“Many a true word hath been spoken in jest.” When it comes to tales of tragedy, any novice watching King Lear should be aware that Shakespeare favours no character. In a world where being sincere and pursuing true love will also see you kicking rocks; King Lear has a relatable premise. A powerful yet unstable man, fearful of losing the love of his daughters is concerned with who will care for him in his old age. The Royal Exchange was created for Shakespeare; its round theatre is entirely immersive, but its productions vary from your typical portrayals. Last year the use of cross-gender casting saw Melanie Peake play Hamlet in a representation of the character that helped attract a young audience back into the theatre. This year celebrates Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary and what separates this continued, and common retelling of King Lear is its phenomenal performances. The Exchange can boast a largely black cast in which Don Warrington’s interpretation of Lear is unpretentious and empathetic. Warrington embodies Lear’s consumed nature due to his deteriorating state and allows the King to shine as a naive man unwilling to accept painful truths as opposed to a brash and tyrannical leaders fall from grace. The daughters Goneril (Rakie Ayola), Regan (Debbie Korley) and Cordelia (Pepter Lunkuse) are strong, charismatic performers. For a three-hour production to feel effortless and brisk is a testament to its absorbing ensemble cast. Although the universal story of King Lear and its portrayal transcend race, it is always striking when a production can highlight that fact within its casting. The director, Michael Buffong, transformed the Exchange stage to move with the ever-changing conditions put upon Lear. From the dirt, fire and rain, this heart-breaking and personal rendition of a families decay are worth the retelling. KingLear TheRoyalExchange #Manchester

Into The Hoods is an explosive reworking of the already rejigged fairy-tale classics from the Stephen Sondheim musical Into The Woods. Following the freshly familiar characters Lil Red, Jaxx, Spinderella, Rap-On-Zel, Prince and The Wolf; this urban rendition of the Hans classic is an entirely dance focused production. The award winning show set in the Ruff Endz Estate, follows two lost children who have been forced to find an iPhone as white as milk, trainers as pure as gold, a hoodie as red as blood and a weave as yellow as corn in exchange for a bus ticket home. The deceptively large stage at HOME can bring a community atmosphere with its three two floored theatre and tiered stage. The space is kept intimate with a blacked-out stage and an ensemble cast of seventeen who capture the attention of the entire room without saying a word. The show features almost exclusively hip-hop dancing where the audience were asked to whoop, cheer and engage with the medley of music on offer that had children and adults on their feet by the end of the performance. Audience participation often fills me with dread but during the production the Prince jumped off stage to serenade me. It was both painful and hilarious. Thankfully, I was not asked to join them on stage but the atmosphere was upbeat from beginning to end. Despite the story following a strong cast of known characters with ensemble routines throughout, the show allowed every dancer on stage to have their spotlight in which to highlight their specific skills. The two-hour production included a smooth soundtrack too abundant to list, ranging from Cameo’s Candy and Jill Scott’s Golden to Missy Elliott and Kanye West. Into The Hoods is as pure as gold with a tremendously talented cast who clearly love what they do and can capture the audience with their infectious joy. IntotheHoods ZooNation #Manchester HOMEmcr

