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GM Fringe: Be My Baby – King’s Arms Theatre, Salford
★★★★ Set in an era when to be an ‘unmarried mother’ meant social and moral stigma, Amanda Whittington’s Be My Baby follows four pregnant teenagers over two months in 1964. They are sent to a mother and...
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24:7 Theatre Festival: Afterglow – New Century House, Manchester
★★★★ I’ve reached the point in my life where if I watch anything involving love, marriage or proposals, I go to pieces. It’s a lovely way to be, and my tears are always tears of happiness, but it is...
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24:7 Theatre Festival: To The Dam – New Century House, Manchester
★★★★ Monologues are tricky. Not only do you need a consistently interesting script, you also need a tremendously talented actor at the helm. To The Dam has both of these things, and more. Written and...
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The Dumb Waiter – King’s Arms Theatre, Salford
Reviewer – Scott Stait ★★★★ If you hadn’t seen The Dumb Waiter before, or didn’t know it was a Pinter classic, then you would have been forgiven for thinking that Ransack Theatre were presenting a...
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The Good (Inte)review – Megan Marie Griffith
Writer: Steven Ireland Contact Compacts returns to the Contact Theatre this September, showcasing short plays from up-and-coming North West writing talent. It is the brainchild of Pull Your Finger Out...
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Life’s Witness – The Bay Horse, Manchester
★★★★ Reviewer: Steven Ireland There’s something very enjoyable about watching a new show produced by a fledgling company. Often, you can feel the sense of people pulling together behind a project they...
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Romeo and Juliet – HOME, Victoria Baths, Manchester
★★★★ There was always going to be a fight, it is Romeo and Juliet after all, but on this occasion it was play vs venue. Shakespeare’s classic is expertly moulded into the recently renovated Victoria...
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Contact Compacts #3 – Contact Theatre, Manchester
★★★★ I interviewed Megan Marie Griffith, one of the producers of this show, a few weeks ago. If you read that interview, one of the things that comes through most of all is her enthusiasm for this...
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A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts – Royal Exchange, Manchester
★★★★ Reviewer: Steph Bushell It was freezing and windy, and the small audience had already mostly fallen silent when I stumbled in a few minutes late from the gridlock. In my search along Swan Street...
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The Events – HOME, Manchester
★★★★★ Formed by the merger of The Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company, HOME is designed to “redefine the contemporary arts centre” with theatres, cinemas, galleries, broadcast facilities, as well...
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Porno Chic – The King’s Arms, Salford
★★★★ Porn is a hard subject to approach. If we’re all honest with ourselves it’s probably something that we’ve all had experience of, but raise it in a conversation and watch people stiffen around you....
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North West Theatre to Watch – Jan/Feb 2015
The more eagle-eyed of you will notice I haven’t reviewed for a while. The even more eagler-eyed of you will notice I have a new surname. So, after a brief break, and the acquisition of a shiny new...
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Re:play 2015: The Dumb Waiter – HOME, Manchester
★★★★★ Following not one, but two sold-out runs at The Lucy Davis Vaults at the King’s Arms Theatre, Ransack have joined the best and brightest of the Manchester Fringe scene as part of HOME’s Re:play...
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Re:play 2015: Spur of the Moment – HOME, Manchester
★★★ The opening scene of Spur Of The Moment is promising, lively and full of humour. Delilah aged twelve, turning thirteen, is with her two friends singing songs from High School Musical to make into...
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Play-4-Free Festival: Peaceful – King’s Arms Theatre, Salford
★★★★ It’s pretty difficult to create a genuinely unsettling, spooky piece of theatre. In recent memory, I can only recall being terrified at Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, Andy Nyman and Jeremy...
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Re:play 2015: Colder Than Here – HOME, Manchester
★★★★★ January can be something of a desolate place. Venture into Manchester City Centre on a cold, wintry Saturday night and you’ll find it quiet; bars, pubs and clubs not half as busy as they would be...
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A View From The Bridge – Octagon Theatre, Bolton
Reviewer: Richard Hall ★★★★ A View From The Bridge, along with The Crucible, is one of Arthur Miller’s most frequently revived plays and in this excellent production, it is easy to see why audiences...
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Re:play 2015: Tuesdays at Tescos – HOME, Manchester
★★★★ Tuesdays at Tescos is a well-done monologue. It is the first English adaptation of Emmanuel Darley’s Le Mardi a Monoprix, premiered in Paris in 2009. This version was translated by Sarah Vermande...
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Blind Date – Joshua Brooks, Manchester
★★★★ The evolution of Blind Date is interesting. It started life as a short play as part of JB Shorts, and audiences really responded to the two adorable central characters, Andrew and Angela. So much...
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Play-4-Free Festival: The Queen of Horror – King’s Arms Theatre, Salford
★★★★ Caution: Review may contain spoilers The concept of The Queen of Horror alone was enough to drag me in. A young lady goes to visit renowned horror author (tick) to interview her for her podcast...
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