Live Art Alive

LOST AND FOUND

Written by Oliver Jeffers

Adapted and Directed by Will Brenton

Music by Gruff Rhys

FACTORY INTERNATIONAL

At its heart Lost and Found is about the importance of imagination, communication and connection…the very things that form the essence of our humanity. Storytelling is how we help young children make sense of the world around them and hopefully imbibe them with a lifelong love of the Arts. Director Will Brenton has adapted this award winning children’s favourite by Oliver Jeffers for the stage and it is a truly magical experience.

Softly colourwashed staging combines a set that displays the detritus of washed up flotsam and jetsam. It also serves to cleverly disguise some of the live musicians on stage and allows for the ebb and flow of props such as boats, bathtubs and the Lost and Found office. Set and Costume Designer Jean Chan has beautifully evoked every page of this illustrated storybook in the most delightful manner. Moments where a characters’ arms stretch out like retractable hoses to grab packages or a gleaming bathtub that conjures up a yellow duck seem effortlessly natural and therefore suspend reality and immerse the audience further in the pages of this storybook.

The use of puppetry by Puppetry Director Olly Taylor sees seagulls move around the theatre interacting with the children in the audience and also driving the narrative during set changes. The performers imbibe them with an uncanny realism that is delightful. The sense of perspective and distance of the journey undertaken by the boy and the penguin is further enhanced by the small models used in conjunction with the animation by Keyframe Studios. The combination of movement, music, animation and puppetry fills this large stage while also giving the sense of soaring space that is the South Pole.

There are some lovely opportunities to interact with the young audience. A boat has missing elements which the children can help discover and one lucky child finds a vital piece under their seat requiring a trip unto the stage. Moments where the penguin mimics the boy create an almost Pantomime vibe. There are audible gasps as trees descend from above, and swirling mist and storms buffet the tiny rowing boat.

The boy and the penguin are delightful as they hesitantly develop a real friendship and come to understand each other. The whole production exudes a real charm and wimsy that builds the sense of childlike wonder. The music created by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals builds the emotion and the real sense of scope being out on the ocean virtually alone. Musicians meander on to the stage coming together with a raggle taggle feel that echoes the coming together of a caille. There is a softness to the colours used in the set, and with the lighting and the soundscape that also seem carefully considered to make this production suitable for all children including any with neurodivergency or other sensory triggers. This is the first family show to feature in the programming at Factory International and it sets the bar high for future productions.

Factory International 12th Dec 2023 – 06th Jan 2024

OLIVER!

Large Theatres, Musical

Books, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart

Adapted from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist

Directed by James Brining

Leeds Playhouse

Christmas is certainly the time for nostalgia and sitting back rewatching old movies and indulging in familiar traditions such as Pantomime or a juicy epic from Charles Dickens. Leeds Playhouse have opted for the later and have thrown all the festive bells and whistles at this gloriously indulgent production. The classic Lionel Bart musical adaptation Oliver! has been a crowd pleaser for over 70 years. Director James Brining has taken his personal childhood memory of starring as a hungry urchin boy in a school production and lovingly celebrates this theatrical gem with a diverse and highly talented cast.

Set and costume Designer Colin Richmond has made brilliant use of the main stage in The Quarry by staging in the round with a range of elaborate platforms and bridges which allows for maximum drama and loads of very naturalistic movement on stage. The costumes are lovingly detailed and evoke every echelon of society that Dickens describes. London street markets come alive with the hustle and bustle of traders, shoppers and pickpockets. The grim workhouse filled with pallid hungry children desperate for gruel but dreaming of Food, Glorious Food is powerfully contrasted by the laden tables of food carried to gluttonous Victorian besuited men who frequent the same hallowed private clubs still entered by Tory politicians today who seem equally unconcerned by today’s food banks. Scenes in the funeral parlour where Oliver is sold as a tiny coffin follower are gleefully macabre as gloomy coffins open in the floor or a white faced child emerges from another to a sea of black clad mourners with quirky steam punk dark glasses. The overhead bridges and walkways work very well in allowing a large cast to move around on stage with freedom and give great scope to the clever choreography of Lucy Hind.

