Van Gogh Alive has been experienced by over 8 million people across 70 cities worldwide. It comes to MediaCity for an exclusive 3-month run only. Demand is high, so purchasing tickets for your preferred date and time slot now is advised.

Prepare to transcend time and space as you accompany Van Gogh on a journey through the Netherlands, Arles, Saint Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise, where he created many of his timeless masterpieces. Set to an evocative classical score, a thrilling display of over 3,000 inspirational images transforms every surface that surrounds you in what has been described as an "unforgettable multi-sensory experience".

Traditions of tiptoeing through silent galleries and viewing paintings from afar in quiet contemplation are forgotten as you find yourself interacting with art in ways you have never imagined. From start to finish, you will be surrounded by a vibrant symphony of light, colour, sound and fragrance as you wander around the exhibition and absorb it from every possible angle. Van Gogh's masterpieces come to life, giving you the sensation of walking right into his paintings, a feeling that is simultaneously enchanting, entertaining and educational.

At Van Gogh Alive you don't just look at his paintings, you step inside them and feel their power.

Gallery

Van Gogh Alive FAQs

James Seabright presents

The Battersea Poltergeist – Live!

The worldwide podcast hit, as heard on BBC Radio Four, explores the true story of Britain’s strangest haunting. And now it is coming live to a theatre near you!

Number one drama series across the world, The Battersea Poltergeist  is a multi-million download, genre-busting phenomenon, mixing documentary and drama to tell the incredible and terrifying true story of the 1956 haunting of the Hitchings family in south London at the hands of a poltergeist they nicknamed Donald.

At this exclusive live event, you can meet the show’s creator, writer and journalist Danny Robins, and guest experts from the podcast. They’ll delve deeper into this paranormal cold case, bringing the investigation to life on stage, sharing exclusive footage of Shirley Hitchings and other witnesses, and revealing some stunning (and chilling) new evidence.

There will also be a Q&A so you can put your questions about the case and the making of the series to Danny and his team of experts! Are you #TeamSceptic or #TeamBeliever? Become part of the investigation that’s spurred millions of listeners worldwide to be supernatural sleuths.

Top 10 Podcast of 2021 – The Guardian

“Hugely entertaining… a fabulous telling.” Miranda Sawyer, The Observer

“The real-life ghost story so gripping even sceptics are drawn in.” Daily Mail

“Fabulously entertaining.” The Independent

“Gripping and authentically unsettling.” SFX Magazine

“Freaky, creepy, insanely addictive.” Grazia

www.batterseapoltergeistlive.com

Online booking is available for advance hourly tickets only. Tickets for today can be purchased when you arrive, although we cannot guarantee availability.  If you’d like to speak to a member of our team about your visit today, please call 015394 35544.

OPENING TIMES

To 1 November

Tuesday to Saturday

10am–5pm (last entry to Dove Cottage is 4.20pm)

2 November to 23 December

Tuesday to Saturday

10am-4pm (last entry to Dove Cottage is 3.00pm)

28 December to 1 January

10am-4pm (last entry to Dove Cottage is 3.00pm)



In keeping with current government guidelines, visitors cannot book more than six tickets for any given time slot.

DOVE COTTAGE

In late 1799, while on a walking tour of the Lake District, William Wordsworth saw Dove Cottage in Grasmere and decided to make it his home. He had known the valley as a boy, describing it as ‘paradise’. Within a few weeks, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy had moved in and were busily furnishing the home and planning a garden.  It was whilst living here that Wordsworth produced most of his greatest and best-loved poems, and Dorothy wrote her fascinating Grasmere journal.

A visit to Dove Cottage today transports you back to this remarkable period of ‘plain living and high thinking’. The sights, sounds and smells bring to life the bustling family home the Wordsworths would have known over 200 years ago. In this humble Lake District cottage, you can feel how a unique combination of people and place came together and changed poetry forever.

THE GARDEN-ORCHARD

Take a stroll through the delightful fell-side garden behind Dove Cottage, which Wordsworth referred to as a ‘little domestic slip of mountain’.

The garden has been restored to the half-wild state that Wordsworth and Dorothy lovingly created from local plants and materials. It was a place of peace and inspiration for Wordsworth, who would often compose poetry outdoors.

Whether you see snowdrops in winter, daffodils and bluebells in spring, an abundance of wildflowers through summer, or the changing colours of the leaves in autumn, Dove Cottage garden is stunning in all seasons.

THE MUSEUM

Uncover Wordsworth’s radical and creative life in the new and expanded Museum and enjoy breathtaking views of Grasmere Vale from a unique Viewing Platform.

Discover William Wordsworth’s remarkable story through a unique collection of some of the greatest treasures from the Romantic age. Objects, maps and interactive displays will help you to unravel the adventures that shaped Wordsworth’s thoughts and inspirations.

The Museum will have a range of activities for children. Have a go at writing with a quill and ink, dress up in Georgian clothes, play with traditional toys or take on a Minecraft challenge.

Online booking is available for advance hourly tickets only. Tickets for today can be purchased when you arrive, although we cannot guarantee availability.  If you’d like to speak to a member of our team about your visit today, please call 015394 35544.

OPENING TIMES

To 1 November

Tuesday to Saturday

10am–5pm (last entry to the Museum is 4.30pm)

2 November to 23 December

Tuesday to Saturday

10am-4pm (last entry to the Museum is 3.30pm)

28 December to 1 January

10am-4pm (last entry to the Museum is 3.30pm)

THE GARDEN-ORCHARD

Take a stroll through the delightful fell-side garden behind Dove Cottage, which Wordsworth referred to as a ‘little domestic slip of mountain’.

The garden has been restored to the half-wild state that Wordsworth and Dorothy lovingly created from local plants and materials. It was a place of peace and inspiration for Wordsworth, who would often compose poetry outdoors.

Whether you see snowdrops in winter, daffodils and bluebells in spring, an abundance of wildflowers through summer, or the changing colours of the leaves in autumn, Dove Cottage garden is stunning in all seasons.

THE MUSEUM

Uncover Wordsworth’s radical and creative life in the new and expanded Museum and enjoy breathtaking views of Grasmere Vale from a unique Viewing Platform.

Discover William Wordsworth’s remarkable story through a unique collection of some of the greatest treasures from the Romantic age. Objects, maps and interactive displays will help you to unravel the adventures that shaped Wordsworth’s thoughts and inspirations.

The Museum will have a range of activities for children. Have a go at writing with a quill and ink, dress up in Georgian clothes, play with traditional toys or take on a Minecraft challenge.

Suggested duration of visit: 1 hour. Please note: The galleries close at 5pm. As such, visitors should only book the 4:30pm timed-entry if they are happy to experience the exhibition in a reduced 30 minute session. Thank you.

Please take a look at our FAQs in advance of your visit. – www.thelowry.com/coronavirus

Adapted and Directed by Jeremy Sams
Based on the television series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey

Remember the Goods – Tom and Barbara, suburban eco-warriors? And their next-door neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter, desperately trying to maintain the Surbiton status quo?

Well, they’re back – and on stage for the first time in The Good Life, a theatrical reimagining of the TV sitcom that delighted countless millions, starring award-winning actor, presenter and comedian Rufus Hound as Tom and West End, television and film star Preeya Kalidas as Margo.

Jeremy Sams’s comedy leads the well-loved characters through uproarious adventures; some old, some new and often hilariously familiar.

This new play celebrates a time when, whatever our differences, we still managed to get on with our neighbours.

Rufus Hound’s extensive list of stage credits include the original West End production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, One Man Two Guvnors and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Preeya Kalidas’s film, stage and television credits include Bend It Like Beckham, Bombay Dreams and EastEnders. Jeremy Sams’s directing credits include the National Theatre’s West End and Broadway revival of Noises Off, the West End musical Spend, Spend, Spend, the international tour of The Sound of Music and Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre.

For more than thirty years, John Esmonde and Bob Larbey’s writing partnership was acclaimed for creating some of British sitcom’s greatest classics including Ever Decreasing Circles, Please Sir!, Brush Strokes and Mulberry.

Producer Fiery Angel’s numerous West End productions include Touching The Void; Hairspray; Home, I’m Darling; Long Day’s Journey Into Night; The Ladykillers; Ghost Stories; Mary Stuart and the inaugural West End season of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. Their production of The 39 Steps has been presented worldwide, winning Olivier, Tony and Molière Awards.

www.TheGoodLifeOnStage.com

AGUDO DANCE COMPANY
Artistic Director: Jose Agudo
Production: Carmen

Carmen will always be free… she is a gypsy, a Romany, a traveller, an
untamed spirit, captivating and elusive, yet earthy and fiercely alive.
Jose Agudo draws upon his unique palette of Flamenco and contemporary
dance to create this dramatic adaptation of Prosper Merimée’s classic novella.
The company delivers a rich tapestry of human motives and emotions,
unravelling the complex exchange between conformity and freedom; the
tension unleashed by obsessive human behaviour, the desire for self-
disclosure and upholding the right to be free.

Set to an original Flamenco infused score by Bernhard Schimpelsberger and
additional track by Kefaya, Carmen is a story about individuality, freedom,
love and pleasure, and the belief that our journey of twists and turns we call
life is always valuable.

Fancy one of the best days out in the North West?

Try our full line return, an amazing steam train day out including 12 miles of stunning scenery and 7 unique stops packed with things to do. Including not just the steam train ride, but also our historic waiting rooms, picture perfect platforms and of course a gift shop. A perfect family day out!

Tickets are valid for the date shown and one round trip only (NOT ALL DAY).

Please make sure you have a version of your ticket (printed OR have them on your handheld device and have them with you ready for inspection)

Are you part of the Heritage Railway Association?

Our preserved railway is part of the railway heritage trust and so if you have a valid pass, get your discounted advance travel tickets here. Please bring your heritage railway pass with you on the day of travel.

Tickets are valid all day for the date shown. Please make sure you have a version of your ticket (printed OR have them on your handheld device), ready for inspection on the day.

Tickets are valid for date shown

Ticket Validities :

Day Rover – Valid for ALL Day Travel

Full Line – Valid for one Trip covering the whole line.  

Please make sure you have a version of your ticket (printed OR have them on your handheld device and have them with you ready for inspection on the day.

Please bring your qualifying pass on your day of travel.

Price

Adult Day Rover – 12.00

Child Day Rover – 9.30

Adult Full line – 8.50

Child Full line – 6.00

Tickets are valid for date shown

Please make sure you have a version of your ticket (printed OR have them on your handheld device) and have them with you ready for inspection on the day.

Please bring your qualifying pass on your day of travel.

Price

Adult Day Rover – 12.00

Child Day Rover – 9.30

Adult Full line – 8.50

Child Full line – 6.00

Tickets are valid for date shown

Tickets are valid for All Day

Please make sure you have a version of your ticket (printed OR have them on your handheld device and have them with you ready for inspection on the day)

Please bring your Boundless Pass with you on day of Travel.

Price

Adult Day Rover – 14.50

Tickets are valid for date shown

Tickets are valid for All Day

Please make sure you have a version of your ticket (printed OR have them on your handheld device and have them with you ready for inspection on the day.

Whether you’re a die-hard football fan, planning a visit with your family or on a break to Manchester, enjoy a visit to England’s only national museum for football.

Learn more about the game of our lives, see iconic objects, and sharpen your skills in the museum’s football challenges.

To coincide with our reopening, the museum is celebrating the legends of the game in our first ever dedicated Hall of Fame exhibition. Opening in the Score Gallery, our latest exhibition focuses on those players and managers who have contributed significantly to the game of our lives: breaking records, winning trophies, and paving the way for future generations, on and off the field.

Opening days: Wednesday – Sunday

Opening times: 10:00am – 5pm (last entry 4pm)

In keeping with current government guidelines, visitors cannot book more than six tickets for any given time slot.

Concession applies to: Full Time Students, 65+ and Unemployed.

The museum receives financial support from Manchester City Council. As part of that arrangement city residents benefit from free admission.

Existing ticket holders can book their time slot free of charge.

Tickets are currently only bookable four weeks in advance.

The industrial heritage of the North West is brought to life before your very eyes at Bury Transport Museum. Through stunningly restored vehicles, original artefacts and interactive exhibits, your family can explore the lives and jobs of people in the early 20th Century.

There is plenty to keep both adults and children entertained, whether that’s discovering the horse drawn tram that was once a chip shop, learning about how “Hilda” the steam roller almost met her end, meeting the bus with a history in movies or taking a look around the smallest museum inside of a museum in the UK!

Your ticket is free of charge and valid for the timed entry as shown.

This ticket is only valid for visits to the Bury Transport Museum.

This ticket is valid for admission any time between 10am and 3pm.

To keep our customers safe, each family group will be seated in separate compartments.

Please select a carriage and then click on an available compartment.

Choose your first seat and you'll then notice that all the remaining seats in that compartment become highlighted, so that no one else can book them.

Then, just choose the different tickets you need for each of your group from the drop down lists.

For any spare seats simply choose the option 'seat not required'

Please note that we operate our heritage diesel trains on Saturdays and Steam on Sundays.

Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, and in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be injured.  If any of that sounds familiar, chances are you’re a woman.

Join writer and campaigner Caroline Criado Perez for a discussion of the gender bias that affects our everyday lives. From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, and the media, Invisible Women reveals how in a world built for and by men we are systematically ignoring half of the population, often with disastrous consequences. An impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world all illustrate the hidden ways in which women are forgotten, and the profound impact this has on us all.

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from Caroline in person about the research behind her Sunday Times number 1 bestseller book, as well as her wider work as a writer, broadcaster and feminist campaigner.

