#the royal exchange theatre

[theatreocelot]

TASTE OF HONEY TIME EEEEEEEEEEEEE

[puppetdaily]

Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors at Manchester Royal Exchange

[upthelagan]

Jason Hughes. Shed: Exploded View. Royal Exchange Theatre. [X]

[nomilkinmyteaplease]

Tom Weston Jones in untitled fck mss s**gon play

I wanna see it just to know what is going on here.

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, to be "Mr Manchester" who just used to casually run into James Maxwell "most evenings" in 1986. (Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive & the Manchester Evening News).

"Whom do I see strolling through Manchester late on most evenings but James Maxwell, actor and artistic director, whose craggy features are well-known through countless film, television and stage roles.

"I walk home from work at the Royal Exchange Theatre to my urban paradise," he explains, "paradise" being a flat above the Arndale Centre.

"I love it," he says, "but no one living there can be accused of having a morbid interest in old architecture."

One of his many showbiz tales is of when he was in a show at Manchester Opera House in 1953. The scenery didn't work - in fact, some of it fell down - and the distinguished knight playing the lead not only didn't know his lines; at times he didn't know when he had to speak.

The audience was cool, to say the least, and at the end the knight decided he should speak to them.

"I apologise for the mistakes duing the evening," he announced grandly, "but I assure you that everything will be put right by the time we open in London."

& Mr Manchester, at the G-Mex, "jokingly suggested this wasn't [James Maxwell's] kind of theatre.

His instant retaliation would have gladdened G-Mex boss Tony Harrison, sitting along my row. "No, It's everyone's theatre," he retorted.

[artocelot]

God I fucking love theatre

[daviddawsonfangroup]

Congratulations to David for being shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. Let's hope he wins!

[ukdamo]

No poem, today.

Instead, this.

[allalonewithnowheretogo]

Manchester - Royal Exchange Theatre

St Annes Square

Now because it is no longer a royal exchange its become a "theatre in the round". This is the new roof and windows they have created. Its huge and i took many photos.

[theatreocelot]

Shed: Exploded View, by Phoebe Eclair-Powell

A review

Date of viewing: 19/02/24 (Mon 19 feb 2024)

Place of viewing: Royal exchange theatre

Story rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cast rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Design rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heavy trigger warnings for discussions and depictions of domestic violence, child loss, depictions of dementia, depictions of grief, allusions to eating disorders, allusions to mental health issues and sexist language.

Shed: Exploded view is a masterclass in theatre that I cannot in good faith recommend to anyone. Following the story of Lil (Haley Carmichael), Abi (Norah Lopez Holden), Naomi (Lizzy Watts) and their partners, Tony (Wil Johnson), Frank (Jason Hughs) and Mark (Michael Workéyè) it is an awareness piece on relationships and domestic violence. Spoilers ahead, trigger warnings will apply in part to this review.

I found the most pleasant story to be that of Lil and Tony, an older couple who married in 1995, as they navigate their relationship, with both of them being married before, as well as Lil’s frustration as Tony loses himself to dementia. I found their relationship to be sweet, compelling and heartbreaking, Lil especially was amazingly played, Haley Carmichael did a fantastic job, however I feel the story does hit one of its sticking points here that keeps getting hit throughout all 3 of the parallel stories, it plays it’s dark themes far to much for shock value, when Lil shouts in frustration at Tony who doesn’t understand why he can’t leave the house (the play jumps around in time from between 1995 and “now” (2024) so parts are set during lockdown), it is shocking and distressing to watch, however as a tragedy, it misses the emotional catharsis, as well as this, it is mentioned that before Tony, Lil was married to an abusive man, however this plot point is mostly brushed over (being mentioned only a couple of times, most notably in Lil’s final monologue (which was brilliant btw, I love this cast so much)), serving mostly to act as a parallel to Abi’s abuse and eventual murder at the hands of Mark, this left it feeling like there was missed potential in Lil’s story, however as a whole she was a good character.