Felix Holt and cast in Oliver! at Leeds Playhouse. Image credit: Alastair Muir

Oliver! at Leeds Playhouse.
Image credit: Alastair Muir

Fagin’s base is filled with colourful pocket squares and eccentric bric a brac that allude more to the Victorian eccentricity of a born entrepreneur than the darker antisemitism of the original Fagin in Dickens. Steve Furst as Fagin is wily and has a certain Bohemian seedy charm but is also reminiscent of Wilfred Brambell in Steptoe and Son. The real brute is of course Bill Sykes played with real thuggish menace by Chris Bennett who is genuinely scary on stage. The feisty performance of vocal powerhouse Jenny Fitzpatrick makes for a striking and moving contrast as her Nancy feels robust enough to have no time for the thuggery of her lover. When she sings As Long As He Needs Me it is incredibly emotive as the complexity nature of love in a violent and coercive relationship is perfectly evoked. There are some great performances from all the main cast with a standout comedic turn from Minal Patel and Rosie Edie as the ghastly Bumbles.

The children in the Young Company are consummate professionals throughout this lengthy and demanding production. The young Oliver and The Artful Dodger are played by a rotating cast of young actors befitting modern child labour legislation. The press night production had Nicholas Teixeira playing Oliver and his clear diction and strong, pitch perfect renditions of Where Is Love? and Who Will Buy? were very impressive. Felix Holt was perfectly cast as the impudent but charming Artful Dodger.

This is a lush, exuberant extravaganza of a production that is memorable for all the right reasons. Every aspect feels well thought out and lovingly attended to. It’s truly encouraging to see large scale theatre productions in the North West that are worthy of coaxing London theatre goers to come North and hopefully remind Arts Council England that money allocated outside of London is a sound investment. If nothing else it might help keep Northern theatres from potentially resorting to pick a pocket or two to survive!!

OLIVER! at Leeds Playhouse 24th Nov 2023 – 27th Jan 2024

Little Women

Theatre

Written by Louisa May Alcott

Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey

Directed by Brigid Larmour

HOME in association with Pitlochry Festival Theatre

HOME

First published in 1868 this well loved American semi-autobiographical classic tells the story of four sisters who are navigating their teens as they each grapple with what it means to become Little Women. Set during the American Civil War the story unfolds as their mother Marmee holds the home together while their father is off to war and this genteel family adjust to becoming impoverished.

Anne-Marie Casey keeps faithful to the original text while managing to include the main events of the original and its follow-up Little Wives. The focus is firmly on Alcott’s main themes of domesticity, work and true love as the sisters navigate supporting each other financially within the constraints of New England society while deciding if it’s ever possible to marry both for love and financial security.

This is a great piece in that it puts women at its forefront with a range of interesting roles. In this adaptation it is stripped back to just eight actors with six of them women. The ever wonderful Susan Twist does an inspired turn as Aunt March. Imperious and acidic, she is a force to be reckoned with as this elegant patrician attempts to maintain standards for one of New England’s finest families. Kacey Ainsworth is a fine actress who looks perfectly cast as Marmee but at times feels under used and constrained by either the script or Brigid Larmour‘s considered direction. She exudes love and patience as she tries to be a good mother and a dutiful wife and neighbour while worrying about the financial future of her brood.

