Royal Exchange Archives - North West End UK

28Oct

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Let The Right One In – Royal Exchange

Is there anything better than settling in to watch a horror film around Halloween time? Well, how about heading to the theatre to see a spine-tingling horror right in front of your eyes… even better right? The Royal Exchange have done it again, bringing to life a stage adaptation of a novel with great flair, vibrancy and talent. The horror fans out there might recognise the title: Let The Right One In from the Swedish novel and film by John Ajvide Lindqvist, a vampire horror/romantic tale with blood, guts, gore and heart. What more could you want? Oskar is a shy boy, suffering due to the reign of terror from school bully’s Jonny and Micke. He meets Eli, a mysterious girl who just moved in next door. Oskar is taken by her enigmatic presence; they quickly become friends and begin to f...

The Glass Menagerie – Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

8Sep

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Glass Menagerie – Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Thomas 'Tennessee' Williams is widely regarded as one of the great American playwrights, the quality and extent of his output in the middle of the last century ensuring that his work still continues to form a staple diet for professional and amateur theatre all over the world. The Royal Exchange have chosen his first (and most autobiographical) play to kickstart its Autumn/Winter season, and after recent upheavals and some very odd programming decisions by this Mancunian institution, it is a welcome and sparkling return to form. 'The Glass Menagerie' is famously a 'memory play' told from the flawed perspective of the narrator Tom (Joshua James), unpacking his tense relationship with Mother Amanda Wingfield (Geraldine Somerville) and sister Laura (Rhiannon Clements) as they struggle to ...

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart – Royal Exchange

9Dec

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart – Royal Exchange

At Christmas the Royal Exchange usually stages a classic musical to bring us some festive cheer with Sweet Charity, Guys and Dolls and Gypsy being recent successful offerings. It is therefore something of a radical departure this year to find the new team of Artistic Directors (Bryony Shanahan and Roy Weise), plumping for a play based around Scottish folk ballads to entice theatregoers away from pantomime, hearth and home. As I made my way to my favourite theatre, braving monsoon conditions, drunken office parties and the questionable attractions of the Manchester markets, I was intrigued by this quirky choice. I left three hours later, exhilarated, charmed and slightly confused by this uneven but undeniably captivating piece of theatre. We are presented with the eponymous Prudencia Ha...

The Mountaintop – Royal Exchange, Manchester

1Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Mountaintop – Royal Exchange, Manchester

In 2009, the Memphis born playwright Katori Hall was unable to secure a venue in the United States for her new play 'The Mountaintop'. Instead, she brought it to London, where it received huge acclaim for the portrayal of Dr Martin Luther King on the eve of his assassination in April 1968. Now Roy Alexander Weise, the new Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange, has chosen this blisteringly funny and timely play for his debut here, and launches the Autumn season with an absolutely stunning production. The difficulty Hall had with this play in the US, centres around her portrayal of Dr King; rather than the hagiographic figure of grainy newsreel footage, we see King as a fully rounded human being with all the faults and foibles that entails. He smokes constantly, is unfaithful to his wi...

Theatre Cash Injection – A Wise Investment?

6Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Blogs

Theatre Cash Injection – A Wise Investment?

Given we made two appeals for government support for theatres to survive beyond the pandemic it would be churlish not to welcome the government’s £1.57 billion cash injection to protect our world leading cultural sector. Now it’s true that money has to go a long way across theatres, museums and live venues, but considering yesterday we had no support this is a significant acknowledgement that many big and small theatres were on the brink of going under. And, make no mistake, once they went dark the reality was they would never come back like the Nuffield in Southampton. You can’t help but think the National Theatre’s decision to lay off its front of house staff, or the announcement by regional powerhouse the Royal Exchange of potential redundancies must have focused the government’s...