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The Sorcerer – The Lowry, Salford

Writer: Gilbert and Sullivan Director: Jeff Clarke Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Opera della Luna treat their source material with affection and respect. As a result their adaptations, although always inventive and sometimes startling, retain the integrity of the originals. The Sorcerer is an early work of Gilbert and Sullivan and, not being particularly memorable, allows [...]

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Dave Spikey: Words Don’t Come Easy – The Lowry, Salford

Reviewer: Poppy Helm The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ Although perhaps best known as Peter Kay’s sidekick and co-writer of the popular TV series, Phoenix Nights, Dave Spikey has been on the comedy circuit since the early 90s. Words Don’t Come Easy is his fifth UK tour , apparently conceived following the popularity of his analysis of song lyrics in [...]

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One Little Word – The Lowry, Salford

Writer/Director: Andy Manley Music: Tayo Akinbode Reviewer: Clare Boswell The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★☆☆ ‘One Little Word’ by M6 Theatre Company has a unique theatrical concept. Running at 30 minutes, only one five letter word is spoken during this time; for the remainder of the show audience engagement is held through the medium of mime. Suitable for ages 3 [...]

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Once in a House on Fire – The Lowry, Salford

Writer:  Sarah McDonald Hughes from the memoir by Andrea Ashworth Director: Martin Gibbons Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Monkeywood Theatre’s first adaptation is an ambitious and harrowing look at a family torn by internal strife over a period of decades. Caring but inadequate mother Lorraine (Francesca Waite) is attracted to abusive men. The lives of Lorraine and her children [...]

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Andrew Lawrence: Too Ugly For Television – The Lowry, Salford

Reviewer: Poppy Helm The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Andrew Lawrence may not yet be the biggest name on the comedy circuit but tonight’s gig in Salford suggests he is certainly on the right path, albeit stomping down it angrily with a routine he admits is about ‘getting it all of my chest’. Lawrence commands an unusually full Studio Theatre [...]

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Terminus – The Lowry, Salford

Writer/Director: Mark O’Rowe Reviewer: Peter Jacobs The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Terminus, written by Mark O’Rowe, one of Ireland’s leading contemporary playwrights, was first produced in 2007 by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Ireland’s national theatre. It transferred to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, where it won a Fringe First Award. It was revived by the Abbey in 2009 [...]

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French Fancies – The Lowry, Salford

Writer: Caroline Harding Director: Chris Hallam Reviewer: Helen Jones The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Ooh la la, the tales of French writer Maupassant have come to the Lowry. Two Friends Productions have brought adaptations of six Maupassant short stories to life for an evening’s entertainment. Writer Caroline Harding has combined the stories with some traditional French folk songs and [...]

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Phoenix Dance Theatre: Reflected – The Lowry, Salford

Switch: Choreographed by Richard Wherlock What It Is: Choreographed by Philip Taylor Pave Up Paradise: Choreographed by Lost Dog Melt: Choreographed by Sharon Watson Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ ‘Reflected’, the new work by the Phoenix Dance Theatre, comprises four short pieces. It opens with the weakest so be assured that it does get much better. [...]

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