Susan Twist and Rachael McAllister as Aunt March and Jo in Little Women at HOME.
Image credit: Chris Payne

The sisters are led by Jo who sees herself as rough and wild. She is the aspiring writer who wants home and hearth to remain unchanged forever and her character is based on Alcott herself. Rachael McAllister plays her with passionate enthusiasm giving free rein to Jo’s impetuousity and bad temper as well as her fierce love of family. However there are times when her gauche clumsiness and mulish ways veer too much towards the huffiness of a difficult child and get in the way of taking her seriously as the writer and woman she is attempting to become. Jessica Brydges as Meg seems less conceited than in the original text so her journey to contented marriage with the impoverished but honourable John seems less dramatically interesting. Meg Chaplin is utterly believable as the delicate and docile Beth and her piano playing and singing add a lovely additional element to this production. The youngest and traditionally least likeable sister is Amy who has the most growing up to do. Actress Julia Brown really shines as she delivers a performance that allows her character to grow from a petulant and vindictive child to a worldly and emotionally wise young woman who is ultimately a much better wife for Laurie than Jo could have ever been.

Daniel Francis Swaby gives Laurie plenty of charm and a laconic wit. He has a winsome energy and at times an emotional intelligence that sometimes seems at odds with his attachment for Jo but make for a vibrant addition to the pacing of this production when he is on stage. Tom Richardson plays John Brooks and Professor Bhaer giving both men real decency, compassion and humour. He is especially good as he mentors Jo in New York as the exiled German Professor who passionately believes in the power and importance of The Arts.

Daniel Francis Swaby as Laurie in Little Women at HOME. Image credit: Chris Payne

The set design by Ruari Murchison is visually striking as the tall fine birches of New England stand strong whether in snowy woodland, winter ice skating or in the March home or streets of New York. The staging is simple but ambitious and effective. However the use of several main props so close to the front and sides of the stage may make for tricky sight lines for some audience members. The stage is beautifully lit and the subtle use of sound such as the ticking clock, crackling of ice on a lake or the peal of bells as war ends is a genius touch by Niroshini Thambar.

The script and the thoughtful direction by Brigid Larmour makes for an enjoyable production peppered with moments of warm humour, a depth of love and genuine pathos and despair that reflect real family life both now and in the time Alcott was writing about her Little Women. There are times when the slow pace can be frustrating but as a well rendered piece of nostalgia for the stage this production has much to recommend it.

HOME 8th – 23rd December 2023

AFRIQUE EN CIRQUE

Circus, Large Theatres

KALABANTÉ PRODUCTIONS

The Hall, AVIVA STUDIOS

The latest extravaganza to mark the launch of Aviva Studios in the city is The Welcome a series of events curated by local people across Greater Manchester selected as part of The Assembly. Many of these events happening between the 11-19th November are free to the public and others are affordably priced. Afrique en Cirque celebrates everyday life in Western Africa as it zeroes in on coastal village life in Guinea. Devised by Montreal based circus Kalabanté Productions this is an unadulterated expression of joy and physical prowess that is at times as mind bending as it is literally body bending.

The staging of an African village looks invitingly beautiful and the lighting is gorgeous. Village huts are peopled by musicians while the front of the wide stage of The Hall lends itself perfectly to the endless series of tumbling routines that blend with tribal inspired dance, juggling, hoop and human pyramids that erupt on stage without anyone appearing to ever draw breath. This might be a show that casually started on African time but once it gets going it’s exuberance and high energy is unrelenting.

Afrique en Cirque. Image credit: Wendell Teodoro

Yamoussa Bangoura established this circus company in 2007 to celebrate African culture and circus. There are no high wires or safety equipment other than crash mats and the performers seem gleefully unbothered by the very real risks involved in much of their routines. One strides around with another performer casually standing on their head while the contortionist bends in ways that can have seemingly scant regard for their own body in 10 years time. The ensuing result is an extraordinary exhibition of human skill and endurance that also paints a vibrant image of village life. Routines are developed around market bartering, fishing expeditions and storytelling that all play out with colourful costume changes and live music from the live band. Afro jazz style music is performed with guitar and saxophone blending with traditional West African percussion and the beautiful kora.

There are some gorgeous moments such as the dreamy balletic hoop routine with the spinning cyr wheel. There is cheeky humour in a routine involving hard hats and a human pyramid that is an impudent nod to The Chippendales/ The Full Monty. The sheer athleticism and energy is invigorating and the performers are multi talented as they also take on some of the percussion and singing as well. The music and singing is utterly infectious and has numerous young children dancing in the aisles in this relaxed performance. The audience is involved and encouraged to engage in callbacks as we learn little bits of the Guinea dialect Susu…I now know that naani is four and suli is five thanks to a playful juggling routine.

