Theatre
Kristy Stott, Theatre EditorSome of the best theatre you’ll see this summer won’t be on Manchester’s biggest stages. It’ll be in libraries, pubs, basement comedy clubs and independent venues – places where curiosity is rewarded, creativity thrives and audiences get to discover tomorrow’s favourites before anyone else.
Greater Manchester Fringe Festival celebrates 15 years this July with more than 100 shows taking over theatres, pubs and pop-up spaces across the city. It’s one of the best places to discover bold new work before it heads to Edinburgh – or simply before anyone else is talking about it.
There’s more theatre waiting in unexpected places, too. Hope Mill Theatre welcomes The Bob Ross Effect – a warm, witty and quietly uplifting celebration of one of television’s most unlikely cultural icons. Then, in August, Manchester Central Library’s beautiful Henry Watson Music Library becomes the backdrop for a lively, pay-what-you-can production of The Comedy of Errors.
Meanwhile, comedy fans should make a beeline for Creatures Comedy Festival, where big-name stand-ups and rising stars test brand-new material across four intimate Northern Quarter venues before taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s the perfect chance to catch brand-new stand-up while it’s still finding its feet.
Whether you’re after brilliantly lo-fi theatre, an evening celebrating Bob Ross, Shakespeare in an unexpected setting or the next big name in comedy, these are the shows worth seeking out this summer.
