I moved house earlier this year. While my new place is what estate agents euphemistically refer to as ‘a fixer-upper’, in ...

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t optimistic about my new northern plot. Much of it consists of lawn, trimmed with narrow borders that, back in February, looked lacklustre and unlikely to put on a show once ...

Fittingly, it’s been there from the start. Salford’s Lowry theatre and gallery is celebrating its silver anniversary, and Going to the Match, L.S. Lowry’s depiction of Bolton Wanderers supporters ...

Walking into How I Am Monument feels like entering the excavation site of a 21st-century technocratic pharaoh.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief is a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Factory International, running at Aviva Studios, home to Factory International, Manchester until May 18, 2025 ...

The walk from Newcastle train station to the Baltic was a balmy meander by the River Tyne laced with foaming cherry blossom and a chorus of gulls. It was my first visit to this former flour mill, but ...

When I was asked to review the 18th anniversary menu at Vermilion, self-styled as ‘Manchester’s most glamorous restaurant’, I thought two things: (a) after 18 years, why haven’t I heard of it? And (b) ...

It’s certainly easy to see why Boys from the Blackstuff has been adapted for the stage. Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 TV serial made an almighty impact and is still remembered today as a vivid portrait of ...

Manchester’s comedy scene is thriving, with new nights springing up all the time. What’s remarkable, though, is that one city centre comedy night is fast approaching its 30 th anniversary, and many ...

Beyond its spotlight on the first person, autobiography has the power to illuminate more widely, extending in the process an invitation to empathy. Sarah Roberts’ meticulous installation SICK presents ...