This is a production that has played all over the world and in doing so is a reminder of what a rich and varied culture exists in Africa. It’s also a lovely reminder that communal joy and gasps of awe can be universal whether in Manchester, Manéah or Montreal.

The Hall, Aviva Studios 11 -15th November 2023

Mushroom Language: A Fungal Gothic

Uncategorized

Written and Conceived by Ali Matthews

The Aldridge Studio, The Lowry

Dreamy, disquieting and dystopian are some of the words that come to mind watching this striking and playful production. Creator Ali Matthews and her fellow performer Tom Halls open the doors to their playroom and it is a dark and unsettling place. There are moments where they create an uncomfortable voyeurism seemingly a couple with a predilection for quirky game playing…other times it is like watching Hanzel and Gretal going feral in a bleak forest where a fox masquerading as Granny would be a veritable walk in the park!

This darkly funny eco horror blends hypnotic and poetic story telling with B-Movie zombies, plastic baby dolls gleefully spored out like jizz, decaying animals and soothsaying crows. Clever and wonderfully weird Matthews looks at cycles of fertility, birth, death and decay by literally immersing herself in the ground and becoming one with the kingdom of the mushroom. This production is literally oozing concepts and ideas and in many ways feels like a serious of improvised theatre games where Matthews and Hall are egging each other on to new creative extremes. The results are utterly bonkers at times but the two performers are so slyly charming and engaging it is impossible not to be won over by this freakish new world unfolding on stage.

Ali Matthews in Mushroom Language: A Fungal Gothic.
Image credit: Georgiana Ghetiu

This third world of the Fungi is imagined by set designer Ruta Irbite using what seems like acres of crumpled dark brown tarpaulin and stark trees seemingly formed from a merging of bare branches and human and animal bone. There is magic in this set as the performers forage and root in the ground and props keep appearing like rabbits from a magicians hat. Baby dolls, crows, lengths of intestine like gauze, pigs heads all emerge from this primordial earth and even the performers seem swallowed up at times.

Strange and otherworldly yet accessible our world collides with this third kingdom as the intrepid pair explore the forming of lichen, the intoxicating stench of truffles and the slow decay delighting the oyster mushroom while referencing Zombies, Linda Blair and disposable nappies. Both central performances are perfectly pitched with Matthews at times bewitching and enchanting then childishly demanding. Halls is delightfully quirky and clearly relishing this darkly playful role. There is genuine charisma between them which makes the scenes where they are literally as ‘one’ work very effectively.

Mushrooms may indeed hold the key to our future survival as they are so highly adaptable. We are continually learning more about their secret world and this production is certainly a loving homage to the magic of Mushrooms and may possibly have been inspired by the ingestion of a few of the more magic ones!!

The Lowry 25/26th October 2023

BROWN BOYS SWIM

Large Theatres

Written by Karim Khan

Directed by John Hoggarth

CONTACT THEATRE

Two Sixth Formers hang out together and chat about girls, pecs, beards, Uni plans and their favourite sweets. This coming of age story features two equally likable mates who have known each other from primary school. One has the unbridled enthusiasm of a labrador puppy and is obsessed with his appearance and fitting in with the cool kids. The other is more serious and cautious…heading towards a good Oxbridge degree and a successful career that will support a wife and family. On surface level these boys are chalk and cheese, on a more significant level they are both Muslim boys living in Oxford watching their peers punting on the river while neither can actually swim. Karim Khan has written a perceptive, poignant and funny play that address the experience of many young Muslim men as they try to carve out their own identity in multicultural Britain today.

