Great to see campaigning, socially engaged theatre-making at @contactmcr.bsky.social with BLOCK THE BLOCK. Nathaniel McBride's play asks challenging questions around what power citizens have, if any, as Manchester is remade around us - & the script-in-hand performance had real impact. More please!

David Thacker's THAT CAN'T HAVE HAPPENED! at Salford's The Kings Arms is verbatim theatre at its most powerful. Staged simply, with emotionally rich, and often raw, performances - the production honours the harrowing, yet inspiring, stories of women who have survived domestic violence.

Challengingly double-edged, Kellie Colbert's DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE thoughtfully conveys how relationships have the ability to make and/or break us. There's power in the show's restraint, it's often like a suppressed scream, & Colbert's face can say so much. From @warnmcr.bsky.social at Contact

The Engagement Party Review of The Engagement Party at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham. It feels good to be heading to Oldham for a night out. The tram ride out from Victoria used to be a regular feature of my cultural li…

REVIEW - Oldham Coliseum is in a celebratory mood with their new production THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, directed by Amanda Huxtable, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Full review at: circlesandstalls.com/2025/02/20/t...

Blithe Spirit Review of Blithe Spirit at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester. Novelist Charles Condomine has invited a local medium and clairvoyant to his home, hoping to gather material for his next book. As they pre…

REVIEW - director Hannah Ellis Ryan's affection for BLITHE SPIRIT is obvious, but her production at Hope Mill Theatre takes enough risks to make it feel fresh as well as fun – and Karen Henthorn's Madame Arcati blows in like a gale. Full review at: circlesandstalls.com/2025/02/17/b...

The Engagement Party Review of The Engagement Party at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham. It feels good to be heading to Oldham for a night out. The tram ride out from Victoria used to be a regular feature of my cultural li…

REVIEW - Oldham Coliseum is in a celebratory mood with their new production THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, directed by Amanda Huxtable, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Full review at: circlesandstalls.com/2025/02/20/t...

Blithe Spirit Review of Blithe Spirit at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester. Novelist Charles Condomine has invited a local medium and clairvoyant to his home, hoping to gather material for his next book. As they pre…

REVIEW - director Hannah Ellis Ryan's affection for BLITHE SPIRIT is obvious, but her production at Hope Mill Theatre takes enough risks to make it feel fresh as well as fun – and Karen Henthorn's Madame Arcati blows in like a gale. Full review at: circlesandstalls.com/2025/02/17/b...

Strong women, working class bingo, dormant desires, Rachael Gooch's uninhibited singing, & who would have thought bubbles would bring such pure joy to a roomful of adults! No shortage of creativity & connections at @warnmcr.bsky.social's first SOCIAL EXPERIMENT at @contactmcr.bsky.social last night.

Social Experiment logo: an image of blue DNA, overlaid with white text: "Social Experiment at Contact | Thu 6 Feb, 6pm-9pm | FEATURING ARTISTS | Harley Keasey | J. Edgar Staubsauger | Rachael Gooch | Ray Bubbles | special guests Malandra Jacks"

🧬 #SocialExperiment

A new gathering for #LiveArt & contemporary #performance — meet artists & others, take a few risks, maybe test out an idea…

A series of free, #informal evenings at @contactmcr.bsky.social — today we're showing five works from 6pm to about 9pm

wordofwarning.org/socialexperiment

Night People's SALOON IN BLOOM was a delight last night. Club kids, gambolling sprites, pleasure-seekers - to a beat-driven soundtrack, Daisy Howell & Aaron Howell enticingly shapeshifted back & forth through HOME's new arches. My highlight of PUSH 2025.

Isn't January meant to be quiet theatre-wise? Apparently not. Lots of festival happenings in Manchester this week with the wonderful FUTURE FLARES at Grosvenor East from tonight & the welcome return of PUSH (after its mysterious disappearance last year) at @HOME_mcr from Friday.

David Thacker scatters the audience (at the King's Arms) among the shifting & uncertain perspectives of Brian Friel's FAITH HEALER - & with Colin Connor, Vicky Binns & Rupert Hill firing on all cylinders, powerfully evokes a shabby, rootless & unravelling world - where miracles might just happen.

