Theatre in Manchester and the North

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor

Last Updated 26 April 2018

Theatre is positively bustling in Manchester and the North – vibrant, varied and fearless. There’s a real wealth of performance on offer – feisty reimagined classics, West End transfers up North and inventive site-specific pieces.

Celebrating 25 years since it was first performed, Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport plays at Manchester’s Opera House. And acclaimed director Robin Herford (The Woman in Black) brings the Ayckbourn classic, Relatively Speaking to Oldham Coliseum.

We’re thrilled that Bolton Octagon are launching their ‘Octagon on the Road’ season with an innovative off-site production of Summer Holiday. We’re also championing the Octagon’s REVEAL festival – check out Monkeywood Theatre’s Trial.

Manchester’s Royal Exchange sees Sarah Frankcom and Maxine Peake collaborate once more for Beckett’s Happy Days. And associate artists RashDash offer a fierce feminist reimagining of Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

Read on for all of our top recommendations for theatre in the coming months.

Here are our picks

1. Relatively Speaking at Oldham Coliseum

Joel Chester Fildes

Relatively Speaking at Oldham Coliseum, Manchester, 20 April–5 May 2018, from £16.00 - Book now

Robin Herford returns to Oldham Coliseum to direct a new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s first West End hit Relatively Speaking.

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2. Trial at Bolton Council Chamber

Ray Jefferson, Bolton Camera Club

Trial at Octagon Theatre, Manchester, 26–28 April 2018, from £8.00 - Book now

Made by Monkeywood Theatre, TRIAL is a brand new show about sexual violence and the devastating impact of never being believed.

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3. Othello at Liverpool Everyman

Helen Murray

Othello at Liverpool Everyman Theatre, City Centre, 28 April–10 July 2018, from £10-32 - Book now

Othello is a distinguished military leader. She commands respect. But not everyone is ready for a leader quite like this one.

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4. Kindertransport at Manchester Opera House

Mark Sepple

Kindertransport at Manchester Opera House, City Centre, 1–5 May 2018, from £15.00 - Book now

Marking the 80th anniversary of Kindertransport, Diane Samuels’ deeply stirring play depicts one woman’s struggle to accept her past.

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5. Three Sisters, by RashDash, after Chekhov at the Royal Exchange Theatre

The Other Richard

Three Sisters By RashDash After Chekhov at Royal Exchange Theatre, City Centre, 3–19 May 2018, from £11.00 - Book now

Physical theatre company RashDash have rehashed Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters in a fierce new reimagining of the classic text.

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6. Nigel Slater’s Toast at The Lowry

Jenny Zarins

Nigel Slater’s Toast at The Lowry, Manchester, 22 May–6 June 2018, from £20.00 - Book now

Audiences are set to be served a slice of Nigel Slater’s Toast in a specially commissioned Week 53 world première at The Lowry.

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7. The Kite Runner at Blackpool Grand

Betty Zapata

The Kite Runner at Blackpool Grand Theatre, Blackpool, 22–26 May 2018, from £31.50 - 36.50 - Book now

Following its West End run and a string of five-star reviews, The Kite Runner flies up North to open at The Grand Theatre, Blackpool.

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8. Joseph Morpurgo: Hammerhead at The Bread Shed

Joseph Morpurgo

Joseph Morpurgo: Hammerhead at The Bread Shed, Manchester, 24 May 2018, from £8.00 - Book now

Joseph Morpurgo presents his masterpiece: Hammerhead is a boundary-smashing, 9-hour adaption of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Or is it?

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9. Rails at Theatre by the Lake

Theatre by the Lake

Rails at Theatre by the Lake, Carlisle and Keswick, 24 May–27 October 2018, from £12.50 - Book now

Shortlisted for the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, Rails is a play about loneliness, dreaming and trying to hope in a town that doesn’t seem to want you to.

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10. Happy Days at the Royal Exchange

Royal Exchange Theatre

Happy Days at Royal Exchange Theatre, City Centre, 25 May–23 June 2018, from £17.00 - Book now

Following the success of Hamlet, The Skriker and A Streetcar Named Desire, Sarah Frankcom and Maxine Peake continue their creative collaboration with a revival of Beckett’s surrealist masterpiece, Happy Days.