Winner of a Fringe First and the 2022 BBC Popcorn Writing award, Brown Boys Swim has had sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and more recently at Soho Theatre. This tour features lead performances from two recent graduates who are both excellent as Kash and Mohsen. Kashif Ghole and Ibraheem Hussain are very natural in their roles and complement each other beautifully whether teasing and sparring or holding up a mirror to each others personal struggles. There is a lot of charm and humour in their exchanges as they play off each other. The darker elements are subtly shaded in as a trip to buy swimming trunks results in a security guard assuming they are shop lifters or a much looked forward to invite to a pool party is based on the assumption that they will provide drugs rather than Hahal haribos. The most poignant touch is the knowledge that Kash never learned to swim because in primary school he was having special needs teaching instead of swimming lessons with the other kids simply because English was not his first language. None of these aspects of the story are preachy but each gently touches on the slow drip drip of everyday racism. The final dénouement is so sudden that it almost risks losing the potency it should have but it is still a painful reminder of wasted potential and a life curtailed by cultural ignorance and unhelpful stereotyping.

This a beautifully staged production with clever and inspired design by James Button, lighting by James Bailey and a soundscape by Roshan Gunga. They combine to bring a leisure centre poolside and its changing rooms vividly to life. This is incredibly effective and gives the whole production a real sense of energy and drama. There is a great deal to enjoy in this production but there is also a reminder that growing up and finding your path in life is hard for any of us in any culture but we owe it to all our children to do better and be kinder.

CONTACT THEATRE 25th – 28th October 2023

The Rep Birthday 31st Oct – 4th Nov 2023

Romeo & Juliet

Large Theatres, Shakespeare

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Nicholai la Barrie

Royal Exchange Theatre

This 400 year old tale of star-crossed lovers hits the rainy streets of modern day Manchester and as young love burns bright it reminds us all what a heady and dangerous drug it can be. This is no desolate, grimly passion-fuelled tale of doomed romance but rather a celebration of hope in the darkest moments where the human spirit always finds a way to flourish and defy even in death itself. By placing Shakespeare in Manchester and celebrating local people Nicholai la Barrie brings a fresh and urgent energy to his words. The dark and wickedly sly retorts of a Manc on form are perfect for Shakespeare. Even when some sobering lines sound like they are played for laughs it feels more resonant of the local people and their capacity to wield a rapier sharp retort as easily as a Stanley knife. This works especially well with David Judge‘s perfectly pitched Mercutio and Gemma Ryan‘s slovenly Nurse.

There are some great performances with changes to the original script that now see Lady Capulet (a suitably steely Kate Hampson) as a single mother and a gritty Northern matriarch overseeing her clan. The most sweeping change might have been to save Mercutio and allow for for more of David Judge on stage but that may have sent Shakespeare spinning in his grave! He gives a compelling performance and his fresh twist on Shakespeares’ poetic words land perfectly sounding like a Manc street poet as he raps out his lines. Geoff Aymer is excellent as the meddling Friar Lawrence. There are some striking casting touches with Ashley O’Brien as a intimidatingly tooled up Tybalt while the tics and twitches of neuro diverse actor Adam Fenton give additional menace and edge to his Benvolio.

The two central character feel fresh and energetic in their roles as Romeo and Juliet. Initially Conor Glean did not feel like a Romeo I could get on board with but as his scenes develop there is real depth to his Romeo. Impetuous and foolhardy he may be but the depth of feeling he has for Juliet is never in doubt…even in his initial flinch at the prospect of marriage there is also an openness and generosity of heart to ensure he gives his Juliet what she needs from him. The raw pain he exhibits as he cradles a dying Mercutio is absolute and throughout the second Act he continues to grow in the role. Shalisha James-Davis makes for an vibrant Juliet. She brings a fresh look at this girl and fleshes out her ageless appeal…not just a pretty innocent girl but a feisty and spirited young woman with a passion for life and love that more than meets that of her Romeo. When she insists on marriage this is less about convention and more about knowing her own worth and valuing herself.

