on dating, staying young and, naturally, mastery of basic yoga. And it’s an absolute riot. Despite the slightly saucy audience participation (which, wonderfully, people are happy to...

25Jul

By Amelia PhillpottsNo Comments

North West

NeuroChatter – The Fitzgerald

Three personalities, one body, one actress, one act. One great performance. Written and performed by Sara Harvey is a one woman show following three personalities all inhabiting one body, all battling for control. Along with the unnamed Host of the body, broken by an undisclosed previous trauma, alters Mike and Elliott constantly bicker. Mike acts as the egotistical intellectual, attempting to use psychological academia to understand the three’s collective situation. Elliott is the complete opposite, as the foul-mouthed artist, who leads with their heart and prioritises emotional freedom. As the show develops, the individual relationships between the three personalities grow, revealing each character’s main motivation to help Host in the best way they know how. Despite the deeply tragic st...

Madame Chandelier Saves Opera – King’s Arms, Salford

22Jul

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

Madame Chandelier Saves Opera – King’s Arms, Salford

As part of Greater Manchester Fringe Festival 2024, The Kings Arm in Salford welcomes the flamboyant, some would say ‘Diva’, Madame Chandelier, aka Delea Shand. With her one woman show, it’s safe to say this performance certainly does what it intends – Madame Chandelier, and her bright pink very high wig, single handedly throws her heart and soul into her mission to ‘save Opera’. Shand is a proud Canadian and full of charisma. She has many accolades to her name and previous sell out shows at The Edinburgh Fringe. She was also nominated for best newcomer in the 2019 Manchester Fringe and is clearly master of her craft which was instant as she performed as ‘Madame Chandelier’, immediately captivating the audience. Shand is open with the audience from the beginning in a most comedic wa...

14Jul

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Dear Eliza – The King’s Arms, Salford

Barbara Diesel’s Dear Eliza, currently touring UK fringe festivals, is a powerful and raw piece of theatre that explores the fear of the effects of mental ill health upon friendship and delves into the conversations that most people find too difficult, too upsetting, too challenging to have. This one woman show presents as a live video recording of responses to letters from one friend to another. Except the letters were never sent; never received. The letters are found hidden away following the suicide of the sender. The impact on Eliza, the recipient, is recorded in response; ironically, never to be received by its intended beneficiary and cleverly pulling the audience into that role. The structure of the piece allows a linear narrative which depicts the friendship between the two y...

Fine Line: A GreySpace Production – The Fitzgerald

13Jul

By Amelia PhillpottsNo Comments

North West

Fine Line: A GreySpace Production – The Fitzgerald

When the stylistic choice is made to produce a play with minimal set, a small cast and a character driven storyline, the pressure of the show falls almost solely on the actors’ ability to work realistically within the space and present a believable yet fascinating relationship to entice the audience. Fine Line: A GreySpace Production manages to excel in its stylistic choice and create a realistic dynamic without crutches of realistic set. The play follows teenager Mil and her counsellor Josie reconnecting by chance after 2 years. This rekindling is inter-spliced with flashbacks to their initial relationship, which constantly blurs the lines between a professional relationship and a deeper emotional connection. As they reminisce about the past, you watch how thei...

13Jul

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar – The King’s Arms, Salford

In a packed-out King’s Arms, musical stand-up Holly Redford Jones’ tuneful contribution to Greater Manchester Fringe seeks to answer the question: where have all the lesbian bars gone? Redford Jones instantly draws the audience in with a reassuring stage presence, achieving many laughs through the sardonic delivery of her musings. Social critique remains sharp as well as facetious throughout. The show’s description promises many things- including a celebration of queer women of the past, present and future. It was therefore a missed opportunity for the piece to be noticeably light on sapphic content. Where did all the lesbian bars go? A brief history of the country’s venues- from the 1930s’ Gateways Club to London’s newest joint La Camionera- would have been a welcome inclusion. ...

6Jul

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Natter – The Edge, Chorlton

My first trip out reviewing shows taking part in the Greater Manchester Fringe 2024 found me at The Edge in Chorlton to see Queerdog Theatre’s Natter. Set in 1980’s Salford, we follow the story of friends and confidantes, Helen and Linda, as they regularly meet up to watch TV, drink tea with biscuits, put the world to rights and share each other’s worries and woes. Presented very much in the vein of Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough’s classic Lancashire matriarchs, they sit head scarfed and heavily busted in front of the telly enjoying Countdown, Neighbours, The Bill and Bullseye, to name but a few. They gossip, they judge, they bathe in denial, initially avoiding the elephant in the room, the subject of Linda’s gay son, then march through with the herd as they tackle the intri...