Known as the father of the modern computer, Alan Turing’s passion for mathematics and eccentric personality has been portrayed on the big screen numerous times and most recently by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014). The former University of Manchester professor fixated on the power of a computer to rival human thought and cracked Nazi ciphers with his Bombe machine. While artificial life shaped many of the screen adaptations, the Royal Exchange has taken a personal route. Directed by Rob Hastie, the set holds Turing (Daniel Rigby) in a square light installation made of suspended rods. The clean and simple design draws you into a few fundamental characters in Turing’s life, while the lights spark to present each new scene. The play begins with Turing entering a police station to report a robbery by a young man he had previously had an affair with. Despite perceptions of Turing as a multifaceted, hyperconscious being he was unable to decipher the limits of others around him. Turing’s relentless honesty is shown to be his downfall as his confession eventually sees him convicted for gross indecency. Homosexual acts were considered a criminal offense in the 1950s and Turing suffered horrendous treatment under the U.K government for which he once served, later dying of cyanide poisoning at the age of 41 in 1954. The play chooses to focus on Turing’s earlier relationships, where his power of reason is revealed as the component that ignites his passion for mathematics and computer science. His friendship with mathematician, Joan Clarke developed into a proposal in 1941 despite immediately telling her of his “homosexual tendencies”. The interlinking of equations and love also starts with the death of his childhood friend, Christopher Morcom, who emerges as the foundations for Turing’s links between the mind living on after death. Hastie's personal take on Turing’s life is subtle but tragic. His utopic ideals that the mind can live forever allow us to dream beyond the limitation of the human body. It is only fitting that this production does not label Turing a victim but offers audiences a sense of the witty, talented and optimistic man whose abstract reasoning helped break the Enigma code. BreakingtheCode #Manchester TheRoyalExchange

Balancing flights of fantasy in celebratory settings, Moscow City Ballet’s strong storytelling will boost audience’s appreciation of one of ballets most popular classics. Suspended disbelief and enter a world in which an evil magician has cast a spell condemning the young Odette to be a swan by day and human by night. With the only cure being the love of a young man who has never loved before, the four acts switch between the bank of Odette’s lake and Prince Siegfried’s castle. This reprised mix of tragedy, romance and magic has kept audiences under a spell since it premiered in 1877. At the Palace Theatre, Moscow City Ballet has kept the tradition going, absorbing audiences with an emotive take on the bewitching tale. The long-established settings to this Tchaikovsky classic keeps the focused fixed on the music, performed by The Rakhmaninov Symphony Orchestra and the technical ability of its principal dancers. The Ballet company of primarily young dancers are given the freedom to tell the story through the use of mime acting and clever choreography by Natalia Ryshenko and Victor Smirnov-Golovanov. Companies that overemphasise the moves and downplay the story can make Swan Lake feel somewhat mechanical. If you are unfamiliar with the story (or ballet in general) an overly technical performance can deprive audiences of fully appreciating the challenge of repetitive moves and it can become quite monotonous to watch scenes without Odette/Odile. Moscow City Ballet includes simple but effective features to explain the story and add a sense of drama. Costume designer, Natalia Povago creates a block outfit for Odile in act 3 who enters in a half black, half white dress and matching tiered tutu. The use of comedy and casting through the roles of the jester and the evil magician (Baddie Kozhabayev Talgat) enrich the storyline but also bring stunning solo performances that often steals the scene. Lilia Orekhova is also assured and powerful as the fearless double, Odile but offers an impassioned act as Odette. The shadowy and romantic scenes are wrapped in precision and emotion, flurrying on stage with a serene posse of swans, Orekhova daintily crafts her faultless moves centre stage. On pointe for over five minutes, she delivers an expressive performance deeper than her poise. Orekhova Evokes the spirit of the seductive story, connecting with the audience and conveying the character in alluring routines. The shadowy, sombre surroundings formed by Victor Smirnov-Golovanov are eclipsed by the crisp white tutus of the swans, made to float by the beautiful creatures lining the stage in masterful formations. With a haunting finale tied down in tradition, Odette is rescued by her true love after an epic battle between the magician and Prince Siegfried. The use of mood lighting and mist brings an added touch of mystery and magic to the final act, but Swan Lake’s fantastical moments are a surprise to no one. There is a reason these familiar oldies still carry their weight with audiences, it is their mixture of treasures and tradition that holds a special emotional resonance. If you have never taken the opportunity to watch Swan Lake, I recommend that you do because we can all appreciate a classic. MoscowCityBallet #SwanLake #Manchester PalaceTheatre

Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts follows the divisive themes of marital affairs, addiction, incest and euthanasia by weaving them into the fabric of everyday family life. The story follows widow, Helen Alving (Niamh Cusack) efforts to step out from her cheating, alcoholic husbands shadow. Helen has spent her married life painting the perfect picture of marital bliss, presenting to outsiders a husband who appears to be successful, charming and worldly. Now, years after the death of her husband, Helen upholds the myth for the sake of her family, remaining trapped in her own illusions and burdened by her husband’s true crimes. Ghosts focuses on a family’s inheritance and the emotional remains of the people left behind. Helen feels a need to protect her husband’s reputation despite being the central victim of his violations. The production explores a woman’s identity in a male dominated world, covering the ethical role that religion and marriage play in a modern society. Many of the themes are as controversial today as they were when the play was first performed in 1882. This forceful adaptation presented at HOME is directed by the Olivier Award winning Polly Findlay, whose seemingly natural set exhibits Helen’s skewed world to the audience. Helen’s intensely compact and dishevelled, opened planned house unravels in front of the audience’s eyes. Rooms dismantle, walls are removed and hidden spaces are revealed for characters to pry behind or detach themselves completely. When Helen’s son, Oswald returns home from his bohemian lifestyle as a painting abroad, something is amiss. He shows signs of a rare life-threatening illness his father also carried. Oswald, played by Ken Nwosu is forced to inherit the sins of his father without being made aware of the reason for his faulty gene. The persistent presence of her husband’s past indiscretions ensures that Helen’s life remains looped in a space she can no longer break free from. Ghosts cast are captivating and diverse, Jamie Ballard as Pastor Mander and William Travis as Jakob Engstrand bring a comic relief and levity to the societal pressures that have been intensely set in Helen’s world. The poignant performance of Ken Nwosu alongside Niamh Cusack demonstrate that circumstance can fate people to doom, despite social class, gender or age. This poetic revival of Ghost is a wonderful reminder of what can be accomplished in the HOME theatre space as it showcases a compelling cast and authentic story. Ghosts #Manchester HOMEmcr

Helping you insert some Christmas spirit into your wardrobe is the Vlogger Christmas Edit at Manchester Arndale’s Exchange Court. This weekend Manchester Arndale plays host to eight of your favourite vloggers in a live scoop on the latest fashion, beauty and lifestyles trends. The two-day event features Manchester-based Jess Ratchford (JDR MakeUp) and Lily Kitten. The social media stars were highlighting their top beauty and gadget gifts guaranteed to excite this festive season. Tiny Twisst’s wish list included ten versatile dresses that will carry you through the party season. Meanwhile, fashion and lifestyle blogger, Boy in Breton presented classic fashion favourites for men. The highlight of the day would have to be Chioma Jennifer Jenkins, known as Jennie Jenkins on her YouTube channel BeautyByJJ. The 27-year-old Nigerian fashionista has been boosting the confidence of her darker skin toned viewers and inspiring them for over five years. Despite having a degree in Psychology, the YouTuber has steadily built up a fashionable following of over five-hundred thousand subscribers in the saturated subject of beauty. Jenkins counted down her top ten show-stopping heels for the season, including three sparkling stilettos from Dune, Kurt Geiger and Aldo. When putting the finishing flourishes on her outfit, Jenkins admitted that her last purchase were the red tasselled heels she featured from River Island (£65.00). Jenkins also flaunted a smokey eye which would add a modern polish to any outfit and feature heavily on her make-up channel tutorials. Manchester Arndale’s The Vlogger Christmas Edit will continue on Sunday the 22nd. If you can’t make it be sure to catch the videos on the Manchester Arndale website or check out the Vlogger’s personal channels. 21st and 22nd of November 2015 This review was originally written for The Nubian Times #TheNubianTimes #VloggerChristmasEdit