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11. Sophie Willan: Branded at The Lowry

Steve Ullathorne

Contact and The Lowry present: Sophie Willan – Branded at The Lowry, Manchester, 31 May 2018, from £11.00 - Book now

Sophie Willan has had a lifetime of being branded by others – in this smash hit stand-up show, this brutally honest breakout star returns to tell us why.

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12. Summer Holiday: The Musical at Bolton Octagon

Manchester Transport Museum Photographer Jonathan Keenan

Summer Holiday – The Musical at Octagon Theatre, Manchester, 31 May–23 June 2018, from £18.50 - 27.50 - Book now

Bolton Octagon launches their ‘Octagon on the Road’ season with an off-site production of the cult-classic Summer Holiday.

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13. Motionhouse: Charge at MediaCityUK

Chris Nash

FREE EVENT – Motionhouse: Charge at MediaCityUK Piazza, Manchester, 9 June 2018, free entry - Find Out More

For one night only, Quays Culture will host an exclusive FREE outdoor performance with the absolutely electrifying world-class dance-circus company, Motionhouse.

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Families 6–8 July 2018, from £15

Seek, Find, Speak; A Conjuring Told in Gold at Timber Festival

The language of the natural world is brought to life in the world premiere of the outdoor theatre companion to the bestselling book The Lost Words.

Dance 25–26 May 2018, from £10

RNCM Young Company and The Circus House present Letters at the RNCM Theatre

RNCM Young Company combines with The Circus House to present Letters – a new work featuring music, dance and acrobatics, which examines the shared experiences of Mancunians and Parisians over the past century.

Cinema 12 April–5 May 2018,

¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival at HOME

For its 24th edition, ¡Viva! returns with a HOME-wide celebration of film, theatre and visual art from across Spain and Latin America.

Theatre 16 June–14 July 2018, from £10.00

The Big I Am at Liverpool Everyman

A world premiere re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, relocated to 20th Century Liverpool by writer Robert Farquhar

Paint Your Wagon_the Everyman Company © Jonathan Keenan 5012

Theatre 3 March–14 July 2018,

Everyman Company Season

From classic toe-tapping Broadway to contemporary Shakespeare, the award-winning Everyman Company explore ‘brave new worlds’ in their 2018 season.

Theatre 14 April–12 July 2018, from £10.00

A Clockwork Orange at Liverpool Everyman

The award-winning Everyman Company let loose with an astonishing adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ dystopian novel, A Clockwork Orange.

Blackpool Grand : The Kite Runner Credit: Betty Zapata

Theatre 17 April–31 July 2018,

Blackpool Grand Spring/ Summer Season

Blackpool Grand certainly brings variety this season – with rich and diverse programming, there really is a performance for everyone.

Theatre 29 March–3 May 2018, from £16.00

Spring Awakening at Hope Mill Theatre

Spring Awakening combines an electrifying rock score and genre-defying writing to tell the story of sexual and adolescent discovery.

Music 20 April–5 May 2018, from £10

The Tiger Lillies: Corrido de la Sangre at HOME

Grammy-nominated punk cabaret trio The Tiger Lillies perform their original music to tell this tale of a Corrido singer and his band, who return from the dead to haunt their killer.

Culture Guides

Literature

It’s raining poetry and prose this April in the Rainy City, and there’s plenty to catch from both established and emerging writers. Fill your wellie boots – and your mornings, afternoons and evenings, weekdays and weekends.

Music

From death-themed musicals to day-long explorations of the current freakscene, via rising country stars and a fresh look at an art gallery’s collection, the musical calendar for Manchester and the North is packed to the rafters.

Cinema

It’s festival season at the cinemas of the North this month and we’ve got the low-down.

©Viviane Sassen, Ra, series Mud and Lotus 2017. Courtesy of Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. Viviane Sassen: Hot Mirror at The Hepworth Wakefield

Exhibitions

Featuring a giant ‘art hammock’, the mesmerising photographs of Vivian Sassen, and a unique exploration into the use of digital technology by indigenous communities in north east Brazil; check out or latest exhibition highlights from across the North West.