‘Revelatory – it should be required reading for policy and decision makers everywhere’  Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland 

‘HELL YES. This is one of those books that has the potential to change things – a monumental piece of research’ Caitlin Moran

‘Revelatory, frightening, hopeful. A secular Bible’ Jeanette Winterson

‘It took the writer and campaigner Caroline Criado Perez to reveal the true extent of the man’s world we live in. What makes Invisible Women so compelling is the mountain of data she draws on. Data, it turns out, matters... The pervasiveness of the problem is staggering... this is a brilliant exposé that deservedly won the Royal Society science book prize.’ Guardian, Best science, nature and ideas books of 2019

Anna likes things to keep things clean and tidy, but her neat world is turned upside down when she is magically transported to the rainforest and discovers wonders she’s never seen before.
A mischievous bunch of wild animals take her on a journey through the jungle of her dreams. But when her new home is put in danger, can she let go and become the wild Tarzanna she needs to be in order to save her newfound friends?
Tarzanna is a playful aerial theatre show for all the family to enjoy. Watch the performers climb, jump and swing through the air.

Tarzanna is an aerial theatre show for 3-8 year olds. The show delights young audiences as they are taken on a journey into a magical world through playful aerial storytelling, original music, moments of interactive fun, puppetry and acrobatic brilliance.
The show is nonverbal and is therefore suitable for deaf audiences and audiences who do not speak English. Tarzanna was originally commissioned by and performed at Derby Festé and has since toured the UK.

Looking for things to do on Halloween 2021?

Make your Halloween the best yet with a visit to East Lancashire Railway’s spooktacular seasonal celebration. The halloween activities include a haunted steam train ride with the opportunity to meet friendly ghouls and ghosts!

An intimate evening with the Radio 2 Folk Show presenter

Radio 2 Folk Show, 6music and Glastonbury TV presenter Mark Radcliffe invites you to an intimate evening of his own songs and accompanying personal stories from his life and career.

Join us at for a theatrical evening of spine-chilling tales...IN THE DARK! 

As you make your way through the museum by lamp-light your guides will horrify you with tall tales of Ghosts, Witches, Evil Beasties, and all manner of unmentionables from the other side. Stay together, keep heading forward and make it out to recount your own TALE OF TERROR. 

Fright at the Museum is a theatrical ghost tour around the Museum recommended for 12+ age group. 

The experience will last approx. 60 mins 

(Please allow for slight variations in the running time due to screaming and laughter) 

Note: Be aware that the event will be in the dark and you will be guided by torch light. There are uneven surfaces so please wear appropriate footwear and follow the instructions from your guide. 
 

Altrincham Film Club presents “AFTER LOVE” - our award winning film for Thursday 28th October.

Devoted wife Mary Hussain (a stunning performance by Joanna Scanlan) converted to Islam when she married. Now in her 60’s she finds herself a widow following the unexpected death of her husband. A day after the burial, she discovers that Ahmed had a secret family just 21 miles from their Dover home, across the Channel in Calais.

“AFTER LOVE has the agony of a domestic tragedy and the tension of a Hitchcock thriller.” 5 Stars, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.

What better way to celebrate Halloween than with an evening dedicated to the golden age of the “Video Nasty”?

Mark picks through the myths, facts and figures of our national identities to ask who do we think we are?

Join us as we end the week the best way we know how, with a steam train hauled Sunday Roast!
 
£49.90 per adult and £39.90 per child (5-12 years) for 2021

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

This traditional, train hauled, three course meal through beautiful Lancashire countryside is a great way to bring all the family together.

What’s Included?

    A beautiful 2 and ½ hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    A traditional three course meal followed by tea or coffee after dinner mints

Lancastrian Lunches run on Sundays from January to November. The diners depart Bury Bolton Street Station at 13:00pm and return at approximately 15:25pm.

Director / Producer / Writer / Cinematographer / Editor: Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Cinematographer: Kei Fujiwara Cast: Tomorô Taguchi, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka

A staid salaryman's head-on collision with a sadomasochistic metal fetishist triggers a terrifying and life-altering transformation...

Thirty two years after its release, Shin'ya Tsukamoto's groundbreaking, boundary-pushing, polymorphously perverse tech/body horror has lost none of its visceral, punishing power. A startling, surreal tale of physical mutation and psychosexual transformation, shot in quicksilver black & white, and powered by a pulsing, pounding heavy-industrial score, it's a sensual sensory overload, a lunatic live-action manga, a savage and subversive satire of salaryman culture, and a dark love story for the machine age, manic and magnificently nihilistic, the brute bastard child of Transgressive 80s Underground Cinema and S&M subculture, and – rather disturbingly – a deeply personal project for the multitalented Tsukamoto, who not only writes, directs, produces, shoots and edits, but also stars as the nameless Metal Fetishist.

Screening as part of Japan 2020: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk


Showing on 7th August 2021 - JOHN CARPENTER DAY
13:00 PRINCE OF DARKNESS (15)
15:10 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (15)
17:20 THEY LIVE (18)
19:20 IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (15)

Showing on 22nd August 2021 - WES CRAVEN DAY
13:00 THE HILLS HAVE EYES (18)
15:00 SCREAM (18)
17:15 THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (18)
19:10 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18)

Showing on 31st October 2021 - JAPANESE HORROR SPECIAL 
13:00 TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (18)
15:00 AUDITION (18)
17:15 DARK WATER (18)
19:10 ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (18)


To book for all events please click here

World record-breaking beatboxer SK Shlomo makes mad music with his mouth. Become one of this sonic superhero’s sidekicks in a world of funny sounds, brilliant noises and cool music, whether you’re aged 1 or 101!

“Mesmerising!” ★★★★★ Primary Times  

“Staggering!” ★★★★★ Families Edinburgh

“Super Mega Awesome” ★★★★★ Deadline News

“Joyous...the parents were having just as good a time as their kids” ★★★★★ BroadwayBaby.com 

“Outrageously talented” ★★★★ The List Edinburgh

“A perfect show… sets young imaginations alight” ★★★★ The Times

Family favourite Groove Baby comes to The Lowry with an exciting, jazz and funk fuelled show especially for 3 - 7s and their grown-ups!

Groove Into the Woods is an animated and live-action magical, musical adventure which follows three friends into a fairytale forest where they learn some important lessons about who you can trust, who your friends are and which troll might eat you!

Specially designed to be a midpoint between kid shows and ‘regular’ adult concerts, this show has something for everyone (in the kingdom).

Blending jungle rhythms, infectious pop themes, and a heavy dose of 60s Blue Note soul jazz, the Groove Baby Organ Trio creates a non-stop groove that will have everyone on their feet.

The duration of this show is approx. 55 minutes. Suitable for children ages 3 – 7 and their grown-ups.

Director: Takashi Miike, Producers: Satoshi Fukushima, Akemi Suyama, Writer: Daisuke Tengan (from the novel by Ryû Murakami), Cinematographer: Hideo Yamamoto, Editor: Yasushi Shimamura, Cast: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura.

Persuaded by his teenage son to start dating again, shy widower Shigeharu Aoyama turns to his film producer friend Yasuhisa Yoshikawa for advice and support. Yasuhisa determines to organise a sham casting call for a non-existent movie, which will enable his socially awkward friend to meet lots of beautiful women. When the soft-spoken, enigmatic Asami shows up to audition, Shigeharu quickly becomes obsessed with her, never suspecting that she has a sinister agenda of her own...

The film that first introduced the wildly unpredictable and hyper-prolific maverick maestro Miike to a wider Western Audience (it was one of SEVEN films he shot that year!), is a pitch-perfect pairing with the equally controversial and confrontational literary outlaw Ryu Murakami, which spins the latter's sour, satiric psycho-thriller source novel into an elegant, tonally slippery, deeply uncomfortable black comedy of cruelty and comeuppance; a mordant study of middle class social mores, male entitlement, and casual misogyny, which shifts inexorably into pure nightmare. Shot with icy control, and all the more horrifying for the matter of fact understatement of its nastiest sequences, it features an astonishing, terrifying performance from the extraordinary Eihi Shiina as Asami; a chilling study in inhuman stillness, with her impassive, emotionless, masklike face and flatly cooing voice. Oh, and there's also one of the greatest jump-scares in the history of cinema; one which never fails to unsettle, no matter how many times you see it.

Screening as part of Japan 2020: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk

Showing on 7th August 2021 - JOHN CARPENTER DAY
13:00 PRINCE OF DARKNESS (15)
15:10 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (15)
17:20 THEY LIVE (18)
19:20 IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (15)

Showing on 22nd August 2021 - WES CRAVEN DAY
13:00 THE HILLS HAVE EYES (18)
15:00 SCREAM (18)
17:15 THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (18)
19:10 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18)

Showing on 31st October 2021 - JAPANESE HORROR SPECIAL 
13:00 TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (18)
15:00 AUDITION (18)
17:15 DARK WATER (18)
19:10 ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (18)


To book for all events please click here

Director: Hideo Nakata, Producer: Takashige Ichise, Writer: Ken'ichi Suzuki, Yoshihiro Nakamura, (from the short story “Floating Water” by Koji Suzuki), Cinematographer: Jun'ichirô Hayashi, Editor: Nobuyuki Takahashi, Cast: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa, Fumiyo Kohinata.

Yoshimi is struggling to build a new life for herself as she navigates the final stages of a messy divorce and an ongoing custody battle. To make matters worse, the rundown towerblock apartment into which shehas moved with her young daughter seems to have a serious problem with damp...

Director Hideo Nakata's earlier collaboration with writer Koji Suzuki, RINGU, was the film that really put Japanese horror on the international map; introducing an iconic movie monster, in the spectral Sadako, and featuring one of the most terrifying final sequences in modern horror cinema, it has spawned countless sequels, remakes, and an ongoing franchise which continues to this day. And as a result, their rather more low-key follow-up, DARK WATER, tends to get somewhat overlooked. Which is a serious injustice, because it's a masterclass in mood-based supernatural horror, beautifully visualised and subtly played, making fine use of its dank and dingy towerblock locations; an urban Gothic ghost story with a strong social subtext, which offers a moving meditation on motherhood, moral responsibility, and sacrifice. And, of course, it's creepy as all hell.

Screening as part of Japan 2020: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk


Showing on 7th August 2021 - JOHN CARPENTER DAY
13:00 PRINCE OF DARKNESS (15)
15:10 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (15)
17:20 THEY LIVE (18)
19:20 IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (15)

Showing on 22nd August 2021 - WES CRAVEN DAY
13:00 THE HILLS HAVE EYES (18)
15:00 SCREAM (18)
17:15 THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (18)
19:10 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18)

Showing on 31st October 2021 - JAPANESE HORROR SPECIAL 
13:00 TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (18)
15:00 AUDITION (18)
17:15 DARK WATER (18)
19:10 ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (18)


To book for all events please click here

This is a Murder Mystery event suitable for people aged 15 or over 

Guests gather on the platform for the first part of the performance before boarding the train.  During the main course the actors will divulge clues and aid in your deliberations.  The second part of the performance will either take place on the train or the platform (depending on weather conditions) and dessert will be served.  Finally you will dis-embark and reveal who you think did the crime.

This is a Dining Train event onboard one of our heritage steam trains.  Seats are in carriages around tables of two or four people

Our onboard bar will be open serving a range of wine, beer, cider and soft drinks.

Guests to arrive 6.30pm for prompt 6.45pm departure.

2 course meal followed by tea & coffee

Director / Writer / Editor: Shin'ichirô Ueda, Producer: Koji Ichihashi, Writer: Ryoichi Wada, Cinematographer: Takeshi Sone, Cast: Takayuki Hamatsu, Yuzuki Akiyama, Harumi Shuhama, Kazuaki Nagaya, Hiroshi Ichihara, Mao.

A director and his crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility find themselves under attack by real zombies. The opportunity to take advantage of the situation to add all-too-realistic gore effects to their movie seems too good to miss. But their new extras prove somewhat difficult to direct...

Outside of multi-million-dollar Hollywood movie productions, which are overplanned and focus-grouped to death, the majority of filmmaking is often about the lucky accident, the unexpected opportunity; about being in the right place at the right time, and making the best use of the resources available. Shin'ichirô Ueda's riotously funny and savagely astute splatter satire takes this idea and runs hog wild with it, offering a pokerfaced portrait of cinematic opportunism taken to extreme lengths, and the creative and literal carnage which results - while at the same time offering an object lesson in inventive and challenging filmmaking on a shoestring. Shot for around $25K, the film made box office history in Japan by earning over 1000 times its budget back in ticket sales. Now THAT'S filmmaking acumen.

Screening as part of Japan 2020: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk


Showing on 7th August 2021 - JOHN CARPENTER DAY
13:00 PRINCE OF DARKNESS (15)
15:10 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (15)
17:20 THEY LIVE (18)
19:20 IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (15)

Showing on 22nd August 2021 - WES CRAVEN DAY
13:00 THE HILLS HAVE EYES (18)
15:00 SCREAM (18)
17:15 THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (18)
19:10 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (18)

Showing on 31st October 2021 - JAPANESE HORROR SPECIAL 
13:00 TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (18)
15:00 AUDITION (18)
17:15 DARK WATER (18)
19:10 ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (18)


To book for all events please click here

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

One of America’s finest writers, Elizabeth Strout returns to the world of her much-loved character Lucy Barton. In Oh William!, Elizabeth’s superb seventh novel, Lucy is reconnected with her first husband and father of her children, William. As they undertake a road trip together, Lucy discovers long kept secrets about William’s childhood which force her to reconsider their time together and her own life. A poignant story of grief, trauma, how well we can really know someone else and how we might heal. Elizabeth won the Pulitzer Prize for Olive Kitteridge and her novels include The Burgess Boys, Amy and Isabelle, My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible and Olive, Again. Hilary Mantel describes her as ‘a superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own.’