The Curious Incident is a captivating story about an autistic teenager, a murder and the secret lives of others. Playwright, Simon Stephens adapted this well-known novel by Mark Haddon in 2012 and the show has since won seven Olivier Awards. As it continues its latest nationwide tour, the production is taking over the Lowry Theatre with its imposing multisensory, cube staging. The production magnifies the world of Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old who lives in Swindon and is continually challenged by his daily life. Christopher prefers his own company and takes most sayings literally, but his love of maths and science motivates the majority of his actions. The novel is able to convey Christopher’s calculated quirks through randomly placed facts and tangents which have been adapted onto multiple screens that encompasses the entire live stage. Although Christopher's habits can be fairly distancing to the reader in the novel, Marianne Elliott’s inventive platform allows Christopher to present his outsider perspective through the ensemble cast and illustrations that ensure that his story runs smoothly. The Lowry Theatre exposes far more than the novel as the humbling and heart-warming tale gives a voice to Christopher through his narrator, teacher Mrs. Shears (Clare Perkins) and the ensemble cast. In an imaginative set design, that is essentially Christopher’s brain. This incredibly ambitious production explains the set of rules that surround Christopher’s life and expand on his thoughts like a magic box. Christopher's world is one of many rules, a fact that is reflected directly onto the stage, a clean and clinical box with hidden doors and compartments. With ensemble cast members becoming the scenery in a physically morphing set that mirrors Christopher’s dizzying experiences. The challenge surrounding The Curious Incident production is the characters lack of empathy and his difficulty in interpreting and conveying emotions, but Haddon’s narrative is genuinely funny, offering audiences a sincere storyline that makes a world of difference. The terrific casting fulfils the other half of this shows hypnotic skill as its scenery and lead play a major role of drawing you into Christopher’s intimate tale. Christopher, who is played magnificently by Jenkins is asked to run in practically every scene and is virtually never off stage. The Lowry has Jenkins playing to an assorted audience of students and seniors in a demanding role that he lovingly portrays. With so few props on stage to distract from the eye-watering storytelling, Jenkins performance includes physical ticks, lifts and intense scenes of emotions that the audience will be glued to. Dramatic in its simplicity, The Curious Incident offers one of the best sets ever designed. Elliott’s sensational direction has inspired countless stage shows, who have lifted ideas from this productions enthrallingly minimalist structure and its imaginative transitions. Jenkins has a quality that audiences can read from the back of the theatre, which helps carry this quiet family tale, but The Curious Incident is a story grounded in reality, yet visually fantastical. TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNightTime TheLowry #Manchester

At the Royal Exchange, the Pomona set becomes a rotating room of sin. It allows its director, Ned Bennett to play through the dystopian reality of its deeply shallow characters. Set in Manchester, the audience follow seven characters in Bennett's surreal, video game surroundings. The themes of Pomona are cemented in its opening scene, mixing mythology and facts. The character Zeppo parades around in his underwear connecting the plot to Indiana Jones as an analogy for life. Worlds in which people refuse to let anything surface or unravel. Announcing his affection for McDonald’s nuggets, Zeppo explains how he preserves his love for them. He refuses to ask how they became nuggets. He chooses to remain ignorant. Pomona’s science fiction elements explore a looming awareness of its cast’s apocalyptic reality. The actors are entirely believable in separate scenes that intertwine through time. With sequences appearing out of order, this is an element that seals the fate of its characters long before the audience has a chance to relate to them. At its best, the time-travelling helps entertain the audience with reckless story arcs. The packed auditorium laughs at characters painful narratives and increasingly repellent statements as they appear to be the only light relief between impending scenes of doom. Despite its rough edges, writer Alistair McDowall has created a surprisingly humorous production with a childlike innocence from the beginning. Characters are contained in a state of play using Dungeons and Dragons, the pointless and aimless game that enhances life through its endless choices. Overall, this factually inspired, fictional play battles with the hard realities of life. All roads point to Pomona and the game is simply to survive an increasingly heartless world. #Pomona #TheRoyalExchange #Manchester