Shalisha James-Davis as Juliet
Credit: Johan Persson

The sparse staging is more scorched earth than Northern cobbles but the speakers littered around the stage certainly feel like old rave parties or Moss Side carnival. In the Royal Exchange it would be easy to imagine a balcony scene staged from the circle but instead designers GOOD TEETH have the balcony descend from the heavens. The party scene becomes a rave party with a feisty confident Juliet at its core on a raised platform that defiantly marks out Capulet territory. The music ramps up and five disco balls create a kick ass party where a supernumerary cast fill up the stage and audience members are joining the dancing throng. Later the funeral scene for Juliet sees a sea of black umbrellas providing shelter from the driving rain as the heavens weep to the sound of Elbow‘s Lippy Kids. Some might see possible dramatic overkill whereas I hope it was a homage to L.S. Lowry and to the Manchester music scene.

Director Nicholai la Barrie pulls out all the elements of this timeless tale that still feels fresh and relevant. Whether it is in Verona over 400 years ago or modern day Cheetham Hill there will always be impetuous young lovers and opinionated parents trying to steer their children a certain way. Sparring or killing whether with rapiers or flick knives will always result in devastated families and wasted young lives. The enduring resonance of Shakespeare is however his use of language. Whether in Received Pronunciation or in a Manchester accent it is his ability to capture and summarise the human experience in such a perfect and beautiful manner will always bring joy. This Romeo & Juliet certainly brings the joy.

ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE 20th Oct – 18th Nov 2023

FREE YOUR MIND

Dance, Immersive Theatre, Large Theatres

Co-created by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Assante, Danny Boyle, Es Devlin, Sabrina Mahfouz and Kenrick ‘H20′ Sandy

Commissioned by FACTORY INTERNATIONAL

AVIVA STUDIOS

The first ever Manchester International Festival launched in 2007 and quickly established a reputation for promoting and creating ambitious new works. Artistic Director John McGrath took over from Alex Poots in 2015 when the idea for a permanent building was already being floated. Fast forward to now and from the ashes of the old Granada Studios and with an eye watering bill of approximately £242 million Factory International finally opens the doors of Aviva Studios. Devised by Danny Boyle, Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, Es Devlin, Sabrina Mahfouz and Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy; the show to launch the building is FREE YOUR MIND. It is a huge scale hip hop dance homage to iconic movie The Matrix via a tribute to Manchester’s proud industrial past and reputation for innovation.

The first half is in the Hall and opens with a vast blackboard filled with equations…its a lecture theatre and one of the great founders of computer intelligence, Alan Turing, is giving a lecture via an old black and white TV screen. A quick lesson on the birth of the computer age and Manchester’s role, takes us even further back to the 1700s and Arkwright and the birth of the industrial age. Staccato pulsing bodies flood the stage and Turing is gone leaving the legacy that will be The Matrix and hinting at the A.I. world we now inhabit. The first of many dramatic shifts occurs as the back of stage is punctured with light beams as the punch cards of the first Jacquard loom are replicated. Dancers appear sheathed like gossamer condoms that stretch up and connect to the ceiling. Beautifully lit they weave through each other like a maypole of lost souls. Each dance piece has drama and demands attention. Neo appears, as does the red wigged Trinity clad in glistening black PVC. Bowler hatted dancers in rubber ridged trousers appear like futuristic Bertie Bassets and a wraith-like dancer performs in front of a glistening golden orb punctuated with the holes of bullets or punch cards of computers or grafting workers. The trial of the first computer charged with killing a human is a brutal annihilation with murderlous beams of light. An aerial performer swings across the stage as black discs of destruction rain down.

Suddenly its time to follow the white rabbits through to an interval filled with Matrix inspired figures suspended in mid air while grooving rabbits dance and workers silently graft at machines. The tannoy announces time to divide the audience and blue wristbands go one way and red through a different route into the Warehouse.