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

‘If war has an opposite, gardens might sometimes be it, and people have found a particular kind of peace in forests, meadows, parks, and gardens.’ In Orwell’s Roses prolific US author, activist and flâneur, Rebecca Solnit reconsiders the work of George Orwell in light of the rosebushes he planted in 1936 in the garden of his cottage in Wallingdon. Through the ultimately hopeful act of gardening, she illuminates ideas of climate crisis, poverty, totalitarianism, feminism, and slavery in the sugar trade, drawing links between Orwell’s works, current societal issues and, through what she calls ‘an activity deeply invested in the future’, shows how nature might save us all. Rebecca is the author of more than twenty books, including Wanderlust, Hope in the Dark, Men Explain Things to Me and Recollections of My Non-Existence, which was longlisted for the 2021 Orwell Prize for Political Writing and shortlisted for the 2021 James Tait Black Award. She will be in conversation with Manchester Literature Festival Patron Kamila Shamsie, author of The Women’s Prize winner Home Fire.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

Hosted by Okechukwu Nzelu

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

‘Too often truth ain’t in what’s right […] sometimes it’s in who speaks it. Or writes it.’ In C Pam Zhang’s Booker Prize longlisted How Much of These Hills is Gold, a family set out for the American West in search of their fortune. Told largely through the perspectives of 11- and 12-year-old Lucy and Sam, C Pam reinserts Chinese, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ people back into a narrative from which they’ve been erased. In Memorial, Bryan’s debut novel, couple Benson and Mike are trying to work out whether or not they’re still in love. When Mike discovers his estranged father is dying, he flies to Japan to see him just as his mother, Mitsuko, arrives in the USA and moves in with Benson. Two beautifully told stories about home, family and belonging. C Pam Zhang’s novel was chosen by Barack Obama as one of his books of 2020 and is currently being adapted for television. Bryan’s short story collection Lot won the 2020 International Dylan Thomas Prize. C Pam and Bryan will be in conversation with Okechukwu Nzelu, author of The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney. Presented by Manchester Literature Festival in partnership with Durham Book Festival and Ilkley Literature Festival.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

Hosted by Ellah P. Wakatama

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

Two brilliant young novelists discuss their sensational debuts. In Caleb Azumah Nelson’s beautifully lyrical Open Water two young Black talented Londoners – he a photographer, she a dancer – fall in love to a soundtrack of the city and some exceptional music. In Brandon Taylor’s precise and absorbing Real Life Wallace, a Black gay biochemistry student at a Midwestern university, tries to come to terms with the death of his father in Alabama. Both novels consider male vulnerability, trauma, grief, love and tenderness and question where writing by and about Black men fits in a canon of predominantly white literature.

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer. He was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award in 2020. Open Water was longlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize and the Gordon Burn Prize. Brandon Taylor is an American writer and the senior editor of Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading. Real Life was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020 and is being made into a film produced by and starring Kid Cudi. Brandon is also the author of the short story collection, Filthy Animals. Presented in partnership with Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester and hosted by Ellah P. Wakatama.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

1 – 14 November 2021

For the one-off price of £20 you can access all 21 of Manchester Literature Festival’s MLF DIGITAL events. This includes 6 events recorded at MLF LIVE in October 2021; special in conversations with leading novelists Elizabeth Strout, Bernardine Evaristo and Elif Shafak; intimate conversations with activists and environmentalists Rebecca Solnit, Dara McAnulty, Gina Martin & Jeremiah Emmanuel; inspiring discussions with emerging writers Caleb Azumah Nelson, Brandon Taylor, C Pam Zhang & Bryan Washington; new poetry commissions by Northern writers; and Alice Albinia and Maxine Peake discussing  archipelagos, mother nature and majestic women.

All events will be available to view from Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021. You can view full details of the MLF Digital Events Programme here: https://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

‘Of course, everybody knows how hard it is to countenance the idea of women-only gatherings, women-only groups. The mere sight of women assembling en masse makes certain people, women as well as men uneasy. Queasy.’ In Alice Albinia’s inventive novel Cwen, Eva Levi, founder of a gynotopia on an archipelago off the east coast of Britain has disappeared, feared dead. The inquest reveals a group of women from all backgrounds and the challenges they faced, while behind them lies Cwen, uniting the earth and female power. Alice Albinia is the prize-winning author of two other books, Empires of the Indus and Leela's Book. Over the past seven years, she has travelled around the edges of Britain, from Orkney to Anglesey, piecing together ancient, medieval and modern tales of islands ruled by women. Her non-fiction book, The Britannias, will be published in 2023. She will be in conversation with actor, writer and activist Maxine Peake. 

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

Hosted by LoneLady  

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50
              
This event was recorded live at HOME on 9 October 2021

‘Superficially Wilson was a provocative liberal arts entertainer, minor music-industry player, capricious cultural theorist and abstract, self-celebrating know-it-all’ but in Paul Morley’s stunning biography From Manchester with Love, The Life and Opinions of Tony Wilson, the legendary Anthony H. Wilson is revealed in all his complex, contradictory glory. Founder of the Haçienda and co-founder of Factory Records, Wilson shaped Manchester’s music and cultural scene as much as the city shaped him. Writer, broadcaster, and cultural critic Paul Morley was one of Wilson’s closest friends and the man Wilson himself appointed to write his biography. Join us for an investigation into and celebration of Tony Wilson and the city he loved. Paul will be in conversation with LoneLady.

Julie Campbell a.k.a LoneLady is a musician, songwriter, singer and producer from Manchester. Inspired by British post-punk, she first started making recordings in the early-mid 2000s on a 4-track cassette recorder in her towerblock flat in the city. LoneLady has released 3 critically-acclaimed albums on Warp records - Nerve Up (2010), Hinterland (2015) and Former Things (2021). Presented in partnership with Faber Members.  

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mark O'Connell was unable to take part in this event. This recording features a conversation between Jeanette Winterson and Kate Feld.

This event was recorded live at Central Library on 9 October 2021  
 
‘How did we get here? Where might we go?’ Is the future ‘a screen onto which we project our fantasies and terrors’? What can the past tell us about the future? Are we all doomed? And what’s gender got to do with it? Jeanette Winterson’s latest book 12 Bytes considers our relationship with AI, how it might develop and what we need to know. In Notes from an Apocalypse Mark O’Connell (To Be a Machine) spends time with preppers, rewilders and people who want to colonise Mars. Join us for what’s sure to be a fascinating discussion about what humanity might do next. Jeanette is the author of 10 novels for adults, as well as children’s books, screenplays and non-fiction, including the bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Mark’s first book To Be a Machine won the Wellcome Book Prize in 2018. Presented in partnership with Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester and hosted by writer Kate Feld.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

This event was recorded live at Central Library on 10 October 2021 
 
‘Later I saw that change came as change always comes, from a chain of events with a long history, too long to see from back to front, till it come.’ In The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey’s Costa Book of the Year winner, the life of David, one of the island’s fishermen, is disrupted when he saves Aycayia, a mermaid, from her captors. While in Ingrid Persaud’s Love After Love, Betty Ramdin invites Mr Chetan to lodge with her and her son Solo following the death of her husband/Solo’s father. The creation of a new, unconventional, family changes all of their lives. Two award-winning Caribbean novelists join us to discuss determined women, magical writing, family and place. Monique Roffey is the author of seven books including The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, which was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize. Ingrid has won both the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. Hosted by writer Kate Feld.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

This event was recorded live at Central Library on 10 October 2021
 
A fig tree with a tale to tell; a grieving teenage girl who wants to know her family’s story; two sets of lovers hiding from society. In her enchanting new novel, The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak considers how the story of humans and the natural world are entwined. Set in London and the island of Cyprus, Elif explores roots, trauma and how understanding ourselves and our history can be healing. Elif is a British-Turkish novelist, feminist and activist and we’re delighted to welcome her back to MLF. The author of 19 books, translated into 54 languages, Elif’s previous novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by the BBC as one of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World. Elif will be in conversation with Ellah P Wakatama.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

This event was recorded live at Central Library on 10 October 2021
 
Much-loved former Labour MP Alan Johnson makes a welcome return to MLF. Following his series of successful memoirs – This Boy, In My Life, The Long and Winding Road and Please, Mr Postman, Alan has turned to fiction, joining us to discuss his thrilling debut novel The Late Train to Gipsy Hill. Featuring a Ukrainian waitress mixed up in a poisoning plot and an administrator who finds himself on the run from Russian secret agents and the Met, it’s an enthralling, smartly written, page turner. Alan will discuss his passion for plot-twists, politics and writing with host Ellah P Wakatama.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

DIGITAL EVENT
Available to view Monday 1 November, 1pm – Sunday 14 November, midnight 2021
Tickets £7.50

This event was recorded live at HOME on 11 October 2021
  
The first Black woman and the first Black British author to win the Booker Prize for her stunning novel Girl, Woman, Other, Manchester Literature Festival is thrilled to welcome Anglo-Nigerian writer Bernardine Evaristo for a special event to celebrate her new book Manifesto: On Never Giving Up. Bernardine has spent three decades as a trailblazing writer, mentor and activist and Manifesto is her intimate and inspirational, no-holds-barred account of how she did it. Bernardine will discuss her ground-breaking work including her many brilliant novels (Mr Loverman, Blonde Roots), her poetry and her theatre dramas with fellow writer and MLF Patron Jackie Kay. This event is sponsored by Weightmans.

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. To buy tickets, please sign in at the top right-hand side of the screen. Memberships start at £20 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 29 September at 10am.

Top price tickets (£37.00) include a copy of Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life by Alan Coming (RRP £18.99)

An Audience with Alan Cumming: Tales from a Fully Packed Life.

Join multi-award-winning actor and Sunday Times bestselling author Alan Cumming, as he celebrates the publication of his new book, Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life.

Live in conversation for these exclusive events, Alan, with the help of some very special guest interviewer (to be announced), will take you on a startingly honest, poignant, and joyous roller-coaster of a ride as he shares stories from his extraordinary life. From a troubled childhood on a remote Scottish estate to his early days as a Blue Jeans photo-story model, from becoming a Tony and Olivier award-winning theatre actor to making back-to-back films with Stanley Kubrick and the Spice Girls; from Golden Globe, and Emmy Award nominated television actor, to social justice activist and LGBTQI+ advocate.

Through everything he has lived – each failed relationship or struggle with mental health, each exhilarating professional triumph, or friendship with legendary star (Liza Minnelli, Gore Vidal, Stanley Kubrick and more) – Alan will explore how each experience – good or bad – has shaped who he is today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless, middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage.

Joyous, honest, and wise, these events promise to celebrate the messiness of life with Alan’s signature storytelling and humour.

Presented by Fane in association with Canongate

Image Credit Josh Going 

The Award winning ‘Pop up Bowie’ a stunning tribute to
DAVID BOWIE

With performances of all the great hits from every era of David Bowies career from the 70’s to the 90’s and beyond including Space Oddity, Life on Mars, Changes, Heroes, Under Pressure, Let’s Dance, Starman, Ziggy Stardust, Rebel Rebel and Ashes to Ashes.
With a full band Paul Anthony will perform 2 hours of Bowie’s biggest hits taking the audience on a musical journey, experiencing the masterpieces that made the late, great David Bowie the immortal legend he is today. ‘Pop-Up Bowie’ aims to inspire, uplift and celebrate the life of a true artistic genius. Experience the magic of Bowie’s music live with thrilling artistry, a theatrical performance that honours the revolutionary icon himself in the most respectful of ways. Paul Anthony was voted the UK’s No.1 David Bowie Tribute Act at the National Tribute Awards 2016

A dancer of extraordinary power and grace, Dickson Mbi summons multiple identities in this mesmerising solo performance inspired by a life-changing journey to his ancestral home in Cameroon.

The symbolic presence of a two-headed snake, the tiger whose roar vibrated as part of a funeral ritual, the knowing touch of a blind elder … it was these unnerving encounters that profoundly affected the London choreographer during a recent trip to his family’s village. They have all brought him closer to the animistic practices of his African heritage and to the mystical place where they meet with his modern East End upbringing. 

Enowate, meaning ‘truth stands’, draws on sinuous elements of hip hop and contemporary dance in combination with original music and otherworldly animated projections. In asking the relatable question, ‘who am I?’, he connects with enigmatic forces to reveal himself and emerge from the shadows.

Written and performed by Brendan Murphy

Directed by Hamish Macdougall

Looking for your child’s first dance class or wishing to improve and build on a pre-existing foundation in dance with Contemporary Technique?

The Northwest Dance Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) Open Contemporary Dance Class are held on Wednesdays at The Lowry from October 2021 for participants from the age of 6-11 years old.

A fun and insightful experience into the exciting world of dance taught by our excellent, engaging CAT Tutors.

Our open contemporary dance classes allow young people to develop knowledge and skills in contemporary technique and the creative process, whether they are considering applying for the CAT at some point in the future, or simply love to dance. Email CAT@thelowry.com should you have any questions

One of the best-selling recording artists of the 1960s, Billy Fury enjoyed a string of hit singles totalling a remarkable 332 weeks in the British charts. Hailed as "the best Fury since Fury", Michael King and his fantastic band take you on a journey through the musical career of this rock n roll legend.

