JB Shorts 12 presented by Reallife Theatre Company

Reviewed by Paul Thompson October 2014

In the dingy, urban chic of a Princess Street hostelry, the polished diamond of Manchester's fringe theatre scene – JB Shorts – is back in its twelfth incarnation. Joshua Brooks gives up its basement to fire short, theatrical creations of TV writers like tennis balls from a machine at sell-out crowds.

The evening's first course is a serving of horror-themed farce, as Peter Kerry's Mr Normal sets up two couples of adjacent generation in lock down as zombies creep nearer. It's a 'what would you do if you had an hour to live' scenario, with a subtlety roughly akin to a hard kick in the groin. Once the twist is revealed, I'm not entirely sure whom I'm supposed to be rooting for. But maybe that's not the point.

Tim Benjamin's MADAME X by RNCM

Reviewed by Denis Joe October 2014

The lights go up on the stage and we see Masetto (a painter) and Zerlina (his lover and muse and the model for his paintings). Surrounding them are paintings done by Masetto, who reels off the titles (Woman With Flowered Hat!). They are interrupted by Botney, who is Masetto’s agent, he announces himself (The lovers! There’s no place like home). Two couples enter with Mr Wilmore (a wealthy capitalist) who catches sight of Zerlina (What lovely creature is this?).

There then follows a very funny sketch as the two couples harass the painter about the styles he works with. The painter is angered by the intrusions and has to be pacified so as not to upset the couples who are potential customers (Kill not the goose that lays the golden egg! Botney tells him).

Lady Brannoch (a wealth aristocrat) enters and introduces herself (...I am the Lady Brannoch, Dowager Countess of Brannoch...). Botney takes it upon himself to introduce Lady Brannoch to the Masetto (...the foremost artist of his generation...) and goes on to show Lady Brannoch Masetto’s works. Whilst the others are viewing the paintings Wilmore corners Zerlina. He disparages her life with Masetto (. . . such delicate perfections, all thrown away upon a senseless rustic . . .). She tells him that she is to marry Masetto but he persists. He tells her that if he cannot have her then he will have her likeness and announces that he will buy all the paintings and leaves.

Boy on a Bed at Lowry Studio

Written by Edwin Preece, Directed by Alastair Zyggu, Presented by Organised Chaos Productions

Reviewed by Yvonne Cawley May 2014

Boy on a Bed is the story of an unusual love triangle between characters with very different passions, unusual in the importance given to each of their personal passions, which are on the surface fairly unlikely bed fellows in some ways. Adam (Adam Carroll-Armstrong) is the central and pivotal character, very much the innocent abroad and naive to the driving force behind his hobby of running every day, sprinting through snow, heat, gales and rain.

Running, Adam gets soaked by a passing bus and Stella (Lily Shepherd), who is training to be an architect at the same college Adam is studying English Literature, kindly offers him a towel - and they are instantly attracted to each other.

The Events at Everyman Theatre

Reviewed by Jane Turner April 2014

It was good to be back inside the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool after two years of closure due to re-construction. The new theatre, workshop, bar and restaurant has a beautiful new façade and a light and spacious modern interior. It is not too different to be unfamiliar, with a similar layout that retains the intimate and atmospheric basement bistro that draws you in and envelops you in the hubbub of pre and post theatre gossip.

The balcony overlooking Hope Street is a creative addition to the old frontage and a good place to linger and get an appreciative eyeful of the magnificent and under-rated 'Paddy’s Wigwam'. The theatre itself is still snug and informal, but better lit and with seats that don’t make your bum ache after half an hour. My only complaint is the menu, limited and not a patch on the old one. Bring back the chicken curry and those delicious desserts please!

Dear Daughter at Bolton Little Theatre

Written by John Waterhouse, Directed by Alastair Zyggu

Reviewed by Yvonne Cawley April 2014

Nestling in a quiet backstreet in Bolton, the Bolton Little Theatre (BLT) is a real gem. This was my first visit to this wonderfully inviting venue and was really taken with the warm friendly welcome I received. The play was being performed in the smaller of the two theatres that the BLT has to offer, with a 60 seat capacity, just 20 seats on three sides around the central stage area, giving it an extremely intimate feel and ensuring no matter where you are seated you manage to get a fabulous view.

Dear Daughter, based on the memoir written by Flora Jewsbury about a difficult adolescence in North Manchester before and during the First World War, whisked us back in time to 1910 where we are introduced to her life as a young child. We see Flora (gracefully played by Carole Bardsley) as an old woman with a constant presence on stage, guiding us gently from scene to scene in the story she so personally illustrates.

Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut by WNO

Reviewed by Denis Joe March 2014

For the spring season this year, Welsh National Opera have brought together two productions of the Manon Lescaut story: Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Hans Werner Henze's Boulevard Solitude. Though both operas relate the same story, based on the novella L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the 18th century author Antoine François Prévost, they could not be more different.

The lights go up on a busy railway waiting room, Des Grieux (Gwyn Hughes Jones) is curled upon a row of seats whilst the waiting room fills up. Edmondo (played as a cleaner) teases Des Grieux by stating what a beautiful night it is (Ave, sera gentile, che cliscendi. . .). Des Grieux bemoans his loneliness and his failure to find love (L'amor I Questa tragedia,ovver commedia). A woman steps into the crowd and Des Grieux is captivated. As she sits at the bar in the waiting area he approaches her tentatively.

Looking North at Contemporary Six

Revealed Landscapes of the North West

To be reviewed by Simon Belt May 2014

Contemporary Six is proud to present “Looking North – Revealed Landscapes of the North West,” a group exhibition with over 30 works by four Northern landscape artists: John Eastwood, Louise Jannetta, Sandra Orme and Matthew Bourne. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and runs until May 21st.

Featuring original paintings, mixed media pieces, charcoal drawings as well as limited edition photographic prints, the exhibition sets out to capture the dramatic, atmospheric, bold and timeless landscapes which inspire the artists.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Reviewed by Sarah Bartlett November 2013 (top), and Joanne Green December 2013 (bottom)

The devil arrives in Moscow. The city descends into a temporary and fantastical chaos, exposing the true moral character of Soviet society, as Bulgakov sees it. Bulgakov’s heroine, Margarita, sells her soul to the devil in the interests of her adulterous relationship with the Master, author of a failed novel about Pontius Pilate. Almost two millennia earlier, in the parallel plot, Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Bulgakov’s Jesus figure) arrived at the palace of the Procurator of Judaea, and Pilate subsequently failed, through cowardice and realpolitik, to save an innocent ‘preacher of peace’ from the death sentence.

We often refer to novels as being multi-layered, but The Master and Margarita stuns its readers with myriad dimensions, all perfectly realised, and it is easy to forget that the novel was written in the narrowing climate of Soviet Russia.

Boomtown Rats at Manchester Academy

Reviewed by Catherine Smyth November 2013

Ok, I will admit that there was more grey and Grecian than in the band posters that adorned my wall when I was a teen. I was a ‘rebel’ who longed to see her favourite band; I even still have the single with the freebie ticket inside the clear vinyl but I never managed to get to the Bradford concert…

Now, nearly 30 years later, I finally got my golden ticket and it was worth the wait.