The second plotline follows Naomi and Frank, a middle aged couple who married in 1995 and encountered Lil and Frank on their honeymoon and later go on to have a daughter- Abi. Naomi is by far the stand out character of the show, with the best of the stage time being given to developing her relationship with Abi. Overall, Naomi’s relationships with both Abi and Frank feel realistic, however it suffers from a similar problem, when Naomi performs her final monologue at the end of the play (another brilliant monologue, I find myself wondering if this play would’ve been better if viewed as a collection of disconnected monologues), the energy stays very heightened, like the story is tripping over itself to make you feel something, to the point where it only leaves you feeling overwhelmed. Frank was very well played and his relationship with Naomi was believable to how a marriage when one of the partners is disloyal (however as I have never been in a relationship, I cannot attest to that).

Abi and Mark’s plotline is where the story trips over its own feet the most, from the starting monologue, the story foreshadows that Abi is going to be violently murdered, so when she meets Mark at university and has dubiously consensual sex with him, it becomes quite obvious that it will be by his hand. The play goes out of its way to show the good times that Abi and Mark have in their relationship, showing that abusive partners are not always the stereotype of abuse, however these moments can sometimes fall a bit short, as it shows them seemingly only having nice couple times, then takes a drastic turn near the end, the idea was good but the execution was a bit heavy handed. Abi and Naomi’s relationship is by far my favourite, their moments are some of the only reprieve the audience gets from the constant distress the characters are in, however the play does seem to want to portray Abi as having some resentment towards Naomi, but this does come across as teenage angst. A major area Abi’s characterisation falls a little bit flat for me is her past history of eating disorders, while Mark does make fun of her for being fat and we do have one scene of her running up to her room as a child (followed by Naomi and Frank talking about food and a doctor), it feels glossed over in a similar way to Lil’s abusive ex, like the story expects us to see this in Abi’s character, without actually having her react in a way that would be consistent with this.

In conclusion, Shed: Exploded view is a beautiful play with brilliant actors that acts as a masterclass of shocking your audience, however the characterisation can sometimes fall short and the story lacks the emotional catharsis it needs to be a truly compelling tragedy, I think it would be interesting to watch it again, to see if it would be different when it can’t shock me.

[captainfairygodmother]

It's not just Queer TV Shows and Movies being cancelled.

A stage production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' has just been cancelled after an alleged dispute over trans rights and the freedom of Palestine.

The production's run had already been postponed for a few weeks over reasons such as cast injury, however, after having a run through of the full play, Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre has cancelled the entire run of the play.

The play contained a musical number that advocated for trans rights, and the phrase 'Free Palestine'.

The director and cast stood up for the play- they were told to remove the song, however, they refused to do so, thus causing the cancellation of the whole show. There are also claims reporting that 'Free Palestine' graffiti had been painted onto the set.

I admire the director and cast for standing up for the play as they intended to produce and act it.

Unfortunately in modern media, many companies forcibly cut out queer representation, as well as politically controversial ideas.

And when they don't cut it out- the TV Show, Movie, Play, whatever it is- ends up cancelled, as exemplified by the cancellation of this A Midsummer's Night Dream production.

This needs to stop. Let shows be what they are with the messages that are important to portray, such as trans rights and Free Palestine advocacies.

[shakespearenews]

Compression is also at the heart of Jude Christian’s othellomacbeth, which offers us 70-minute versions of each play and which shows women turned from victims into instruments of revenge. I didn’t care much for Othello, which is played in front of a sheet-metal curtain and which, by drastically curtailing Iago’s role, turns the hero into a crazed wife-abuser. It does, however, yield one magical moment at the end when Desdemona (an exceptionally spirited Kirsten Foster), Emilia and Bianca join forces in singing a variation of Anjana Vasan’s Oh Sister and transmogrifying into the Witches in Macbeth.

[upthelagan]

Jason Hughes. Shed: Exploded View. Royal Exchange Theatre. [X]

[thisbluespirit]

Interview with Avril Elgar in the Manchester Evening News 5th March 1981.