An exciting 2 hour show filled with Billy Fury's greatest hits and more delivered live in true Fury style. This is a night of pure breathtaking Billy Fury entertainment plus the best Fury sound you will hear!

The whole show is further enhanced by fantastic audio and video effects plus various costume changes depicting the ever changing image and face of the Fury phenomenon.

Simon Amstell
Spirit Hole

With his first stand up tour since the release of internationally acclaimed feature film - ‘Benjamin’ and Netflix Special ‘Set Free’, Simon Amstell brings ‘Spirit Hole’ to a theatre near you.

‘Spirit Hole’ is a blissful, spiritual, sensational exploration of love, sex, shame, mushrooms and more. If you yearn for a night of unprecedented joy and laughter book now and avoid regret.

‘Simon Amstell has a gift for taking a social norm and gently mocking it until it seems utterly ridiculous’. The New York Times.

'Set Free'* is a masterclass in the soul-searching, abject comedy that has come to define a generation. VICE

‘The real deal’. The Guardian

Presented by Mick Perrin Worldwide Ltd
There is no age restriction but show is recommended 15+
*Previous show

An evening of pure escape with stories, jokes and poems from writer, poet and TV and film producer Henry Normal. Featuring all your favourite poems from his BBC Radio 4 series and his seven poetry collections.

"Not heard anything that jumps from hilarious to moving in such an intelligent, subtle way as Henry Normal's show" - Radio Times
'the Alan Bennett of poetry' - The Scotsman
'Dovetails bittersweet poetry with a sublimely observant wit' - The Guardian
'A mixture of the absurd and downright wacky...a gentle giant of stand-up poetry' - The List
'The poetry itself is stuff of proper substance, marrying the suburban beauty of Beatles ballads with the blunt candour of the kitchen sink' - The Guardian
"The funniest man you've never heard of" - The Telegraph
"Witty and uncannily accurate with his observations" - The Stage
"Distinctly funny" - Time Out
“Shove up National Treasures. We need to make room for Henry Normal" Simon O'Hagan - Radio Times

Looking for your first dance class or wishing to improve and build on a pre-existing foundation in dance with Contemporary Technique and creative exploration?

The Northwest Dance Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) Open Contemporary Dance Classes for 11-17 year olds are held on Thursdays at The Lowry from September 30th 2021

A fun and insightful experience into the exciting world of dance taught by our excellent, engaging CAT Tutors.

Our open contemporary dance classes allow young people to develop knowledge and skills in contemporary technique and the creative process, whether they are considering applying for the CAT at some point in the future, or simply love to dance. Email CAT@thelowry.com should you have any questions.

20/20  - BRAND NEW STAND-UP SHOW

 Following overwhelming demand additional dates have been added for 2021

Critically acclaimed comedian Chris Ramsey is hitting the road for his biggest ever stand-up tour yet. Having filled venues across the country including The Newcastle Metro Arena (twice) don’t miss your chance to catch him live on stage while you can. 
 
His stand-up special ‘Approval Needed’ is available to stream on Amazon Prime now and alongside his wife Rosie he is also the co-host of the no.1 hit podcast Shagged. Married. Annoyed.

Downloaded a phenomenal 43 million times to date, Chris and Rosie won the Global Award’s Best Podcast Award, and British Podcast Award Listeners Choice in 2020, their brand new book launched in autumn 2020 reaching number one on both Amazon and the Sunday Times Best Seller charts.

“A brilliantly engaging natural storyteller”
Evening Standard
 
“Spinning blokey pub banter and unpretentious patter into stand-up gold”
The Guardian Guide
 
“Engaging and incisive”
The Independent on Sunday

To celebrate the release of their highly anticipated new album ‘Something to Leave the House For’, and fresh of the back of their sold out performance at the O2 Ritz, Lottery Winners team up with The Untold Orchestra to deliver a magical, once in a lifetime audio experience.

In the setting of the prestigious and beautiful Lowry Theatre, the band and a 10 piece orchestra plus a choir will play a feature length set not to be missed.

Fine dining and finesse are in abundance on our flagship dining experience, combining first-class food with superior service.

£59.90 per head for 2021 - Adult only

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

Our celebrated Red Rose Diners are the ultimate in foodie experiences, perfect for romantic meals and friendly get-togethers.

What’s Included?

    A beautiful 2 and ¾ hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    A four course meal followed by tea or coffee and after dinner chocolates

Red Rose Diners run on selected Fridays and Saturdays from February to November. The diners depart Bury Bolton Street Station at 7:30pm and return at approximately 10:15pm.

CLINTON BAPTISTE is… STRATOSPHERIC!                    

From Bolton via Vegas…..to the stars!

Following the massive success of his last UK tour, clairvoyant medium and psychic Clinton Baptiste has gone exploring, stateside.

Not quite Caesar’s Palace but a series of shows in Vegas have lifted his celebrity status up a notch.  Let him take you on a journey from his humble roots via the dazzling heights of Sin City…..

…..and on to an amazing finale that will heal the world.

Viva Las Vegas…Viva Clinton!

Clinton Baptiste is the hapless, unsubtle psychic from Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights. 
Following his sell out tour of 2019-20 “The Paranormalist Returns”, Clinton has taken a whirlwind tour of the US.
Hear his tales of rubbing shoulders with the hippy dippy new-agers from La La Land and how he hits the big time in Vegas with his lavish psychic show.
For a while things couldn’t be better.  A new lease of life, new teeth, new hair and a buttock lift. (Both of them.)  
But a humbly spiritual man at heart, Clinton realises that sometimes all that glitters ain’t gold and now returns to you, his beloved British audience to once again conjure up those pure selfless gifts he was born with.

For tonight, ladies and gentlemen, Clinton will all cast fame and fortune aside……and heal the world!

“From the moment Lowe dances onto the stage the audience absolutely loves his show.”
BRUCE DESSAU

“unashamedly crowdpleasing”
BEYOND THE JOKE

 “old-fashioned comedy at its best.”
British Theatre Guide

“I would highly recommend grabbing a ticket. Seats are selling fast and you certainly won’t be disappointed with this great evening of comedy.”
British Theatre Guide

“nothing short of genius.”
On Yorkshire Magazine

Haydn         String Quartet in B flat, Op. 76, No. 4 (‘Sunrise’)
Mozart        Piano Quartet in G minor (with Richard Whalley)
Cherubini    String Quartet No. 2 in C

The peerless sophistication of Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’, whose nickname derives from its magical opening,followed by Mozart’s darkly expressive G minor Piano Quartet (with the University’s composer-pianist Richard Whalley), and the second of six quartets by Luigi Cherubini, considered by Beethoven one of his greatest composer-contemporaries.

‘Amazing classical music concert. Quatuor Danel plays all of this music magnificently’ David Hurwirtz,
Classics Today

http://www.quatuordanel.eu/
@4tDanel | #QuatuorDanel | quatuordanel

After the event is off sale online, tickets can be purchased directly from the Martin Harris Centre Box Office subject to availability. You can contact the Martin Harris Centre Box Office, on 0161 275 8951 or boxoffice@manchester.ac.uk.

Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall
University of Manchester,
Bridgeford Street,
off Oxford Road,
Manchester, M13 9PL

For the very first time, Patrice Evra will be in conversation live on stage. A man that needs no introduction, join him as he gives such a rare insight into one of the most illustrious careers of the Manchester United generation.
A cult hero, this is an incredible opportunity to see Patrice live on stage, and hear from the man direct, giving the complete breakdown of what it has been like to live the life of professional footballer.

In I Love This Game, the long-awaited autobiography of Patrice Evra, the former Manchester United and France star looks back on a remarkable life and career. Having played alongside some of the club's greatest legends, such as Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, in one of United's most successful eras, Evra has now found a new role as an in-demand pundit and social media star.
 
But, as he reveals in this frank, often shocking, but always compelling memoir, beneath the surface things were not so simple, and he had to fight all the way to get to the top. Initially, it was football that saved him from being sucked into the gang culture of his tough neighbourhood of Les Ulis in the suburbs of Paris. Then, once he achieved his dream of becoming a professional, he had to deal with racism and a notorious dispute with Luis Suarez; he also became a central figure in the infamous ‘strike’ by the France national team in the 2010 World Cup; and there was the moment he launched an attack against a Marseille fan while warming up.
 
‘I Love This Game’ has become Evra’s catchphrase. Throughout this wonderful book, his passion for his sport shines through and there are revealing and entertaining behind-the-scenes insights about the players and managers he’s worked with, from Sir Alex Ferguson to Paul Pogba, who knows him as Uncle Pat. With infectious enthusiasm and sharp observation, Evra takes the reader where few football autobiographies dare to tread.

The Noise Next Door: Run Wild!
(For Ages 5 - 105)

It’s time for YOU to take control in the comedy show where anything can happen. Join the stars of Britain’s Got Talent (ITV1) and The One Show (BBC One) for an hour of songs, scenes and gags all based on what the audience want to see. Join comedy’s most exhilarating act for a show that’s fun for literally everyone.
 
The Noise Next Door have appeared on BBC One, BBC Three, ITV1, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4, and have performed alongside the likes of Michael McIntyre, Katherine Ryan, and Harry Hill.
 
“World-class comedy”  ***** USA Weekly
“Comedy masterpiece” ***** ThreeWeeks
“Fabulous” ***** Latest
“Immense” ***** Broadway Baby

(Ages 5+)

Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for an awe-inspiring ride.

Tim Peake is a European Space Agency astronaut. In December 2015, he became the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station to conduct a spacewalk (and run a marathon!) whilst orbiting Earth.
Now, join him on an epic and thrilling journey to the International Space Station as part of his first ever UK tour.

Tim will be your personal guide through life in space, with unprecedented access, breath-taking photographs, and never-before-seen incredible footage. It’s a fascinating insight into what it’s really like to be an astronaut; from training to launch, spacewalk to re-entry, Tim reveals the secrets, the science and the everyday wonders of how and why humans journey into space.
Sharing his passion for aviation, exploration and adventure, this is your chance to spend an evening with one of the world’s greatest living astronauts, and to rediscover the wonder of the place we call home.

“It’s impossible to look down on Earth from space and not be mesmerised by the fragile beauty of our planet” Tim Peake

 “Everything you wanted to know about life in space” The Times

“A delightful adventure of understanding of how and why humans journey into space” Robin Ince, The Infinite Monkey Cage

Fancy yourself as a bit of a Poirot? An adorer of all things Agatha Christie? Then put on your thinking cap and work up an appetite for some serious sleuthing with a Murder Mystery Night. These popular evenings are hosted by the award winning After Dark Entertainment and guarantee an evening of indulgent food and intrigue!

£75.00 per head for 2021 - Adult Only

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

What’s Included?

    A beautiful 2 and ¾   hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    A four course meal followed by tea or coffee and after dinner chocolates
    Murder Mystery entertainment by the award-winning After Dark Entertainment

Murder Mystery Nights run on selected Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year. The evening starts at Bury Bolton Street Station at 6:45pm and finishes at approximately 10:15pm.

“If you’re a fan of the Great American Songbook, the music of the Rat Pack, or just great music played and sung with style and panache, then this is the show for you.”

Big band vocalist Matt Ford is coming back to The Bowdon Rooms with the 17 Piece Strictly Swing Big Band.

Having performed with the likes of the Halle Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, will be tackling some his favourite swing numbers.

Matt Ford sings with the Strictly Swing Big Band fronted by the legendary Bryan Pendleton of the original Syd Lawrence Orchestra and is assisted by female vocalist Simone McGregor.

The Strictly Swing Big Band,  formed by Simone McGregor, is a seventeen piece big band under the musical direction of Bryan Pendleton. Bryan is supported by an outstanding selection of highly accomplished musicians and together they will pay tribute to the greatest swing bands of the era including Miller, Basie, Dorsey, Goodman and more.

Matt Ford, voted the UK's Best Male Big Band Vocalist, is our featured guest and will be performing the hits songs of Sinatra, Matt Monro, Nat King Cole, and Tony Bennett.

Simone adds even more variety and glamour with hit songs from Peggy Lee and many others.
 

The programme features some great new arrangements from Bryan Pendleton as well as a special tribute performance to George Shearing.

 An event that should not be missed.

Rescheduled from Wednesday 4th November 2020

The Noise Next Door: In Charge

The quickest wits in comedy are charging into their sixth national tour with a spectacular new show that will trample your expectations.

The charismatic quartet have always astonished with their ability to spin audience suggestions into comedy gold, but for this show they’re putting you, the audience, in charge in brilliant and bombastic new ways.
 
Join comedy’s unstoppable force for an evening like no other... Hilarious scenes! Mind-blowing songs! Finely tuned anarchy!
 
The Noise Next Door are twelve time sell-out veterans of The Edinburgh Fringe and have appeared on BBC One, ITV1, BBC Three and BBC Radio 4. They have also appeared alongside the likes of Michael McIntyre, Katherine Ryan, Romesh Ranganathan and Harry Hill.

“Hilarious... A superior kind of chaos” Telegraph
“21st century comedy at its finest and funniest.” The Stage
“Comedy gold... Staggeringly well executed.” Guardian
“Phenomenal” Daily Mirror

(15+)

International award-winning musicians Aaron Hawthorne (organ) and Rosie Lavery (soprano) are taking their highly acclaimed semi-improvised accompaniment to the 1925 silent horror, The Phantom of the Opera, on the road throughout the UK this autumn. Lose yourself in an unparalleled world of hair-raising live music and the dark twists of a film which had 1920s cinema-goers screaming and running out of auditoriums.

