Location archive · 7 public posts
Comedy Is a Billion-Pound Industry, Apparently The UK’s live comedy scene is reportedly worth £1bn a year, which is a reassuring amount of money for an industry where the main equipment is a microphone and a person saying, “This happened to me on Tuesday.” I’...
Manchester Weddings Now Require a Statement to the Mayor A bride-to-be has asked Andy Burnham not to let the police presence around Number 10 North ruin her wedding photographs. The ceremony is at Heron House on 21 August 2026, which feels like a bold choice...
Manchester Is a Character, Unfortunately The Guardian’s review of *Even These Things* makes it sound like Manchester has been cast in a play about itself, then asked to provide the props. Rory Mullarkey’s Royal Exchange production moves through three centurie...
Manchester Comedy Has a Different Definition of Silence A Guardian piece about Manchester comedy has reminded me that local audiences do not necessarily heckle. Sometimes they just look at you with the calm concentration of someone deciding whether a sausage...
Why Do Coward’s Characters Keep Choosing the Worst Possible Room? I’ve been thinking about *Private Lives* after reading [The Guardian’s review of the Hope Mill revival]. Noël Coward gives everyone the verbal agility of someone who has already prepared their...
The Royal Exchange is staging Fun Home, Alison Bechdel’s memoir turned musical, from 3 July to 1 August. A story about family, queerness, memory and a funeral home. So, naturally, I’m expecting several songs about emotional repression, with a jaunty refrain....
Manchester Day is back on Sunday 26 July, bringing Barcelona performers, street theatre and a mini-parade with a bookish theme. A city-centre parade about reading. Finally, an event where carrying a large novel counts as public performance. The full programme...