Stark and minimalist the vast space is wrapped in white cotton, possibly a nod to Manchester’s historic role in the cotton industry. Running through the middle is a huge white runway suggesting a futuristic fashion runway or conveyor belt. Screens running its full length project images of the building of the Mancunion Way, Ian Curtis, Tony Wilson and the old Granada Studios to the pulsing sound of Blue Monday by New Order. As the screens raise the dancers start to emerge. Before the final battle scenes of The Matrix the runway looks like a bizarre fashion show of costumes by Gareth Pugh fashioned to showcase Apple and Amazon rather than Armani, Twitter and Facebook instead of Tom Ford. These images are startling and darkly funny as they reflect our current human obsessions with consumerism technology and social media. They are all the more potent as audience member immediately try to capture whats happening on stage on their phones.

Dancers karate kick their way down the runway and choreographer Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy makes for a molten and mighty Morpheus. The ultimate scenes with Neo (Corey Owens) and Trinity (Nicey Belgrave) play out in a flurry of bullets of light and coding. It’s truly a spectacular sight that is powerfully impacted by the incredible lighting and video design by Lucy Carter and Luke Halls.

A scene from Free Your Mind. Commissioned and produced by Factory International @ Aviva Studios. Credit: Tristram Kenton

This show is a theatrical extravaganza that is all about showing off and celebrating being here in this brand new space in this city that so many of us love. FREE YOUR MIND isn’t a seamless production telling a cohesive and fully comprehensible story. It’s clear that it’s been in development for almost as long as it’s taken to get the building from concept to construction. It involves a wide range of creatives imagining a work for a stage that wasn’t even built and with a vision of creating something that was about possibilities for what could develop in this new space…about creative possibilities that are yet to be imagined. I like the unabashed joy of opening the doors to the playroom, ushering in the kids and saying Explore! Imagine! Play! This is a huge production using both the 1600 seater theatre and the vast warehouse space that could accommodate a Boeing 747. This is all about spectacle and showing off what these spaces will creatively allow us to do in Manchester. There is an incredible sound system in a building that can seamlessly adapt to different sized audiences in productions that could scale 64metres long and 21 metres wide and accommodate 5000 people while also allowing for floors that can flood and drain. The second half evokes one of my favourite MIF openings when in 2017 Jeremy Deller premiered What Is the City but the People when 100 people walked a gigantic walkway in Piccadilly Gardens celebrating Mancunions from all walks of life. Artistic Director John McGrath and his team have a shared vision for this new building and for Manchester…Invent Tomorrow Together. Let’s hope that FREE YOUR MIND is truly a gateway to new possibilities and just a taste of what is yet to come.

Factory International 13th October – 5th November 2023

TOXIC

Small Theatres

Written by Nathaniel J Hall

Directed by Scott Le Crass

A Dibby Theatre production commissioned by HOME

HOME

TOXIC is a semi-autobiographical piece from writer, actor and HIV activist Nathaniel J Hall. Six years on from the premiere of First Time which I saw in 2017 at Sale Waterside, at Edinburgh Fringe in 2018 and at CONTACT in 2021, its time to see what that tricky “second album” looks like. This is an exploration of how two troubled souls forged a trauma bond but sadly as Hall says This is the story of how we met, fell in love, and f*cked it up. The piece looks at how intoxicating love can disintegrate into something damaged and ultimately toxic. Woven through this love story gone wrong is a powerful look at the personal impact of his HIV diagnosis as a teenager and his partners’ experience of growing up mixed race in a sometimes violent household while both were also grappling with coming to terms with their own sexuality.

That’s a lot to pack into a 90 minute show and deal with any of the subject matter with any depth or sensitivity. In the main TOXIC does a lovely job of vividly evoking two flawed characters that have charm and real substance. Hall exudes winsome vulnerability and Josh-Susan Enright gives a warm rich depth to their performance. Watching them meet and fall in love it’s easy to root for a happy ending even as the show opens with an unabashed ending spoiler. There is something joyfully endearing about this boxfresh couple building a domestic life together with a dog and a DFS sofa. However the broken windows of a cleverly claustrophobic set by designer Lu Herbert already hints at the tragedy yet to unfold. Hall breezily blends glib humour and sly asides into his writing which counterbalances some of the more uncomfortable subject matter without sacrificing the power of the narrative. He may gleefully suggest we just call us your friendly neighbourhood red flags but when he recalls situations where he was called unfuckable because of his HIV status it is hard not to feel the pain in that recollection.