This performance will include a screening of the 1925 PG classified film and feature the Plaza's unique Compton Cinema Organ which will bring not only the film alive but the entire building too!

Jayde Adams: The Ballad Of Kylie Jenner's Old Face 
 
Since her first stand-up special launched on Amazon Prime in 2020 it's received a huge amount of critical acclaim, amassing a staggering 60 million views across social media and longlisted for the Best Variety Special Emmy in the Hollywood Reporter Predictions. Don’t miss your chance to see her hit show in venue’s nationwide this Autumn.
 
If you want to be a 'successful independent woman person' you better have something you want to say and you better be wearing a Serious Black Jumper™. In this 5-star show, Jayde (as seen hosting Channel 4's Snackmasters & Crazy Delicious) will rifle through all the noise and self-promotion and figure out what's actually going on. 
 
“she delivers a show that unites the political with the personal in a way that many comics aim for, but few pull off with this sort of aplomb.” 
★★★★ (The Times)  
 
“winning combination of common sense and raw heart… Ironically, by taking year off singing Adams has really found her voice” 
★★★★ (Telegraph)

Rescheduled from Monday 14th September 2020 and Monday 19th April 2021

After two sell out Monday Matinee shows Andy returns with another Monday afternoon extravaganza of live entertainment from some of the UK’s finest performers.

Andy’s special guests will be the king of Swing himself Mr. Paul Pashley along with award winning vocalist Rosie Plummer and Plaza favourite Marilyn Royle. Resident matinee pianist Steve Ramsbottom adds to a variety show of the highest order with Soul, Swing and Pop on the Plaza menu. Welcome back the good times and book early to enjoy a brilliant afternoon of entertainment with Stockport’s premier live entertainer and his fabulous guests.

The multi award-winning antidote to panel games will be recording part of its 75th series for the BBC at The Lowry in Salford.  Join chairman Jack Dee and panel for an unmissable evening of inspired nonsense.

“Whether the teams are singing the words of one song to the tune of another, making up serial rhymes or entering the mythic maze of Mornington Crescent, they have now become the National Theatre of fun” - Gillian Reynolds, Daily Telegraph

The evening will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and will finish no later than 10.30pm

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The checking of COVID Certification is a condition of entry to the venue.

As this theatre meets safety standards we are removing social distancing and will run the theatre at capacity, which we are delighted about. To enable this, event organisers need to follow the Government’s “Events and Attractions” guidance which requires us to risk assess and put control measures in place to safeguard all who come to the event. The guidance recommends all event organisers consider using the NHS COVID pass where there are large, crowded settings where people are likely to be in close proximity to others outside their household. We appreciate that not everyone will be comfortable with this request to gain entry and may have strong opinions on it, but this is the advice for organisers of different types of events and is an agreement in place with other major broadcasters for the safety of the audience, venue staff , production team and cast. We wanted to explain why the safety measures are in place and hope they don’t cause too much inconvenience. We are really looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it as we’re delighted we’re able to record with audiences again.

All guests (age 18 and over) will need to provide either one of the following certification:

1. A negative COVID-19 lateral flow test result (taken in the 48 hours prior to attending the Event) from a UK Government-approved test provider (either via a home kit or via a test centre), with certification shown via email or text;

OR  2. a double COVID-19 vaccination received at least 2 weeks prior to attending the Event, which guests shall be required to show evidence of via: (a) the NHS App for Ticket Holders in England or (b) via the approved certification routes for Ticket Holders from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Vaccination cards will not be accepted as evidence.

OR 3. proof of natural immunity based upon a positive PCR test taken within 180 days of the Event (after completion of isolation period)

Attendees under the age of 18 will be asked for verbal confirmation (by them or by a parent or guardian on their behalf) that they have not received a positive test for COVID-19 in the last 10 days and are not displaying symptoms of COVID-19.

Failure to comply will result in the relevant guest being denied entry and no refunds will be provided in these circumstances.

Face coverings are encouraged throughout the performance and around the venue.

In the lead up to the event, to help minimise the spread of coronavirus, we ask that you do not attend the show if you begin to develop any of the symptoms of coronavirus or if you have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

Please ensure you have downloaded the QR code from your Covid pass using the NHS app before attending the show as WiFi may be limited at the venue.

They have promised you the guide to everything with a book, now they must follow this up to show you in person how much they really know!

This is a chance for them to answer the questions you never knew you needed answering. Essentially the questions they want answering.

We have been promised experiments, vast audience participation, the possibility of laughter, gunge??!! and hopefully something a little different than you may have expected…

In the Rutherford and Fry's comprehensive guidebook, they tell the complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it - skipping over some of the boring parts. It's a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans and the very fact that amid all the mess, we can somehow make sense of life.

What follows is a collection of our favourite stories of how our senses deceive us, of how reality is not quite what it seems, and how science is the one way that we can understand this otherwise bewildering world. Our brains have evolved to tell us all sorts of things that aren't true: the world is flat, the stars are fixed in the heavenly firmament, a day is 24 hours, eating sugary sweets makes kids go nuts at parties. This book is crammed full of tales of how stuff really works. With the power of science, we have bypassed our monkey-brains, and we're going on a journey from the origin of time and space, via planets, galaxies, evolution, the dinosaurs, all the way into our minds, with truly head-scratching questions, that only science can answer:

What is time, and where does it come from?
Why are animals the size and shape they are?
How horoscopes work (Spoiler: they don't, but you think they do)
Does my dog love me?
Why nothing is truly round

Comedian and musician Jon Courtenay is the first ever GoldenBuzzer act to win Britain’s Got Talent.

Long before triumphing in the 2020 final, Jonwas a powerhouse live performer with decades of experience touring the world. Becomepart of Jon’s journey of a lifetime where you will roar with laughter, maybeshed a few tears and definitely be inspired by his music and the hilarioustales of his family, relationships and life on tour. With a soundtrackincluding all his Britain’s Got Talent songs and music spanning the classics torock n roll, you are guaranteed a rip-roaring night of music andcomedy. This will be a night to remember!

“A real winner.” Ant and Dec

“It’s funny, it’s touching, it’s unique to you…thatwas unbelievable.”  David Walliams

“I think this is one of the best Golden Buzzers we’veever had on the show.”  Amanda Holden

“It was magical and done so simply. it made me feel warminside. You nailed it my friend. You ticked every single box.”  Alesha Dixon

“It was just a wonderful audition. You are someone who has workedhard for years and needs a break and I’m sure you will get a huge reaction fromthis, I promise you.” Simon Cowell

CARMEN

Music Georges Bizet
Libretto Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
First performance Paris, 1875

New production

Bizet’s masterpiece of sexual obsession and self-destruction is enduringly popular for many reasons, not the least of which is its brilliantly characterful score. It’s the story of a woman on the margins of society, driven by a fierce, uncompromising desire for personal liberty, and of a man who, in the grip of sexual obsession, tries to own her.

The opera’s frank sensuality, stark emotional realism and brutal violence outraged many in its first audiences, and it was widely condemned for its perceived immorality. Almost 150 years later, Carmen presents new challenges to contemporary sensibilities, whilst Bizet’s music – overflowing with passion, colour, energy and unforgettable melody – continues to mesmerise.

Edward Dick directs our first Carmen in ten years following his triumphant Tosca for the Company in 2018.

‘The production’s real strengths … lie in Dick’s understanding of the psychological dynamics between the protagonists … It’s compelling stuff, disquieting, creepy and exciting in equal measure.’ Tim Ashley, The Guardian, on Tosca, 2018

Cast includes:

Carmen Chrystal E. Williams
Don José Antoine Bélanger
Micaela Camila Titinger Autumn
Alison Langer Winter
Escamillo Phillip Rhodes Autumn
Gyula Nagy Winter
Frasquita Amy Freston
Mercedes Helen Évora
Morales Christopher Nairne Autumn
James Davies Winter
Remendado Stuart Laing
Dancairo Dean Robinson
Zuniga Matthew Stiff

Conductor Garry Walker (Autumn), Antony Hermus (Winter)
Director Edward Dick
Set Designer Colin Richmond
Costume Designer Laura Hopkins

***

Please be aware that the Quays Theatre is at the far side of The Lowry’s building. After entering the main doors to the foyer, you should allow time to walk to the Quays Theatre before the show begins, especially if you have mobility difficulties. There are no stairs to negotiate, but there is a long sloping ramp, and wheelchairs are available to borrow if needed.
You can familiarise yourself with the building in advance using our virtual tour  https://thelowry.com/visit-us/access/

After his meteoric rise through the ranks, Scottish Comedy Award winner and viral sensation Gary Meikle is back with his second tour show, Surreal! A word that perfectly describes Gary's last few years. He started 2019 performing in comedy clubs, and ended it selling out big theatres in the UK as well as tours in America, Canada and Europe!

Not one for mincing his words, Gary has been described as 'playfully dark'. His cheeky chappie nature and ability to get away with talking about anything will have you laughing at things you probably shouldn't be! As always, Gary will draw material from his own real-life experiences, including his unique family dynamic and his rapid rise to online fame. Quickly putting his audiences at ease, a night of stand up with Gary feels like a night in the pub chatting with friends!

Having performed to tens of thousands of people over the past year, Gary has found a new confidence and level of openness on stage, meaning he doesn't hold back on giving his opinions, no matter how warped! The new show will cover topics such as evolution, social media, how to deal with burglars, single mums, bee sex, small man syndrome and much more. Gary is a fast paced, punchy storyteller that finds the funny in anything!”

Resilience is a powerful dance story across times. Set parallel in the 20ies and 80ies and sparked by a blackout, it brings to life the electric power of jazz and hip hop styles. Two protagonists  tell how their dancing overcame personal and political struggles of their times. Their joy of dancing challenges norms with subversive self-expression.

I.M.Pact
 is a community of Manchester based dancers joined by their passion for supporting, creating and experimenting in the underground world of freestyle dance. Projects to date include a nine-minute short film,
LET’S GO,
 which was created during lockdown and sees empty arts and culture venues across Manchester being occupied by I.M.Pact dancers, reintroducing life and movement to these spaces; and
Vukka,
 a collaboration with Manchester Museum where through the dancers’ performances and their interaction with the space looks at how global stories are told and lessons that we must learn.

https://highlight-collective.com/yandass-ndlovu/impact

Dancing
 Through Resilience also features dancers from Groovanometry and
 MM Jazz.

Groovanometry
 was founded by Juraj Farnik (Faro) and Anton Phung (LB) in 2014. Its aim is to showcase the best dancers in the styles of breaking, hip hop and popping. Through the two-day event, focused around cyphers and exhibition battles, dancers from across the world
 have a space to exchange, network and cultivate their own creative practice. In its 7th year, Groovanometry has grown in its reach and impact on the hip hop dance scene in the UK and beyond. Groovanometry is expanding the dance event into a festival next year,
 and extending its programme to include the other elements of hip hop.

https://www.groovanometry.com

MM
 Jazz Company was established in 2019 by Martina & Melissa Gumbs
 with open Jazz classes starting in 2015 based in Manchester UK both graduates of The Northern Ballet School, PGCE qualified dance teachers and graduates of Shockout Arts.

They
 have both completed numerous dance contracts with companies such as Norwegian Cruise Line & Carnival as well as being audition instructors for Norwegian Cruise Line, stage performances in Thriller Live Tour (Europe & China) After Midnight Broadway Musical
 (NCL Cruise Line) RocketMan Movie plus more.

MM
 Jazz Company training classes are catered to those who want to continue training at an Industry level standard at age 18+, welcoming anyone who has graduated, in between jobs or for those who once danced and want to get back into it.

MM
 Jazz aims to share their positive energy within Company training. It's so important dancers enjoy their training and give their best, train to be the best version of themselves ALWAYS but be patient & trust the process.

Versatility
 is key in the Entertainment industry.

See our Instagram here.

TROUBLE IN TAHITI

Music Leonard Bernstein
Libretto Leonard Bernstein
First performance Waltham, Massachusetts, 1952

The American Dream turns suffocatingly sour in Leonard Bernstein’s unsparing examination of a marriage falling apart in 1950s suburbia. Sam and Dinah appear to have the perfect life in their ‘little white house’. But their growing failure to connect exposes a mutual feeling that they are trapped in a life that has turned into a lie.

Bernstein’s score is heavily influenced by the syncopated rhythms of jazz and by the distinctive American vernacular of musicals and the movies. A highlight of Opera North’s Little Greats season of short operas in 2017, Matthew Eberhardt’s production of Trouble in Tahiti is deeply touching, whilst giving full value to the Hollywood pizzazz of Dinah’s showpiece number ‘Island Magic’.

‘Gently satirical but also wryly sympathetic about a marriage that has gone dead in the water, it is clothed in music of jazzy lyricism not many miles from West Side Story. …I loved every minute and recommend it warmly.’ Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph

Cast:

Sam Quirijn de Lang
Dinah Sandra Piques Eddy
Trio Laura Kelly-McInroy
Joseph Shovelton
Nicholas Butterfield

Conductor Martin Pickard
Director Matthew Eberhardt
Set Designer Charles Edwards
Costume Designer Hannah Clark

Not: Lady Chatterley’s Lover

a parody of Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence
“Fear not darling. I shall return with absolutely no physical injuries.”

This performance will include Creative Captioning and Integrated Audio Description.

Cast: Christina Baston, Wesley Griffith, Rebecca McClay, Lawrence Russell

Understudies: James Hepworth, Katie Oakhurst

Writer: Lawrence Russell
Director: Ben Simpson

Original Score: Savage & Spies

Set Design: Phil Eddols

Lighting Design: Angharad Evans

Sound Design: Helen Skiera.