Enjoy theatre online from the comfort of your own home. Random, fun and unauthorised, Portal 2: The Musical is available to watch on YouTube. https://youtu.be/QF7g3rCnD-w The National Theatre will be releasing its past performances for audiences to watch a week at a time. The shows are available on YouTube from the 2nd April and will include One Man, Two Guvnors and Jane Eyre. https://www.youtube.com/user/ntdiscovertheatre Eugenius! is readily available to watch on online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTdm1ivNL2s Amsterdam + post-show Q&A will be available on Wednesday 15 April from HOME. https://homemcr.org/event/amsterdam-post-show-qa/ Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals are available for weekly viewing from the YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmPjhKMaXNNeCr1FjuMvag BBC Four are showcasing a collection of The National Theatre's performances including Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing for their Culture in Quarantine series focused on Shakespeare. Available on BBC iPlayer. Ballet The Royal Opera House will be releasing shows on YouTube, including Peter and the Wolf and Metamorphosis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8iuOW7BwA Vienna State Ballet’s Swan Lake is available to watch on online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYR2hd3QDUI Opera Opera North's The Turn of the Screw is available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHANx0Ue08 OperaVison have a pleather of productions, including Madame Butterfly and Spring Storms, available to watch on online. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTlXPAfOx300RZfWNw8-qg Stand Up Across three nights, a different stand-up comedian will take over the @PrimeVideoUK Instagram account to deliver a stand-up routine from their living room. #IsolatedLaughs in the UK in aid of #NHSCharitiesTogether. Kids Willows Musical is available to stream online for free. https://www.willowsmusical.com/ Music Live Nation: Live From Home link https://www.livenation.co.uk/livefromhome The One World: Together At Home concert on April 18th includes performances from Alicia Keys, Elton John and Lizzo. The digital special aims to support frontline healthcare workers and the WHO. Available to watch on BBC One, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. #TogetherAtHome Paid theatre Homemakers will soon be available online from HOMEmcr, offering Pay-What-You-Decide commissioned live art. https://homemcr.org/article/homemakers-artists-new-work-coronavirus/ Digital Theatre gives access to its archive of performances including Funny Girl, Into the Woods and Macbeth. https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/productions I suggest holding on to your seven-day free trial of Disney+ as the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Hamilton will be available from the online streaming platform from the 3rd of July. Random Finally, if you just want a laugh and don’t mind extremely blurry film footage, Pokemon Live! is a must. Available (for now) to view on YouTube. https://youtu.be/bDLj7hT1bk4

Precarious Carnaval has plunged into the past, present and future to unearth the secrets of the Bridgewater canal. Celebrating its 258th birthday, artists Lowri Evans, Renato Bolelli Rebouças and Rodolfo Amorim are helping audiences embark on a journey through the history of England’s first canal. The award-winning theatre-makers from Brazil and the UK have collaborated in a community event that fuses over thirty local groups and hundreds of volunteers. Creating a crafty collection that captures Salford’s hidden history, the immersive three acts flow through three days of events. Offering a time travelling trip back to 1761 when the canal was first commissioned by Francis Egerton 3rd, the carnaval trail from Boothstown Marina to Worsley’s Humpback Bridge captures how the channel enabled a more efficient production of coal. The carnaval walk-through celebration explores how the process of the industrial revolution moved people out of the field and into factories but exposes how its challenging history was fuelled by the hard labour of miners and funded through slave labour. Haunting us like Marley’s ghost, the spirits of the mine workers roam the tumultuous trail that intertwines the colourful festivities with the forgotten voices sacrificed in the pursuit of progress. Explaining how race, class and gender exploitation energised the industrial revolution, the path positions real and fictional characters to explore where this route will lead us in the future. Atop the Queenie narrowboat, a drunken woman sings about her lost youth and her sealed fate as a poorly paid 7-year-old coal miner. But these scenes are pinned against a life-size ice cream mascot and the entangled Smith’s Knits mermaids washed ashore, covered in the discarded rubbish that has been thrown in the canal by passers-by. It is a uniquely designed, family-friendly affair that ensures that these stories are digestible for its younger audience. Including music, witches and mermaids placed along its route to keep the atmosphere imaginative and entertaining, the installations and characters are all beautifully illustrated against the natural scenic route. The vibrant festival even takes a minute to take cover under a bridge where a masked ball accompanied by a brass band awaits anyone willing to don a disguise and drink with the devil. Comprised of countless local acts including an original poem from the Bridgewater Youth Centre and the Barton Belles performance of The Ship Song (by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), the picturesque walkways are lined with visual and creative collections of public art. Precarious Carnaval allows audiences the opportunity to watch and take part in a candid celebration surrounding the Bridgewater Canal. Flooded with history, it does not offer a nostalgic walk down memory lane, but instead represents the positive and negative impacts of the privately-owned canal and the industrial revolution. Confronting the idealism of a new world, the show explores how the past has encouraged our present use of dirty energy and exploitation whilst also driving modern developments and new scientific discoveries.

