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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/spe…

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/man…

Excellent round up of 2024!!

"This was Manchester’s show of the year." 😮 ⚡️ Thank you so much Circles&Stalls for including our production of #Cock in your 2024 round up! UP ‘ERE Productions 53two Joe Gill Hannah Ellis Ryan 👏

What a lovely way to end the year. Both shows I made in Manchester this year listed ❤️ WRESTLELADSWRESTLE & ‘work it out’ ❤️

David Thacker scatters the audience 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.

Isn't January meant to be quiet theatre-wise? Apparently not. Lots of festival happenings 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 from Friday.

SALOON IN BLOOM from Night People 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 #PUSH2025.

🧬 #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 — today we're showing five works from 6pm to about 9pm wordofwarning.org/socialexperime…

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 Word of Warning (hÅb)'s first SOCIAL EXPERIMENT at Contact last night.

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/bli…

Out in Salford, Oldham & Manchester this week & looking forward to seeing: Ad Infinitum's LAST RITES at The Lowry THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY from Oldham Coliseum emilyn claid's UNTITLED at Lowry FIGURES IN EXTINCTION from Nederlands Dans Theater & Complicité at Factory International

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/the…

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 Word of Warning (hÅb).

David Thacker's THAT CAN'T HAVE HAPPENED! at 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.

Great to see campaigning, socially engaged theatre-making at Contact tonight with a script-in-hand performance of Nathaniel McBride's BLOCK THE BLOCK. Asks challenging questions around what power citizens have, if any, as Manchester is remade around us. More of this please!