When Chicago musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a gangland shooting, they quickly board a Southbound train to Florida disguised as Josephine and Daphne, the two newest - and homeliest - members of an all girl Jazz Band.

Their cover is perfect until a lovelorn singer (Marilyn Monrie) falls for "Josephine", an ancient playboy (Joe E. Brown) falls for "Daphne", and a mob boss (George Raft) refuses to fall for their hoax!

New Year’s Eve, 1965, London, England.

Just before midnight, as revellers celebrate the beginning of another year, a young woman
enters Marylebone Police Station and confesses to a brutal murder.

She claims to be Mina Harker, the last living survivor of the intrepid group that witnessed
Count Dracula’s destruction 70 years before. But Mina Harker has not been seen since 1901.
And if she was alive, she would be ninety years old.

As Mina confesses to events that are much more terrifying than in the original, she retells
the events of Bram Stoker’s classic novel. She claims it’s the true story. The untold story.
And she must tell it now, before sunrise, before it’s too late, before…

Unfolding on stage as a live graphic novel, Dracula: The Untold Story is a chilling new version
of the classic gothic vampire tale that you thought you knew so well.
Using the latest digital technologies imitating the dog engage with the dark landscape of the
gothic with a renewed energy and political insight.   

Fresh from their critically acclaimed adaptations of Heart of Darkness and Night of the Living
Dead TM and 123 years after its publication, imitating the dog take Bram Stoker’s seminal
gothic novel as the starting place for their radical exploration of our fascination with the
most enduring manifestation of evil in literature and cinema.

Recommended Age 14+

Performance includes:

- flashing imagery and lighting effects

- sudden loud noises, including recorded gunshots

- simulated smoking

In today’s disposable world where love is used to sell us everything from plug-in cars to yoghurt… where did real love go?

The latest dance theatre comedy show by groundbreaking performance company, New Art Club, is a joyful, physical and verbal outburst against the forces that masquerade as love.
Mythical love that drives the creation of the universe and everything in it.

Romantic love.

Love between friends.

Love between you and the people you love.

It is funny, sad and reflective.

It is not a story but it holds lots of stories inside it. In that way it is like you.

It has a flickering heart that has crashed to earth.

With New Art Club’s dexterous physicality this impossibly big topic is broken open and brought vividly to life.
Cupid’s Revenge is an attempt to bring audiences together in a defiant act of unity and love.

What’s included your Photography Experience?

You will be accompanied by an expert tutor from our partners North West Photography Courses who will be on hand to help you capture memorable images.

Safety Briefing on the Platform at Bury Station. 

Expert guided tour from ELR during the day to answer questions about the engines and history of the railway 

Special access permitted on the side of the tracks and Sheds whilst final preparations are being made. 
One return ticket.

A light lunch voucher provided during the day – can be redeem at our Buffet on Platform 3/4.

Your ticket will give you access to ride all other scheduled services that day.

Uplifting Indian classical and folk music from around the world with celebrated multi-instrumentalist Baluji Shrivastav OBE and members of the Inner Vision Orchestra - the UK’s only professional blind ensemble - and guest tabla player. The Inner Vision Orchestra has performed nationally & internationally, celebrating folk music from India, Iran, Nigeria, South America, Japan, and the British Isles and demonstrating the power of music to transform lives. Come and be transformed with us!

Performances “leave the auditorium spellbound and humbled” (Songlines).
“a magical mixture of sounds” Sean Rafferty, BBC Radio 3 In Tune
"Inner Vision Orchestra play bloody great kick-ass music !” Charles Hazlewood

Baluji Shrivastav OBE. One of the greatest instrumentalists India has produced excelling in sitar, surbahar, dilruba, pakhavaj and tabla. Baluji delights in exploring music in all its forms and composes for film, dance, theatre and original works for Western orchestra and Indian ensembles.

He has released many albums, had many successful UK and international tours and has worked with a wide number of renowned artists including Stevie Wonder, Massive Attack, Noel Gallagher, Coldplay, Shakira, Malu and Pepe Habichuela, earning him the title 'sitarist to the stars’ from the Evening Standard. Baluji was awarded the OBE for services to music and as founder of Inner Vision Orchestra and has received the prestigious Jewel of India award from the Indian Government.

His new album ‘Voice of Flowers’ is available from ARC/Naxos
Music www.baluji.com

It’s been a tough 18 months or so for the theatres and theatre companies……the intermission is now over and we are proud to announce that the award winning Sale and Altrincham Musical Theatre society will be part of a unique global event that supports amateur theatre companies with a specially composed revue show, “All Together Now”.

Featuring some of the West End’s most loved songs such as “You Cant Stop The Beat!”, “Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat”, “Pure Imagination” and many more.

Music Theatre International (MTI) have waived their fees to help theatres and companies alike.

We are delighted to be performing our fund raising show at one of Cheshire’s most prestigious venues, The Bowdon Rooms in Altrincham.

Set out in cabaret style seating, you will be treated to a wonderful evening’s entertainment from SAMT in the surroundings of the venue’s Grand Edwardian Ballroom.

Back by popular demand, Paul Zerdin and everyone’s favourite puppets are heading your way with a brand new UK tour in Autumn 2021.

Sam, Albert, Baby, Roger the bodyguard and an urban fox have all survived 2020 locked down with Paul….well nearly. They can’t wait to see you, so get ready to be involved. As well as his hilarious characters ‘Hands Free’ features Paul giving us a glimpse into his own world showing us what it’s like to be able to throw your voice in everyday situations where anything and everything can talk back!

Don’t miss out on your chance to see the winner of America’s Got Talent, the star of London’s Palladium Panto and without doubt one of Britain’s finest entertainers at a theatre near you.


"The best ventriloquist Britain has discovered for many years..."  The Stage

"If you think the words ‘brilliant’ and ‘ventriloquist’ have no place in the same sentence, go and see Paul Zerdin for some brutal re-education"  Evening Standard

"Technically immaculate, it’s what he does with his slick talent that really sets him apart. His relationship with the characters has all the dramatic tension of a real life double act"  The Guardian

www.paulzerdin.com //@paulzerdin

Have your smart phones and tablets ready for a new, born digital dance performance experience that takes place in Neverland. Neverland is a metaphor for today's society and how it plays out online. Neverland: Our Story in Pixels, is loosely inspired by Social Media, Young People's stories of growing up online, digital rights, safeguarding, identity, citizenship and oddly the story of Peter Pan. This hybrid performance experience looks at our sense of reality, looking at reality both online and offline. Is what you see, what you get or are we all trying to live up to a distorted sense of reality? Neverland is a digital world shaped by the voices and imagination of Lauren Tucker and young people she has been engaging with since 2017. By bringing audiences together, we can co- create new memories and collectively share our experience online. Who are you and what do you want to say to the world? Lauren wants to ask young people, parents, teachers and anyone with an interest in developing young people for their futures- how can social media and digital technology be used as a force for good, and enable us to move towards the rainbow we have been chasing and dreaming of, a better society both online and offline. Are we prepared to have conversations with young people to enable positive social media use and to explore its creative potential? It's a serious subject matter, but this experience is not a dark one, it is fun, entertaining and designed with, by and for young people. It is a child friendly show. Recommended audience 9+

As an artist, Lauren aims to actively listen to young people, to advocate for equality, to raise awareness and educate on issues of global concern and social injustice by any media neccessary. To find out more about the company, please visit: tuckshopdancetheatre.org, Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TuckshopDanceTheatre , follow us on Twitter @TuckshopDance or on Instagram TuckshopDanceTheatre

Free sweets!

Thanks to Arts Council England, Cheshire Dance, Cheshire West and Chester Libraries, Wired Aerial Theatre, The Hive Youth Zone, Creative Youth Development Wirral, Storyhouse, Action Transport Theatre, Dope Male Performance Company, The Old Courts, Bedford High School, Culture Warrington, Warrington LCEP, Wigan and Leigh LCEP, Cheshire LCEP, Curious Minds Felicity Goodman, Lou Maddocks and Sarah Ward..

THE GENRE-DEFINING THRILLER FOR ALL TIME.

Writer-director Greta Gerwig has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life.

In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms - is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbour Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

Behold the tale of UBU who liked power so much he refused to give it back.

Splendid Productions present a brand new creative adaptation of Alfred Jarry’s surrealist classic.  We explore power, leadership and ambition with our usual heady concoction of music, laughter, politics, foolishness and hard hitting theatrical nonsense.

After the success of its critically acclaimed international hit The Nature of Forgetting, Theatre
Re returns with 'a rich tapestry of ongoing humanity' (The Scotsman) about the evolution of
family and life.

Emily is eight months pregnant when she reads her grandmother's journal. As she delves into
the depths of her family history, its pages unveil a legacy of courage, unspoken tragedies and
unconditional love.

Established as a professional ensemble in 2011, Theatre Re has garnered a national and
international reputation for creating world class, deeply moving, and visually striking poetic
theatre.

‘Ravishingly beautiful, spellbinding piece of work’
★★★★★ The Arts Desk

IS THIS TOO GOOD TO BE ‘TRUE’?!
The hottest 80s club night is coming to town - when actor, TV personality and star of Spandau Ballet Martin Kemp will be spinning the biggest and best hits of that decade!
 
Currently selling-out venues across the UK, early booking is essential for what promises to be a pure ‘Gold’ night!

Age: 16+
Running Time: Between 7.30pm - 11pm

On Saturday 19th May 2018 Mike Hadfield, lead singer, had a VIP ticket to the sound check prior to the James gig at King George’s Hall Blackburn. During the question and answer session Mike grabbed the microphone and asked the band their thoughts of him setting up a tribute band to honour their music. After deliberating as a band, Saul spoke for them saying “Go for it!” and Tim Booth gave his blessing. Mike set to work gathering the troops to create a band of fans for fans: Laid - a tribute to James.

Laid have hit the tribute scene with lightning pace, receiving high praise everywhere they play. Bookings all over the country have come in thick and fast and the band have marked their territory as the leading tribute to one of the best bands to come out of Manchester. Playing all the hits including “Sit Down”, “She’s a Star”, “Tomorrow”, “Come Home” and “Laid” they are destined for great things.

The Elvis Years is an outstanding musical production which brings to the stage the incredible and compelling story of the ‘king of rock and roll’ -Elvis Presley.

Join Mario Kombou (Jailhouse Rock, West End), our all-star band and our award-winning singers for an unforgettable journey through over 50 golden greats spanning over three decades –from the early Sun Records hits to the majestic Las Vegas performances, via The Jordanaires, the army years, authentic re-creations from the Hollywood movies and the stunning 68 TV special.

With nostalgic film footage, and over twelve costume changes, this glittering two-hour production features classic hits includingThat’s Alright Mama, Suspicious Minds, It’s Now or Never, Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, Love Me Tender, If I Can Dream and many more!

Gordon Raphael is a record producer, musician, poet, artist and filmmaker and is best know for producing The Strokes album ‘Is This It’ – celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Join an evening curated by Gordon Raphael featuring an in conversation with Chris Hawkins, an exhibition of new artwork, some poetry and live music from exciting new bands.

This is a one night only opportunity to hear from the musician and producer who has worked with The Strokes, Regina Spektor, Damon Albarn, Skin and Ian Brown.

Austentatious is saddling the horses for a Grand Tour of the United Kingdom!

Austentatious is an improvised comedy play starring a cast of the country’s quickest comic performers. Every single show the cast conjures up a brand new ‘lost’ Jane Austen novel based on nothing more than a title suggested by the audience.

The show comes fresh from multiple sellout runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, a weekly residency in London’s West End and a BBC Radio 4 Christmas special. Now Austentatious will be appearing at theatres across the country to entertain and astonish audiences in equal measure.

Previous ‘lost’ masterpieces have included Double 0 Darcy, Game of Scones and The Wickham Man, and no two shows are ever the same. Performed in period costume with live musical accompaniment, this is a Regency treat guaranteed to delight Austen novices and die-hard fans alike.

★★★★★ “Ridiculously silly…wickedly funny” – The Times
★★★★ “Brilliant…these are comedians at the top of their game” – The Telegraph
★★★★ “A joy to behold” – The Guardian
★★★★ “Supersmart and terrifically funny” – The Scotsman

Austentatious said: “We are beyond delighted to be back on the road, and can’t wait to shine a spotlight on some of Austen’s lesser-known ‘classics’ – from Empire Line of Duty to Bennet Like Beckham. Prepare the barouche!”

Austentatious is performed by:

Amy Cooke-Hodgson
Graham Dickson
Charlotte Gittins
Cariad Lloyd
Joseph Morpurgo
Andrew Hunter Murray
Daniel Nils Roberts
Rachel Parris
Lauren Shearing

Line-up varies. Each show stars 5-6 members of the cast.

Nigel Ng: The Haiyaa Tour

A young bear who can walk and talk travels to London from the jungles of Peru.

There, he is adopted by the Brown family and goes through many adventures in the big city

Rob Beckett is back on tour with a brand-new stand-up show. It’s been a busy few years for the Mouth of the South and he’s coming to see you to fill you in and make you laugh.

Host of BBC One’s All Together Now and team captain on Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats. He is also the star of BBC One’s Live At The Apollo, Would I Lie To You?, Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC Two’s Mock The Week, ITV’s Play To The Whistle, ITV2’s Celebrity Juice and Sky’s A League of Their Own. And he is a host of Dave’s podcast, The Magic Sponge, alongside Jimmy Bullard and Ian Smith.

