Melissa Johns Archives - North West End UK

19May

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Snatched – Soho Theatre

Snatched currently running at Soho Upstairs and is written and performed by previous Coronation Street actor Melissa Johns, following her life prior to her dreams of becoming an actor, dating in her teens and mastering riding the bike. Melissa was born missing a forearm, of which only seems like a big deal to everyone else. We are taken through a rabbit hole all the moments that revealed something new to her. From the first moment of feeling romantic love, where she strategically hid her arm to avoid any prior judgement to the moment her agent rang her to reveal that her naked pictures were leaked and about to be in the papers. Johns is a firecracker as she dances around from scene to scene revealing how the comments from others pushed her into heavily critiquing the things she cannot ...

14May

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

Snatched – The Lowry

Melissa Johns is extraordinary. Although, not necessarily for the reasons you might think, and certainly not just because she was born with a disability… She is extraordinary because she is uncompromising in her honesty, and she has learned to be unapologetically herself. In SNATCHED, she tells her story precisely because it is a story that everyone can identify with, whether they are disabled or not. Theatre has value as entertainment, of course; and Johns is funny. The anecdotes she tells about her life are funny, and she has exceptional timing when telling them. But theatre can do so much more than just entertain, and I challenge anyone to go and see this production and not come away changed. We all have things that we can learn about ourselves and about society’s relationship to di...

Julie Hesmondhalgh, Steve Evets and Shelley King to appear in Write Christmas

9Dec

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Julie Hesmondhalgh, Steve Evets and Shelley King to appear in Write Christmas

Write Christmas has been devised to bring some positivity to a potentially difficult holiday time. The aim is to inspire, involve and share fictional stories, videos, Christmas messages and more from boroughs across Greater Manchester, involving GM schools/groups for young people and actors and writers from all backgrounds. Work will be filmed and shared on each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Each ‘episode’ released online and as a podcast will share a piece by young people from our local schools and an adult writer. The project will be running to raise awareness and funds for the Wood Street Mission, a charity helping children and families living on a low income in Manchester and Salford. Christmas is usually a time we associate being about family, happiness, giving and r...

Box of Tricks and Sky Studios launch inaugural Screen/Play Award

10Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Box of Tricks and Sky Studios launch inaugural Screen/Play Award

Box of Tricks and Sky Studios’ Innovation Hub based in Leeds have teamed up to announce the launch of the Screen/Play Award to discover exceptional writers from the North of England. The project is focussed on finding talent from communities currently underrepresented on stage and screen offering two writers with no TV writing experience a bursary to write a new play for Box of Tricks, and to open doors to the world of screenwriting by forging a development partnership with Sky Studios throughout 2021. The award is open to Northern writers, aged over 18, with no professional TV experience, from the following communities: D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers, LGBTQ+ writers, writers of colour, first generation migrant writers and writers from a low socioeconomic background.&nb...