Theatre

Creative Tourist

This month’s theatre highlights span dystopian classics, political thrillers and bold new opera.

First up, dystopia. At Waterside Arts, Box Tale Soup transform Orwell’s 1984 through puppetry, movement and original music. More adaptation as Lowry hosts imitating the dog’s The War of the Worlds, in which model worlds and camera trickery combine with live performance and projection.

Down at 53two, James Graham’s The Angry Brigade revisits 1970s Britain, tracing the real-life anarchist collective who declared they were fighting back against what they saw as a one-sided class war.

Opera arrives in force at Aviva Studios with ENO’s UK premiere of Du Yun and Royce Vavrek’s Angel’s Bone – a stark allegory of exploitation and abuse of power – and Mozart’s sparkling Così fan tutte at The Bridgewater Hall.

Elsewhere, Bryony Kimmings’ Bog Witch wrestles with eco-anxiety and reconnection at HOME, Liverpool Everyman hosts Becket’s classic Waiting for Godot, and it’s the last chance to catch a puppet-powered Pinocchio at Lowry.

Our top picks

Bog Witch at HOME

Bog Witch at HOME Manchester, Manchester, 26–28 March 2026 - Book now

Following a critically acclaimed London run, Bryony Kimmings brings her new, eco-confessional show Bog Witch to HOME.

Image supplied by Home MCR

The Angry Brigade at 53two

The Angry Brigade at 53two, 25 March–4 April 2026, From £17.00 - Book now

1970s Britain. Unemployment is soaring. A Tory government is pushing through cuts. Bombs are detonating in British cities. James Graham’s political thriller traces the real-life anarchist collective fighting back against what they saw as a one-sided class war.

Image courtesy of 53two.

The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor at Aviva Studios

The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor at Aviva Studios, Manchester, 25–27 June 2026, From £10.00 - Book now

In a world premiere at Aviva Studios, Sinéad O’Connor’s musical power and moral defiance is translated into dance by the Tony Award-winning Sonya Tayeh.

Black and white photograph of Sinéad O'Connor
The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor. Image by Kate Garner.

Imitating the Dog: War of the Worlds at Lowry

Imitating the Dog: War of the Worlds at Lowry, Manchester, 25–28 February 2026 - Book now

Imitating the dog remake The War of the Worlds as live cinema, where model worlds and camera trickery build catastrophe before our eyes.

Live production photo by Ed Waring, courtesy of Lowry.

1984 at Waterside

1984 at Waterside, Manchester, 12 March 2026, From £18.00 - Book now

Box Tale Soup’s inventive puppetry reanimates Orwell’s vision of surveillance, obedience and the erasure of truth.

Image supplied by Waterside Arts Centre

Pinocchio at Lowry

Pinocchio at Lowry, Manchester, Until 22 February 2026 - Book now

Watch a playful, high-energy adaptation of Pinocchio where everyday objects become puppets and family relationships take centre stage.

Pinocchio at the Lowry
Lowry

English National Opera: Così fan tutte at The Bridgewater Hall

English National Opera: Così fan tutte at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 27–28 February 2026, From £25.00 - Book now

English National Opera takes its first ever bow at The Bridgewater Hall with Così fan tutte – Mozart’s sparkling comedy, presented in two semi-staged concert performances.

An orange background with dark orange balloons in the shape of hearts.
ENO.

English National Opera: Angel’s Bone at Aviva Studios

English National Opera: Angel's Bone at Aviva Studios, Manchester, 12–16 May 2026, From £10.00 - Book now

This Pulitzer Prize-winning opera brings a dark contemporary parable about exploitation, coercion and the abuse of power, underpinned by a score in which chamber music and cabaret collide with electronica and punk.

A pair of white angel wings displayed against a dark, black background. The lower parts of the wings are stained with vivid red, resembling blood splatter.
Courtesy of English National Opera

Waiting For Godot at Liverpool Everyman

Waiting For Godot at Liverpool Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, 17 March–4 April 2026, From £13.00 - Book now

Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett’s revolutionary play that changed modern theatre forever – comes to Liverpool Everyman this spring, with acclaimed actors Matthew Kelly and George Costigan in the lead roles.

Waiting for Godot at Liverpool Everyman
Image courtesy of Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres.

Small Island at Leeds Playhouse

Small Island at Leeds Playhouse, Leeds, 11–28 March 2026, From £16.50 - Book now

Journey from the sun-drenched shores of Jamaica to the cold, grey streets of 1940s London in Small Island, presented by Leeds Playhouse.

Small Island
Leeds Playhouse

Leila Navabi: Relay at Carriageworks Theatre

Leila Navabi: Relay at Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds, 18 April 2026, From £16.50 - Book now

This April, Leeds’ Carriageworks Theatre welcomes Relay to the stage. A riotous collision of stand-up comedy, electro-pop songs and hand-drawn animation, it’s a show that refuses to sit still.

A woman poses as if she's about to start a race.
Leila Nevabi

Please Do Not Touch at Leeds Playhouse

Please Do Not Touch at Leeds Playhouse, Leeds, 12–13 March 2026, From £15.00 - Book now

Please Do Not Touch, a powerful and emotional one-man show at Leeds Playhouse. Tackling contested artefacts, justice and free speech.

A man in a prison cell is stood holding a phone to his ear.
Nicola Young Photography

I, Daniel Blake at HOME

I, Daniel Blake at HOME Manchester, Manchester, 21–25 April 2026 - Book now

I, Daniel Blake returns to HOME nearly a decade on from Ken Loach’s 2016 film, depicting conditions that remain an everyday reality for millions across the UK.

Three actors performing on stage, carrying black bin bags.
Pamela Raith

The Memory Of Water at The Octagon Theatre

The Memory Of Water at Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Until 21 February 2026, From £15.00 - Book now

A play about families, grief, and the unreliable narratives we inherit. Directed by Bolton Octagon Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham. Starring Vicky Binns, Victoria Brazier, Helen Flannagan and Polly Lister.

Text reads The Memory of Water. A image of three women in black sitting by a coffin, two with cups of tea, one in the middle raising a wineglass
Bolton Octagon

More Theatre

Pinocchio at the Lowry
Until
FamiliesMediaCityUK
Pinocchio at Lowry

Watch a playful, high-energy adaptation of Pinocchio where everyday objects become puppets and family relationships take centre stage.

TheatreManchester
1984 at Waterside

Box Tale Soup’s inventive puppetry reanimates Orwell’s vision of surveillance, obedience and the erasure of truth.

From £18.00
Small Island

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