Age Guidance: Strictly 14+
Swearing and Adult Content

We bring you glittering pound-shop prizes, a human clap-o-meter and total power. Who will you crown Supreme Giver of Absolutely None?

Stand-up tale-tellers slam down the stories, with an MC to keep things clean. Brace yourselves for no-holds-barred tales to make you want to rip up the rule book and riot! Women around the globe are hitting the headlines standing up to abuse of power, and calling out inequality. We began tweeting one another the names and images of inspiring super-women who stalk through the world’s myths and legends.

Excited by what we found, we dug deeper. Many were new to us – side-lined and almost forgotten. No longer! From Magyar domestic warrior and Irish pirate queen, to naughty Greek pig-wife belly goddess, Japanese Sun deity, and Sumerian sword-wielding nemesis, we present myths and legends of females outgunning adversity. Wielding wit, brains, cunning, courage, righteous rage and the occasional superpower, these imperfect women embody what can be achieved when we give absolutely no f**ks. A celebratory, inspiring night meant for men as much as women.

Every night features a different guest performer, and a new mix of stories. No two nights the same!

A New Adventures Production

MatthewBourne’s

Nutcracker!

Music by Tchaikovsky

It’sa Nutcracker! for all seasons, adored by audiences and critics alike. Withfamily-sized helpings of Bourne’s trademark wit and magical fantasy,Nutcracker! follows Clara’s journey through a shimmering, ice-skatingwonderland to the scrumptious candy kingdom of Sweetieland, influenced by thelavish Hollywood musicals of the 1930’s.

Tchaikovsky’sglorious score and Anthony Ward’s delectable sets and costumes combine withBourne’s dazzling choreography to create a fresh and charmingly irreverentinterpretation of the classic. Expect a sprinkling of delicious new surprisesin this re-imagined production.

Photography: JayBrooks

ACE logo

Age guidance: 5+

Adapted from the classic novel by Charles Dickens, THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD brings to life one of the author’s most cherished characters.

From birth to infancy, from adolescence to adulthood, the good-hearted David Copperfield (Dev Patel) is surrounded by kindness, wickedness, poverty and wealth, as he meets an array of remarkable characters in Victorian England.

As David sets out to be a writer, in his quest for family, friendship, romance and status, the story of his life is the most seductive tale of all.

‘Human’ - a story about the small moments that shape us.

This new live show by Extraordinary Bodies is a poetic record of our time,
based on real life stories from our company and performers, and told
through circus, music and film.

Intimate, funny and celebratory, ‘Human’ looks into the heart of birth,
love and change. It reminds us that as humans, we have the extraordinary ability to move forward together by taking the time to really understand each other.

At a time when the world’s been cracked open, we invite you to spend
an hour with us, imagining how we can make sure no one is left behind.

‘Human’ is BSL interpreted and audio described, and all performances
are relaxed.

We are celebrating the work of Wes Anderson this season with three of the visionary's unique films.

Three siblings, gifted in their own way, have experienced success but are distant from each other. Their family has to reunite when their estranged father announces he is dying.

With an all star cast including Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gene Hackman.

 90s icons Toploader are back with brand new material including a full length album and new singles.

 Made up of Joseph Washbourn, Matt Knight, Rob Green and Dan Hipgrave, Toploader is one of the biggest band of its generation.

Since exploding onto the scene shortly after forming in 1997, the multi-time Brit nominated band have_ over two million album sales to their name and a string of top 20 hits both home and abroad. Right from debut hit single ‘Onka’s Big Moka’ to tracks like ‘Dancing In the Moonlight’, the band have always made it big. As one of the highest selling outfits of their era, they still boast a massive fanbase more than ten years later, and as such news of their new material couldn’t come soon enough.
The band might have taken a break between 2003 and 2011 but their star is still very much burning brightly. They returned with a well received album ‘Only Human’ and more singles came in the ensuing years including ‘Turn It Around’, which picked up plenty of support from BBC Radio 2. Wholly accustomed to playing in from of massive audiences and mixing up musical influences with ease, this band is as skilled in the live arena as they are in the studio when crafting massive singalong hits.
Toploader never fail to please the crowd and have backed the likes of Robbie Williams and Tom Jones everywhere from Wembley Stadium to Glastonbury.

Vital and gripping, BLKDOG is Botis Seva’s haunting commentary on surviving adulthood as a
childlike artist. A genre-defying blend of hip hop dance and free form antics, BLKDOG explores
the inner battlefield of an ageing artist trying to retain his youth.

With music from long standing collaborator Torben Lars Sylvest and performed by Botis’
powerhouse company Far From The Norm, BLKDOG searches for coping mechanisms in the
ultimate hunt for acceptance.

“Botis' political, theatrical and experimental take on hip hop might just make him the next big
thing” Lyndsey Winship

“It’s rare to find young choreographers developing a distinctive movement language and Seva is
certainly one of the most original emerging talents in the UK – if not European – choreography”
Graham Watts


“A new dance language was being forged in front of my eyes […] It’s easy to see
why BLKDOG won an Olivier on its London debut, and after seeing this deeply compelling,
powerful work”
Dance Austrailia

“Always earth-bound, they look like a feral street gang, egged on by Torben Lars Sylvest’s
pounding score – so intense that as an audience you feel its vibrations in your own body.”
Culture Whisper

“Influenced by hip-hop, they jerk and pulse their way around the stage, with timing that is
robotically and breathtakingly precise […] dance does not get more exciting than this.”
The Reviews Hub

“Is this a detention centre or the mind’s interior?”
British Theatre Guide

“Seva is a choreographer on the cusp of a new direction in the shifting sands of British
contemporary dance and one likely to have a big following in its future.”
Bachtrack

“BLKDOG by Botis Seva rattles his mind and swoons the audience in a tenebrous exploration of his
psyche.”
Strand Magazine

“Steeped in Hip Hop, Seva savoured bold, hunkered-down unison motion, where his dancers put
across with electric timing”
The Times

“Seva’s dance language has its roots in hip-hop, but flowers in unexpected ways”
Financial Times

“Seva’s onto something remarkable”
The Stage

Since 1944 Breakfast with Santa has been a family tradition in The Plaza Café and this festive season it returns for you and your little ones to enjoy.

There's a yo ho ho breakfast for the children consisting of scrumptious pastries, sugar waffles, donuts and chocolate dip, all served with lashings of cordial.

Santa invites the grown ups to enjoy a fabulous bacon barm with unlimited tea and coffee to set you up for the day ahead!

Make new friends on shared tables as you enjoy your breakfast and wait for Santa Claus and his little helpers to arrive, after which the little ones will be invited to his grotto to receive a special Christmas Gift for being good boys and girls!

Kindly Note: Due to the nature of these events guests will be welcomed to tables which may be shared with other bookers.

For any bookers with dietary or access requirement queries please contact ted.doan@stockportportplaza.co.uk 

Santa Specials
PLEASE READ BEFORE BOOKING!

Thank you for considering booking tickets for our Santa Specials, we’d love to welcome you onboard!

As you’ll appreciate, we’re having to release tickets for sale before we know what the situation looks like in December and what, if any, restrictions may come back into force at that time.  We very much hope that Christmas will look much more normal, but we hope you understand if last minute changes are necessary.

We’ll continue with doing a few things differently to help stop the spread of the virus.  There’ll be hand sanitiser available throughout your visit and we’ll be managing social distancing by seating family groups and support bubbles in separate compartments or areas, away from other passengers.  However, we still really want you to have a great time and enjoy that festive feeling.  Christmas comes just once a year after all!

If you’ve visited us recently you’ll know that we’ve changed the way we’re selling tickets with each family group being seated in their own compartment or area with table seating of up to eight people, separate from other passengers.  To book, simply choose the date and time you wish to travel and select one of the available compartments.  Then, select the different ticket types for the people travelling with you and ‘seat not required’ for any you don’t need.  That just stops anyone else from being able to sit with you on the day to help maintain social distancing. 

Once onboard, you’ll enjoy a mince pie or festive biscuit as you travel the line and when you return to Bitton Station you’ll meet Santa and have the chance to take family photographs with him.  All good boys and girls will receive a present from him too!  But, like last year, he’s going to have to make some changes to the gifts he gives out as the virus (and now supply issues caused by Brexit) is causing no end of problems for his elves in Lapland.  They’re having real problems getting hold of the things they need to make presents for all the little boys and girls.  Therefore, specifically for this year, he’ll be giving a gift suitable for all ages 1 – 7 which will be in the form of a high quality Avon Valley Railway ‘Station Master’ plush teddy bear with a couple of presents suitable for our youngest infant visitors as well as older boys and girls aged 8+.

The most important thing is that we’ll do our best to provide all of the usual elements of our Santa experience; the train ride, the chance to meet Santa and a present for all children.  But, as you’ll appreciate, this year may remain very different and restrictions may be re-imposed at the last minute meaning some of these may just not be possible on the day, but we’ll do our absolute best to make it happen where we can.

Finally, you’ll be pleased to know that the festive Christmas donkeys will be returning once again and you’ll be able to see these on the lawn at Bitton Station, either before or after you’ve travelled on the train.  Once you’ve left our elves will then be working hard cleaning and sanitising the train before the next passengers arrive.

We very much look forward to welcoming you to our Santa Specials!

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Upon arrival, admire the beautifully dressed Bury Bolton Street Station with its many Christmas trees and decorations. Take a steam train ride to Rawtenstall and back through the Irwell Valley - journey time approximately 80 minutes Immerse yourself in the festive atmosphere with a beautifully decorated train interior Meet Santa and his elves as they provide a gift to every child Receive an activity pack for children and a mince pie and festive tipple for grown ups.

DONT TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT!

"A really lovely day out. Our 5 year old loves trains and we have visited other days out on the railway but I have to say this one was brilliant. The staff on board are very good and friendly, we all really enjoyed our day and our gifts." - 07Cinta, Tripadvisor

"Came here with my youngest daughter, thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff were exceptional and were right in the groove and the steam train added to the nostalgia. Love it, everyone should try this. highly recommended!" - KarlB, Tripadvisor

"We took our 5 year old granddaughter for the Santa Special. From the minute we stepped into the station the level of enthusiasm from the staff was totally infectious. We handn't a clue what to expect but we loved every single second!" - Donna-Marie, Tripadvisor

"Absoloutely amazing first experience of the East Lancashire Railway, the Santa Special was such a wondeful experience. I went with my husband, in-laws and 20 month old son and he loved every minute. Such a magical time for the whole family!" - Heidi W, Tripadvisor

‘Polka Dot Pantomimes return to the Albert Halls for this year’s spellbinding festive family pantomime - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST starring MELODY THORNTON from the Pussycat Dolls & Dancing On Ice as Fairy Fabulous plus the hilarious NICK NEWBOULD as French Franc & MARK TWO as Dame Dolly Doughnut.

The show features spectacular scenery, glittering costumes, amazing special effects and plenty of audience participation!    
               
This is family pantomime at its best and is suitable for children aged 3-103, so book your tickets now and be our guest for Bolton’s finest festive treat!’

We are Fleetingwood Mac, an exciting tribute to the legendary band Fleetwood Mac.

We didn’t just want to be  another tribute band, with tacky wigs and fancy dress outfits. Instead we wanted to bring across the live sound of Fleetwood Mac, with just one guitar, a keyboard, a drum kit, a man on the bass and of course, the vocals!

As much as we aim to create a genuine Fleetwood Mac sound, we can’t help but give it a modern edge, it’s just the way we play. How else are five people supposed to play tribute to a band that have lasted nearly 50 years?

A band who have over time have featured eight different Guitarists & Vocalists. A band that tour arenas all over the world, with six extra touring musicians. A band that started out as part of the sixties British Blues Invasion and ended up as one of the biggest mainstream groups of the eighties. Let’s not even get into the scandals, relationships and excesses……

We work hard in rehearsals to get the details right and do justice to some classic songs that play a huge part in many people’s lives.

We also want to introduce the songs to a new generation of Fleetwood Mac fans, who just like ourselves, weren’t even born when the band were in their prime. We do not go on stage pretending to be Fleetwood Mac, instead we go on as who we are, five young musicians who love the music, and want to share the music of one of the worlds greatest bands to a wider audience.

Songs you can expect to hear at our shows

Rhiannon, Go Your Own Way, Oh Well, Tusk, Everywhere, Songbird, Gold Dust Woman, Don’t Stop, You Make Loving Fun, Black Magic Woman, Dreams, Little Lies, Gypsy, Say You Love Me, The Chain, Landslide, Seven Wonders, Stand Back, Second Hand News, Isn’t it Midnight, Sara, Shake Your Money Maker, Big Love, Paper Doll, World Turning, Edge Of Seventeen

For group bookings of 10 or more, please contact the venue directly on events@thebowdonrooms.co.uk

BORIS JOHNSON replaces Theresa May as PM. Show REWRITTEN.

The 2019 GENERAL ELECTION happens. Show REWRITTEN again.

COVID-19 arrives – show REWRITTEN for the third time.

So the 2019/2020 HEALING THE NATION TOUR has become the 2019/2020/2021 HEALING THE NATION TOUR, and as the tour has gone on, there’s been less and less healing and more and more of the opposite. Admittedly, I could have changed the title but it still seemed strangely appropriate - and some of the gigs have been rescheduled so it would prove confusingto existing ticket holders if the ticket said “HEALING THE NATION” but the show was now called “MY LIFE IN BALLET”.

So, we have the serially rewritten HEALING THE NATION TOUR 2019/2020 now EXTENDED INTO 2021, not so much due to POPULAR DEMAND but more lack of OPEN VENUES. And with NEGATIVE POWERS OF HEALING. Yet this latest, very new version of the show is my FAVOURITE so far.

