To those of you who read Private Eye you may have noticed a small article in the current issue (1223) about the proprsed plans for the Royal Opera House to establish a northern base at the Palace Theatre in Manchester which, it is also proposed, will benefit from a £100 million refurbishment. (more…)

Date Reviewed: 23rd November, 2008
Venue: Place Apartment Hotel

Shift working and  long -distance travel can destabilise sleep patterns. One of the challenges facing the audience in Black Tonic is working out the extent to which the actions of the characters are affected by their disrupted sleep. Our assessment is affected by the fact that the play is presented in such a way that we too experience the symptoms. (more…)

Vertigo Theatre Productions bring Bert V.Royal‘s Dog Sees God: Confessions Of A Teenage Blockhead, a zany comedy, following the adults from the Peanuts comic strip to the Lowry Studio in January.

The kids from the Peanuts comic strip grow up and shed their clean cut image in this multi-award-winning parody in its first UK production.

When CB’s dog dies, he contemplates what happens after death. With his friends too stoned, inebriated or institutionalised to provide any answers, a chance reunion with a childhood friend offers him the answers he seeks, plus some he never expected, changing his and his friends’ lives forever. (more…)

The Royal Exchange is offering theatre-goers an alternative to the traditional panto with vicars, pretend vicars, an escaped prisoner-of-war and a real live dog, all bringing mayhem to the stage this Christmas in Philip King’s madcap war-time farce See How They Run from Wednesday 10 December 2008  to Saturday 24 January 2009.

Set in the village of Merton-cum-Middlewick during the Second World War, the story centres on Vicar’s wife Penelope Toop. Reunited with an old friend from her acting days, they hatch a plan to escape their lives for one night. Chaos, confusion and calamity ensue in a fast-paced, uproarious comic masterpiece.

Star of classic TV comedy ‘Allo ‘Allo, Arthur Bostrom, heads a talented cast which also includes MEN Award nominated Kate O’Flynn (last seen at the Royal Exchange in The Chilsren’s Hour) and Alexandra Mathie (seen in the RET’s recent production of Antigone). (more…)

Date Reviewed: 19th November, 2008
Venue: The Lowry

I first saw Matthew Bourne‘s adaptation of Edward Scissorhands in 2006 and recall an excellent production. This time around, the mesmerising quality of the piece has not diminished; in fact it’s better than ever!

Adapted from the wonderful Tim Burton film version, starring Johnny Depp, Bourne’s vision is similar but also different enough to offer audiences much more than a movie re-tread. The character of Edward is scared and alone, with scissors for hands, following his father/inventor’s death. This fragile creature is then discovered by local townsfolk. (more…)