Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

MAH17: Juliet The Moon – A Live Installation for the Reading Room at Central Library

Polly Checkland Harding

Visit now

Juliet The Moon – A Live Installation for the Reading Room

Manchester Central Library, Manchester
18 May 2017

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Free
Image courtesy of RNCM.
Book now

Letters sent between Frank Merrick, pianist and tutor at the RNCM, and his wife Hope Squires throughout Merrick’s imprisonment during WWI for being an opponent to the war effort provide the inspiration for this unique evening of music at Central Library, as part of Manchester After Hours 2017. RNCM composers Philippos Rousiamanis and Deane Smith have written two new works specially for the library’s Reading Room, which will be performed by an ensemble of singers and cellists, with singing glasses.

Exploring themes of loss and intimacy, the two pieces are performed independently and then gradually combined as the evening progresses. There will also be a display of letters, programmes, articles and other materials uncovered during the RNCM’s research into Manchester’s musical life in the First World War.

What's on at Manchester Central Library

Where to go near MAH17: Juliet The Moon – A Live Installation for the Reading Room at Central Library

St Peters Square Manchester
City Centre
St Peter’s Square

St Peter’s Square is a public space in Manchester – home to the city’s iconic library, town hall, Pankhurst statue, art gallery and famous Midland Hotel.

Manchester Art Gallery. Photo by Andrew Brooks
City Centre
Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery

The Charles Barry-designed, Grade I-listed Manchester Art Gallery is one of the city’s leading galleries and is back open for visitors once more.

Manchester
Restaurant
Ban Di Bul

Ban Di Bul is a longstanding Korean restaurant in the very centre of Manchester.

Chinatown
Hotel
The Alan

This high-end city-centre restaurant has an excellent afternoon tea option that more than matches up to the superb main menu.

Salut Wines
Chinatown
Bar or Pub
Salut Wines

Salut wines pride themselves in offering “wider horizons beyond the safe choices.” With 42 wines by the glass and a regularly changing selection of bottles in their Enomatic wine preservation machines (or  “wine jukebox,” as they’re colloquially known), this is one of be best bars in Manchester for exploring new vintages.

Manchester
Restaurant
Friska

Latest branch of Friska, the independent healthy fast food chain.

Manchester
Restaurant
Don Giovanni

Traditional Italian restaurant, serving everything from pizza to steak. All this in a large modern venue with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Manchester Art Gallery Cafe

Summery bakes, seasonal salads and fresh light meals at Manchester Art Gallery’s in-house café, courtesy of highly-regarded Head Chef Matthew Taylor.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Manchester Town Hall

Re-opening in 2024, Manchester Town Hall is a monument to Victorian Manchester’s ambition, and one of the city’s most-loved landmarks.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Albert Square

A public square in the heart of Manchester which plays hosts to festivals and major events. Home to the Albert Memorial and statues of Bishop James Fraser, John Bright, Oliver Heywood and William Ewart Gladstone.

See all places

What's on:

A man (Macbeth) stands in a dark studio lit in vivid green light, with vertical neon-green light bars glowing behind him through light fog. He wears a dark suit jacket over an open-collared shirt, one hand in his pocket, and looks directly at the camera with an intense, brooding expression.
Until
TheatreChester
Macbeth at Storyhouse, Chester

For its first Storyhouse Originals production of 2026, the Chester theatre presents a bold new staging of Macbeth, directed and adapted by Jamie Sophia Fletcher.

From £20.00
Daniel Avery in front of sun sculpture event poster
MusicManchester
Daniel Avery x Helios at Victoria Baths

Daniel Avery’s played in Manchester countless times over the last decade, but never quite like this – in an empty Edwardian swimming pool, beneath monumental installation art.

From £34.00
Kelham Jazz Festival
FestivalsKelham Island
Kelham Island Jazz Festival

Across breweries, warehouses and bars, Kelham Jazz Festival brings the city’s and the wider North’s jazz community together for the first time.

From £11.59
Until
LiteratureLancashire
Litfest 2026

One of the oldest literature festivals in the country, Litfest returns to Lancaster with a programme focused on the rights of the natural world.

From £3.00
MusicManchester
Bar Italia at Manchester Academy 2

One of London’s most hyped bands of the last few years, Bar Italia are playing Band on the Wall in support of their latest album, Some Like It Hot.

From £19.45

Culture Guides

Fatoumata Diawara by Alun Be.
Music

This month’s live music picks move between ambitious new work, grassroots celebrations and a few memorable settings.

Food and Drink in the North

Spring has arrived, bringing with it al fresco dining and a rush of high-profile food and drink-related events in Manchester.

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.
Theatre

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

Ceramic Sculpture
Exhibitions

Across Manchester and Salford, exhibitions are thinking hard about how things are made – and how materials carry stories.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

See all guides