The on stage chemistry between Hall and Josh-Susan Enright is palpable and the latter feels like a perfect foil as the more experienced lover. One is ready to retire their party lifestyle whereas the other is still curious and hungry for the experience denied him before the game changing introduction of PrEP. Their blend of domesticity and drug fuelled partying leads to hook up apps and threesomes that descend into paranoia and jealousies that destroy their happiness. In the main the story is well paced and highly engaging. However there are points towards the end where the show seems to flounder a little. Hall seems breathy in some of his delivery and the fight scene doesn’t quite resonate as it could. Overall this is an assured production that looks great and is cleverly lit by Tracey Gibbs especially in the moments where the visual effects seem to bathe the cast and set with an insidious splatter effect that echoes germs multiplying in a petri dish. The dividing stage is a surprising and startlingly effective way of depicting how broken this couple now are. As Hall says Hurt people hurt people. There is a lovely and reassuring sense of maturity in this insight…something to be truly proud of whatever race, gender or sexuality you may be. There is never shame in recognising our own flaws or damage when we are open to learning and healing.

HOME 18th – 28th October 2023

Dibby Theatre

Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder!

Large Theatres, Musical

Book and Lyrics/ Co-directed by Jon Brittain

Music and Lyrics/Musical Director Matthew Floyd Jones

Co-Director/Choreographer Fabian Aloise

HOME

Two social misfits in Hull host a murder mystery podcast having forged an intense friendship in primary school with their shared love of guts and gore. So far so good, but real life stuff is getting in their way and mounting family pressure is urging them to get out of Kathys’ Mums’ garage and get a life…or at least a career. Luckily for them, their true crime writer heroine breezes into Hull and they meet her on her book signing. Unluckily for her, a mysterious murderer beheads her and the hapless duo decide to investigate her murder. Suddenly these wannabes have the opportunity to become somebodies…not just anybodies but the sort of podcast bodies who trend and go viral with the help of no less than Lorraine Kelly!!

Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder! was a sell out success at Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 and 2023. This tour taking in Bristol Old Vic and HOME featuring a strong cast, a great set by Cecilia Carey and high production values courtesy of Francesca Moody Productions looks set to take this Hull based crime romp straight into the West End of London. This is a rollicking good yarn with songs that have catchy melodies and terrific lyrics that showcase the Hull accent in all its Northern glory. It is a fun night out at the theatre that unashamedly pokes fun at the police force while raising pertinent questions about the role of social media in real life crime cases and our obsession with fame at any cost. At its heart it is a story of true friendship and how it can survive being tested to its limits.

The cast of Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder!
Image credit: Ellie Kurttz

Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds as Kathy and Stella make a great onstage pairing. Bronté is perfectly cast as the nervy, bookish University dropout and Hinds is utterly believable as the steely eyed, insouciant Stella whose tough exterior marks her vulnerability. There is great onstage chemistry and their vocal range compliments each other beautifully. The rest of the cast play multiple roles with great enthusiasm. Jodie Jacobs shines as ghastly crime writer Felicia Taylor, her siblings and the detective tasked with uncovering her murder. T.J Lloyd is a delight as mortician Justin and Imelda Warren-Green slays her primary role as the bug-eyed superfan Erica.

There is genuinely much to love in this riotous goofy murder mystery…and this is written by someone who is not a natural lover of musicals. The frenetic pace of this production can sometimes feel like speeding along having mainlined a Mars Bar and washed it down with Red Bull but every line and phrasing is perfectly pitched and hits its mark. We may never know the true identity of The Hull Decapitator but we can be certain that the team behind Fleabag and Baby Reindeer have another hit production that may soon be adding awards to their mantelpiece!

HOME 5th – 21st October 2023