It is the year 2050 – a utopia of eternal youth and perfect health, but with one big catch. Our own fixed expiry date. People reaching the end of their licensed age must submit to a government controlled euthanasia program. Today is the day of Will’s funeral. The day on which he will finally taste …
Manchester is fertile ground for the recent trend of flash-fiction writers with nights and groups spread all across the city. Indeed, David Gaffney will be a familiar name to many on the scene. 2006’s Sawn-Off Tales was his first collection of stories, and gave us tales exactly 150 words long. His latest collection More Sawn-Off Tales reprises this format …
In the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, a forgotten slice of Manchester’s musical history is back this June. John Ogdon might just be the finest piano player you’ve never heard of. An accomplished sight reader, at one time he was as famous within the classical circles as The Beatles were in pop. However, at the …
Like the themes of unrequited love about The Seagull, there’s something melancholy about the Library Theatre’s final production, and Artistic Director Chris Honer’s last bow after over 20 years at the helm. There’s no doubt that this is a historic and bittersweet performance. It therefore seems fitting that their final play should go back to the …
Contemporary playwright Simon Stephens returns to his native Stockport with Blindsided, his latest play and one written specifically for the iconic round of Manchester’s Royal Exchange. The Stockport of the late 1970’s was a very different place to one that exists now. The hat and silk industries were dying, the Merseyway shopping centre was new to …
The Kings Arms’ new Artistic Director, James Baker, is certainly looking to make an impression on Manchester’s busy Fringe scene. With his production company Assembled Junk, their last show, Spring Awakening, premiered to sell-out audiences and critical acclaim earlier this year. Now the team are back with a lavish adaptation of Menken and Ashman’s comedy …
Neil Gaiman is a name known to an impressively wide spectrum of people. For some, he is the enchanting author of Coraline and Stardust. For others, he is the architect of American Gods and Neverwhere. Others will know his two Doctor Who episodes. For those at Manchester Literature Festival’s event at The Dancehouse yesterday it was his new children’s book, Fortunately the Milk, that …
It is surprising to me of how comparatively few gay writers there are either from, or based in Manchester. As somewhere with a large creative outlet for the LGBT scene, it is surprises me that there is hardly any literature focusing on Manchester’s LGBT scene. Enter Canal Street Gothic from Manchester Evening News reporter David …