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Writer: Ayub Khan-Din Director: Mark Babych Reviewer: Poppy Helm The Public Reviews Rating: The combination of popular Salford playwright, Ayub Khan-Din (East is East, 1999) and the highly respected Library Theatre Company suggests a five star review might be something of a foregone conclusion. Reputation and expectation aside, All The Way Home is a poignant tale delivered by [...]

Writer: Greg Lyons Director: Kate Budgen Reviewer: Michael Gray The Public Reviews Rating: Greg Lyons’ play – part of Platform Peterborough 2011 – starts on the city’s streets, and it’s noticeable that almost all the scenes are set in the open air. A young couple are searching for the symbol of the crossed keys (part of the city’s [...]

Writer: F. Scott Fitzgerald Director: James Beal Reviewer: Laura Stimpson The Public Reviews Rating: I must admit to being somewhat excited at the opportunity to see ‘The Great Gatsby’, a classic American tale written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. Set in the roaring twenties it tells the story of a man who makes his way from rags [...]

Writer: Catherine Kay Director: Helen Parry Reviewer: Laura Maley The Public Reviews Rating: When Girl 29 is drug-raped, the impact on her and the people around her is huge. Happy Theatre Collective’s production looks at a group of friends and demonstrates how sexual violence can affect the individual, friends and family – not just in the immediate aftermath [...]

Writer: Conor McKee Director: Wyllie Longmore Reviewer: Tracey Lowe The Public Reviews Rating: Following the success of Burnt, which debuted at the Contact last year, Conor McKee returns to Manchester with his new play, Thrasher. A complete sell-out at the Royal Exchange Studio, hopes are clearly high. Thrasher revolves around the lives of six very different people one [...]

Playwright: William Shakespeare Director: Ian Brown Reviewer: Rosie Revell The Public Reviews Rating: Like any scarred A-Level English Literature student, after the exams, I packed away my much annotated copy of Hamlet and paid no further attention to Shakespeare. It was probably more likely that I vowed never to put myself through it again. So it is with [...]

A freelance composer from Belgrade, Anja Djordjevic has collaborated with international musicians including Goran Bregović, both as singer and musical arranger. In 2003 she won the prestigious Stevan Mokranjac Prize for Narcissus & Echo, the first contemporary opera staged by a female composer in Serbia. It is now being transferred to the UK with a new English translation. [...]

Playwright: Alan Bennett Director: Damian Cruden Reviewer: Rosie Revell The Public Reviews Rating: Leeds born Alan Bennett is one of England’s most prolific and best loved playwrights. His first ever play ‘Forty Years On’ returns to the stage within York Theatre Royal’s impressive ‘In The Round Ensemble Season’ this week. First shown to audiences in 1968, with none [...]