Venue: The Royal Exchange (Studio)
Date Reviewed: 26th September, 2008

Writer/Director Matthew Dunster’s  new play You Can See the Hills is a coming of age drama that explores snapshots in the life of Royton teenager Adam (William Ash) as he moves towards adulthood.

It is timely that this excellent play has opened in the region in a week when not only did Jacqui Smith admit that the people of Greater Manchester were entitled to feel unsafe on the streets because of knife crime. But also following Barnardo’s statement that custodial sentences were not resolving the problem. (more…)

Venue: The Opera House
Date Reviewed: 26th September, 2008

The eXtra Factor claims to bring to the stage the combination of music and backstage gossip which has made talent/reality TV shows like the X Factor and Fame Academy so popular. Sadly, as a stage show, it doesn’t really work, not quite knowing whether it wants to be a play, a musical, a pantomime or a pop concert.

The story follows the last two weeks in a reality television show called The eXtra Factor. The remaining six contestants share a house and we see their various storylines unravel in scenes interspersed between two songs from each of them.

The ultimate winner is voted for by the theatre audience via text message, creating the possibility of a different winner each night. (more…)

North West actress Sally Lindsay has been confirmed to play the part of Helen, in Jo Combes‘ brand new production of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste Of Honey which runs from at the Royal Exchange from 13 November - 6 December.

Sally is probably best known as Coronation Street’s Shelley, feisty barmaid turned abused wife when she hooked up with evil builder Charlie. But she’s no stranger to the stage having performed in productions as diverse as Much Ado About Nothing to Eurobeat.

2008 is the 50th Anniversary of Delaney’s play, which she wrote when she was just 18 years old and this brand new production will celebrate this using a soundtrack of Manchester music from across the years.

Theatre-goers in Manchester will get the chance to see Leonard Bernstein’s classic West Side Story, the Barry Manilow musical, Can’t Smile Without You and Frantic Assembly’s Othello next week.

West Side Story arrives at the Lowry on Tuesday, 30th September direct from  Sadlers Wells. On the same day Frantic Assembly bring their unique version of the Bard’s classic Othello to the Lowry’s second theatre, the Quays.

Meanwhile the Barry Manilow musical, Can’t Smile Without You opens at the Palace Theatre on Monday, 29th September. It stars Chesney Hawkes and Siobhan Dillon and is based on the songs of the show-man, who is currently wowing crowds in Las Vegas.   (more…)

Venue: Contact Theatre
Date Reviewed: 25th September, 2008

Liverpool based 20 Stories High are a dynamic new theatre company keen on breaking down the boundaries between performer and spectator. Formed in 2006 by co-artistic directors Keith Saha and Julia Samuels, 20 Stories collaborate with young adults, allowing them to help shape the content of each project.

Their latest production Babul and the Blue Bear mixes elements of personal testimony, rap, and movement with more traditional theatre elements such as masks and puppetry. Does it work? Well, yes and no.  (more…)