The Bench (rating 4/5) When is a bench not a bench? The answer, according to one of the characters in this play, is when it’s a memorial to his wife Maggie. For the other, it remains a bench where he can sit and collects his thoughts. From this simple premise, a more nuanced story unfolds, but […]
Some funny tales but style triumphs over substance
John Kearns: Don’t Worry They’re Here (rating 3/5) In a fringe programme packed with comedians who seem to be defined by who they have supported, or which TV shows they have guested on, John Kearns is something of a rarity. Kearns is playing sold out shows at one of the largest venues in the Pleasance […]
Razor sharp drama out of a political crisis
Brexit (rating 5/5) The gap between satire and reality can be dangerously close at times and watching Brexit it is easy to start feeling as if you are sitting in on high level Cabinet discussions with only the names changed to protect the guilty. It is set in a near future where the Ma(y)tron has […]
A glimpse of a fallen idol in a lost weekend
Hello Georgie, Goodbye Best (rating 3/5) January 9, 1971, three years after being named European Footballer of the Year, George Best failed to turn up for a game. He should have been playing for Manchester United away to Chelsea, but he missed the train, possibly for the same reason he had missed training most of […]
Abridged too far – a one hour rush through three lives
Manchester in the 80s, three 18-year-old undergraduates move into a house and start a friendship that will last for years, not that there is any suggestion that it will last longer than a week at first.