Who knew a descent into madness could be leveled with humor? Manchester’s Royal Exchange welcomes Maxine Peake back with open arms. After playing the lead in 2015’s Hamlet, Peake has returned as the equally convincing and beaten down Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche arrives in New Orleans to stay with her younger, pregnant sister Stella and her partner Stanley. Stella’s squalid one-bedroom apartment is a love shack in her eyes but a distressing downgrade to Blanche who is used to her and her sister picking the finer things in life. Fortunately, nowadays Blanche lives mostly in her head, and the lack of space is only an issue for her brother-in-law, whose presence helps bring Blanche back to the reality of her current situation. Stella’s sparse apartment is depicted onstage with two mattresses, a mini fridge fixed with gin and a bathroom separated off by a sheet of two-toned glass. The panel is often used to reflect Stella’s polished persona to the audience as she preens herself and unwinds in the bath. However, the glass also clears to reveal her demons, and fantasies as they walk amongst the audience as unsettling and tangible characters. Director, Sarah Frankcom allows the audience to have a direct connection to Blanche. The events are generally viewed through her eyes, with the cramped, unpolished conditions mirroring the intense visions in her head. The cast mainly feature as props to sustain Blanche's fantasies. However, Blanche’s sister, played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Ben Batt (Stanley) have an intriguing rapport which helps to convince the audience of Brewster’s conflicting love for both her sister husband. Although the dresses are modern, the southern accent remains in this tender retelling of Streetcar. It is visually haunting and delicately cast production that will leave a lasting impression on its audience. #AStreetcarNamedDesire #Manchester #TheRoyalExchange

“I thought everything would change, after the war. And now, no one even mentions it. It is as if we all got together in private and said whatever you do don’t mention that, like it never happened.” The Night Watch is an understated and beautifully performed story that portrays five characters during 1947 to 1941. This WW2 same sex love affair is written by Sarah Waters and adapted for the stage by Hattie Naylor. By revealing its narrative in reverse the story slowly exposes its interlinking characters and their transformations surrounding and during the war. Built on loss, sacrifice and regret, the only nostalgia for the period is in the job opportunities the war established for women. Kay, played by Jodie McNee first appears to be the self-assured heroine of the piece. An emergency operator during the war, she appears dressed in a mannish suit, a cropped hair cut, with a cigarette behind her ear. When Kay speaks you realise that years have passed since the war but she remains exhausted by the horrors she has witnessed. She spends most of her days at the cinema, suddenly visibly restless and dazed. The characters are connected by the part they played in the war and by the suppression of their sexuality. The Royal Exchange is transformed by Rebecca Gatward’s and Georgia Lowe’s direction and design. The rewinding timeline is paired with a revolving circular stage and minimalist props that let the audience focus on the intense restoring of each characters layered connection. The spirit of simple pleasures in their tragic, war-torn lives is carried by the perfectly absorbing cast. Set on the dizzying waltzer which is life and subtly portray at the Exchange. #TheNightWatch #Manchester #TheRoyalExchange