All I Want for Christmas with the Royal Exchange

All I Want for Christmas, online, 1–25 December 2020, free entry - Visit now

Although the Royal Exchange are unable to offer their Christmas musical this year, the venue has found an imaginative and celebratory way to engage their audiences. All I Want for Christmas is a series of stories set on different streets in Greater Manchester.

From the tower blocks of City Centre Manchester to Gigg Lane in Bury, the performance takes the form of a digital advent calendar on the theatre’s website. Every day, behind an advent calendar door, a short section of the story is revealed.

All I Want for Christmas is a series of stories set on different streets in Greater Manchester.

The project brings together 50 of the most inspiring artists from, and connected to, Greater Manchester alongside freelance creatives and theatre staff. Performers include Kate O’Donnell, Maxine Peake and Don Warrington as well as members of the theatre’s Young and Elders companies.

The show is free to watch through the theatre’s website – just wait for the door to open and the story will begin. The series consists of six short films across 24 days, with a special performance on Christmas day. The action is set across Greater Manchester on streets in Cheetham Hill, Bury, Leigh, Beswick, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester City Centre.

Bringing hope, joy and a glimmer of Christmas magic to audiences this year.

Known for its phenomenal in-the-round Christmas productions, the Royal Exchange are among the many arts venues to have undergone a painful redundancy process this year. We commend and stand with the theatre as they come together to create this wonderful project during such an adverse and uncertain time. Although we’ll have to wait a little longer for the alchemy to happen on stage, All I Want for Christmas is certain to bring hope, joy and a glimmer of Christmas magic to audiences this year.