Tag: JB Shorts

Under the arches at 53two’s Watson Street headquarters, JB Shorts is now firmly established on the Manchester theatre scene as the place to experience sharp new writing and watch both emerging and established actors hone their craft. Now in its 25th iteration, tonight’s offerings were as eclectic as ever, managing to mix the farcical and surreal with more thoughtful offerings to delight the packed midweek audience. Railway Sleepers Kicking off the evening with a familiar train journey from Piccadilly to Euston, we meet Frank (Will Travis) and Sue (Sue McCardle) ostensibly travelling south for a conference and striking up a conversation with fellow passenger Cheryl (Rosa Brooks) around how best to reply to a text message received from Frank’s mysterious boss. The piece worked quite we...

There are very few certainties in life. Hardly any in theatre. One constant, however, is that JB Shorts always delivers interesting ideas, great writing and talented acting. For anyone unfamiliar, the showcase of short plays was born in the Joshua Brooks pub more than a decade ago as a way of giving TV writers the space to try out new work. The show has gone from strength to strength in its new home at 53Two and this selection of shorts is no different. Energy bills, the political response to the pandemic, ableism, so-called cancel culture and discrimination. The issues being tackled are overwhelmingly influenced by the extraordinary times we are living through. However, at the heart of each play, are surprisingly well-drawn characters given the brevity of the texts. Zoe Iqbal &am...