Manchester Theatre – Best of 2024 Welcome to my Circles & Stalls look back at 2024. As in previous years, this is very much a best of Manchester theatre list. So, it doesn’t include any shows that were passing through on tour o…

Here's my round up of my favourite Greater Manchester theatre this year. My top 10 shows + a few other things I really liked: circlesandstalls.com/2024/12/29/m...

Manchester Theatre – Best of 2024 Welcome to my Circles & Stalls look back at 2024. As in previous years, this is very much a best of Manchester theatre list. So, it doesn’t include any shows that were passing through on tour o…

Here's my round up of my favourite Greater Manchester theatre this year. My top 10 shows + a few other things I really liked: circlesandstalls.com/2024/12/29/m...

Spend Spend Spend Review of Spend Spend Spend at Royal Exchange, Manchester. After winning £152,000 on the football pools in 1961 (the equivalent of over £4,000,000 today), Viv Nicholson famously declared “I’m going…

REVIEW - Josh Seymour’s production of SPEND SPEND SPEND at the Royal Exchange is enjoyably effervescent & full of restless ingenuity. It’s all highly entertaining and helped in no small part by Lucy Hinds’ wonderful choreography. Full review at: circlesandstalls.com/2024/12/29/s...

In the throes of a life-changing phone call, Jess Gough's spurned lover slowly unravels in @peripeteiatheatre.bsky.social's adaptation of THE HUMAN VOICE at the Kings Arms. A mesmerisingly raw & emotional performance from Gough, & Áron Gyenge's cinematic sound design heightens the dramatic tension.

Experiencing David Hockney's BIGGER & CLOSER (NOT SMALLER & FURTHER AWAY) at Aviva Studios is the perfect antidote to Manchester's grey winter months - with its ravishing saturated colour palettes, eye-opening landscapes, & constantly shifting perspectives - it's like imbibing a warm reviving tonic

Manchester/Salford theatre this week is big on Christmas musicals - but there's also a dash of Jean Cocteau in the mix. Looking forward to seeing:

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET at HOME

THE HUMAN VOICE from Peripeteia Theatre at King's Arms

A CHRISTMAS CAROL from Hope Mill Theatre at The Lowry

I Wish Review of I Wish at HOME, Manchester.  It’s a momentous occasion for “actual fairy godmother” Effie – she’s about to grant her grumblefillionth wish. Flicking through her magic memory book, s…

REVIEW - Le Gateau Chocolat is the most fabulous of fairy godmothers in the sparkly & kind-hearted 'I WISH' at HOME, Manchester.

Full review at: circlesandstalls.com/2024/12/03/i...

🔵 OPEN CALL FOR NEW NW DANCE — #Turn2025 will platform North West dancers & #dance makers next April at Contact #Manchester

🔵 TurnMcr.org

🔵 PARTNERS: hÅb/ @warnmcr.bsky.social, @contactmcr.bsky.social, Company Chameleon, Dance Consortia NW, Project Auske, @artscouncilengland.bsky.social supported.

Incredible production of Mike Bartlett's COCK at 53two. Clever, edge-of-your-seat theatre. Not a moment wasted - the whole thing tightly drawn together by director Rupert Hill - with fully committed performances that wring every drop of emotion, drama & comedy from the writing.

Here's my round up of my favourite Greater Manchester theatre this year. My top 10 shows + a few other things I really liked: circlesandstalls.com/2023/12/28/m...

Exciting week of theatre ahead, & looking forward to seeing:

Wayne Steven Jackson's AND HERE I FIND MYSELF at The Arden

KATHY AND STELLA SOLVE A MURDER! at HOME

OH DEER! by Aphids as part of Transform Festival

Manchester School of Theatre's production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' AN OCTOROON

Theatre-wise this week in Manchester, looking forward to seeing:

DUAL دوگانه from Peyvand Sadeghian, & Two Destination Language's 40/40. Both at HOME

And also heading to Stoke-on-Trent for Claybody Theatre's SONG OF THE SYTCH at Spode Museum.