This documentary takes a closer look at acclaimed actor Sir Ian McKellen's life and work, from early childhood to forever being in the public eye.

Including never before seen photographs from McKellen's personal albums.

As we head into the Festive Season join us for our fundraising 'Everything Stops' event with proceeds supporting the ongoing Maintenance and Restoration Appeal for your Stockport Plaza in the company of our famous waitress team 'The Plazarettes' who serve up a delightful afternoon tea on shared tables with yule tide entertainment in the sumptuous surroundings of our Art Deco Cafe.

Broken Robot Productions & So Comedy presents

DRUNK WOMEN SOLVING CRIME: CHRISTMAS SHOW 2021

The hit comedy podcast takes to the stage with a very special, live christmas show!

Drunk Women Solving Crime is a true crime podcast with a twist…of lime. Join writer/comedian hosts Hannah George, Catie Wilkins and Taylor Glenn as they welcome top guests from comedians to crime writers to test out their drunk detective skills. Each episode sees the boozed-up panel tackle personal crime stories, solve true crime cases, and seek justice for your listener crimes. When women sit around and drink, we try to solve the world’s problems. So we’re taking back the night and putting our inebriation to good use. You’re welcome.

Guests to be announced; previous guests include Katherine Ryan, Ricki Lake, Deborah Frances-White, London Hughes, Sara Pascoe, Shazia Mirza and many others!

Freckle Productions present
STICK MAN

Touching, funny and utterly original, Freckle Productions’ delightful adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Stick Man is back in town!
 
What starts off as a morning jog becomes quite the misadventure for Stick Man: a dog wants to play fetch with him, a swan builds a nest with him, and he even ends up on a fire! How will Stick Man ever get back to the family tree?

This award-winning production, from the team behind Zog, Tiddler and other Terrific Tales, and Tabby McTat features a trio of top actors and is packed full of puppetry, songs, live music and funky moves.
 
★★★★★ 'Wonderfully exuberant and imaginative! Our 3 year old was engrossed from start to finish' Time Out Critics’ Choice

★★★★ ‘Zesty and delightful. A clever compelling treat’ Independent

★★★★ 'More fun than you can shake a stick at' Daily Mail

★★★★ 'Julia Donaldson's miniature epic.  Sally Cookson and her team recreate the book with vigour and imagination' Times

★★★★★ Sunday Express ★★★★★ What’s on Stage

StickManLive.com
Twitter: @Freckle_Prods
Facebook: FreckleProductions
Instagram: Freckle_Productions

Stick Man © 2008 Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Published by Alison Green Books, an imprint of Scholastic Children’s Books.

Steam into Christmas with a Festive Lunch experience and enjoy a steam train journey through Lancashire's very own winter wonderland. Pass snow sprinkled hills and fairy-lit stations from the comfort of your beautifully decorated carriage, all whilst tucking into a traditional Yuletide menu with all the trimmings!
Festive Lunch

£49.90 per adult and £39.90 per child (5-12 years) for 2021

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

What’s included?

    A beautiful 2 and ¾ hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    A traditional three course festive meal followed by tea or coffee and homemade mince pies

Festive Lunches run on selected Wednesdays and Thursdays in December. The Festive Lunches depart from Bury Bolton Street Station at 1:00pm and return at approximately 3:45pm.

To celebrate the upcoming release of Downton Abbey 2 why not coming and revisit the first film at The Old Courts.

Robert and Cora Crawley are informed that they will be visited by the royal family. However, the visit does not go as per plan and drama ensues.

World-famous prankster and creator of the hugely popular Lee Nelson, is back on stage with TROUBLEMAKER, his sensational new stand-up show.

After showering Sepp Blatter with banknotes, upstaging Kanye West at Glastonbury, and handing Theresa May her P45, the critically acclaimed comedian explores why trouble has followed him from primary school through medical school to lockdown homeschool. And what it’s like to be chased by Donald Trump’s bodyguards, how to make the police laugh while they’re arresting you, and what to do when you’re outed as a Jew by the Ku Klux Klan.

Simon is one of Britain’s most loved comedians following his smash hit BBC shows Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show & Well Funny People, Channel 4’s award-nominated Britain’s Biggest Hoaxer and multiple TV appearances (Live at the Apollo, Sunday Night at the Palladium, The John Bishop Christmas Show, Children In Need, & Channel 4’s Comedy Gala).

After the success of his stand-up show 100% Simon Brodkin, selected by The Guardian and The Evening Standard as one of their ‘Best Comedy Shows’ at the Edinburgh Festival, TROUBLEMAKER is the must-see comedy show of 2021.

“Comedy legend” The Sun

“Hilarious” ★★★★ The Scotsman

“There aren't many better comedians to turn to”  ★★★★ The Telegraph

“Get him out” Donald Trump

We've all had some pondering to do about the fragility of life recently, but don't worry, skinny national treasure Mark Watson has it covered.  At 41, he's halfway through his days on earth, according to the life expectancy calculator app he paid £1.49 for. That life is in the best shape in living memory... but one problem remains, and it really is a huge one.

Spiritual enquiry meets high-octane observational comedy as the 'Taskmaster' survivor, multi-award-winner and “No More Jockeys” cult leader attempts to cram a couple of years of pathological overthinking into an evening of stand-up. Maybe we'll even solve the huge problem. Doubt it, though.

★★★★★ Telegraph

★★★★ Times | Independent | Metro | Time Out | Chortle

★★★★★ “Quite unlike anything else I’ve seen in almost 20 years of covering the Fringe...witty, warm, perfectly judged” Telegraph

★★★★ "This is a stand-up operating at the very top of his game" Independent

★★★★“He always displays an innate understanding of what the audience wants...creating a bespoke experience for every gig, an added flourish to a strong hour of stand-up” Chortle

★★★★ “A quick-fire hour of fun” Metro

Website: markwatsonthecomedian.com
Facebook: @MarkWatsonComedian
Twitter: @WatsonComedian

Steam into Christmas with a Festive Diner and enjoy a steam train journey through Lancashire's very own winter wonderland. Pass snow sprinkled hills and fairy-lit stations from the comfort of your beautifully decorated carriage, all whilst tucking into a traditional Yuletide menu with all the trimmings!

£59.90 per head for 2021- Adults only

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

What’s Included?

    A beautiful 2 and ¾ hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    A traditional four course festive meal followed by tea or coffee and homemade mince pies

Festive Diners run on selected Saturdays in December. The diners depart Bury Bolton Street Station at 7:30pm and return at approximately 10:15pm.

It's hard to compare Dominic to anyone, but waiter if you please
"Two shots of Italian Dean Martin croon, a slice of Frank Sinatra swing, blend that together with a healthy dash of good old Elvis ...  Bang! you have it “
.....Waiter make mine a double….. Shaken AND Stirred!
Join Dominic and his fabulous band for a Christmas show to remember.

Christmas can officially begin with a screening of the classic animated adaptation of Raymond Briggs' enchanting tale of a boy who befriends a snowman

Also featured in this screening is the much-anticipated sequel to The Snowman, The Snowman and the Snowdog, in which James has got a brand new friend...

Funny things happen all the time. Normal events don’t catch the eye but Dave’s special radar instinctively draws him to the small out-of-the-ordinary events and conversations that wash over most of us and pass us by. Once identified, he applies his unique style of exaggerating and elaborating them whilst reminding us that we too have not only witnessed them, it’s probably happened to us! It’s this added dimension, this comedy of association that elevates the event to laugh-out-loud funny.

No wonder Time Out magazine said of him, “Not only a very funny comedian but one of the finest raconteurs around.”  

Ian Ashpitel & Jonty Stephens as
Eric & Ern at Christmas

FROM THE OLIVIER NOMINATED DUO BEHIND THE HUGELY CELEBRATED & CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED WEST END HIT
ERIC & LITTLE ERN

This is a show for all the family from 8 to 108! A brilliant homage crammed full Morecambe & Wise's most loved routines, songs and sketches and, of course, a musical guest. This wonderful show, evokes memories of times when whole families would huddle together around the telly to watch those fantastic Christmas specials.

As seen on The One show BBC1 and The Alan Titchmarsh Show ITV

“Bring the kids - they’ll love it just as much as we did”
Dominic Holland

“I never thought I’d see Morecambe & Wise live - I think I just have!”
Ben Elton

“I laughed until I cried!”
Twiggy

“You have the giddy out of time illusion that you are
 watching the legendary double-act live.”
 Independent

Direct from London, the smash hit production of C.S. Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, voted the nations favourite book in 2019, is coming to the Lowry next Christmas. Step through the wardrobe into the enchanted kingdom of Narnia. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and embark on the most magical of adventures in a frozen, faraway land where they meet a Faun, talking Beavers, the noble king of Narnia, Aslan, and the coldest, most evil of all, The White Witch.

This critically acclaimed production is pure theatrical magic.

Recommended suitable for age 6+
Children under 5 will not be allowed in the auditorium, including babes in arms

Run Time:
First Act - 60 mins
Interval - 15 mins
Second Act - 60 mins

In this fully immersive and highly interactive show, audiences are transported to The Nags Head to join the pride of Peckham in a night of wheeling, dealing and non-stop laughing. The Trotters want to drum up some cash and make a cheeky saving on the side in two hours of mayhem that sees everyone stopping by – including fan favourites like Cassandra, Trigger, Marlene, Uncle Albert and more.

Deals are brokered, schemes are hatched and quizzes are quizzed in a downright t’riffic event that even comes with some cushty pub grub. You’d be a plonker to miss it!

‘Exceptional. One of the most hysterical, unique and well produced nights out in Britain in 2019!’ ★★★★★ Celebrity Radio, Petwood 2019

‘Hugely entertaining’ ★★★★ The Stage, London 2018

‘It’s a hoot… just like being inside the telly.’ ★★★★ TimeOut London, 2018

‘I came out grinning from ear to ear… it’s hot property!’ ★★★★ The Break A Leggers, London 2019

This is a fabulously new, completely unique experience that includes shed-loads of laughs. One-off improvisation, side-splitting humour, and an expertly-crafted, completely original script come together to make this loving tribute to the TV series a high-quality, seriously funny night to remember.

Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience launched on 20 September 2018 to immediate acclaim. It is a wholly original immersive theatre show written by ITI in loving tribute to the Only Fools & Horses TV series.

Put your taste buds to the test with an evening of wine tasting, served alongside a fine four course menu on board our beautiful Pullman style dining carriages.

£79.50 per head for 2021 - Adults only

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

What’s included?

    A beautiful 3 hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    An expert led wine tasting evening with Kwoff Wines
    A four course meal with wine followed by tea or coffee after dinner mints

Wine Tasting Dinners run on selected Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year. The evening starts at Bury Bolton Street Station at 7:30pm and finishes at approximately 10:15pm.

WARNING THIS IS NOT A DRILL... We are not DEVO, but we are We Are Not DEVO!

Stars of Television’s biggest talent shows Rob King and Kiki DeVille team up to bring you an intimate evening filled with the classic Christmas songs of yesteryear.

Already an established performer around Manchester, singer and actor Rob King is most recognisable for reaching the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent in 2019. Growing up locally in Altrincham, Rob has gone on to become one of the region’s leading male vocalists. Gracing stages around the country with his huge voice, Rob has performed in some of the nation’s largest theatres in concert and pantomime.

Kiki DeVille, a stand-out star of The Voice UK series three, has forged a glittering three-decade career as an internationally-renowned and award-winning Cabaret star. Hailing from Australia, and with an enormous voice (and even bigger heart), Kiki is the kind of performer who leaves you feeling like she is your new best friend every time she graces a stage.

The pair first met as judges within “The 100” on BBC One’s All Together Now in 2017, and have been firm friends ever since. Now, for the first time, this dynamic duo combine their unique powerhouse vocals in a distinctly vintage style to transport you back to the festive specials of Hollywood’s Golden Age, in an intimate evening packed with laughter, stories, and their favourite Christmas hits. Not to be missed!

Adam Kay: Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat... but 1.4 million NHS staff are heading off to work. Following the multi-million-selling success of This Is Going To Hurt, Adam Kay delves back into his diaries for a hilarious peek behind the blue curtain at Christmastime.

Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas is a love letter to all those who spend their festive season on the front line, removing babies and baubles from the various places they get stuck, at the most wonderful time of the year. This heart-warming and hilarious live show mixes highlights from the book with Kay’s award-winning stand-up comedy and exclusive new content.

Praise for Adam's live work:
"Blissfully brilliant" ★★★★★ Mail on Sunday
"Electrifying" ★★★★ Guardian
“Hilarious and heartbreaking” Charlie Brooker
"This made me very, very happy" Stephen Fry

www.adamkay.co.uk

‘Polka Dot Pantomimes return to the Albert Halls for this year’s spellbinding festive family pantomime - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST starring MELODY THORNTON from the Pussycat Dolls & Dancing On Ice as Fairy Fabulous plus the hilarious NICK NEWBOULD as French Franc & MARK TWO as Dame Dolly Doughnut.

The show features spectacular scenery, glittering costumes, amazing special effects and plenty of audience participation!    
               
This is family pantomime at its best and is suitable for children aged 3-103, so book your tickets now and be our guest for Bolton’s finest festive treat!’

Thierry Muller Clarinet Quintet (first performance), with Michel Lethiec
Kryštof Mařatka Clarinet Quintet ‘Arboretum of Time’, with Michel Lethiec (UK Premiere).
Dvořák Piano Quintet, with David Fanning

The Danels are joined by eminent French clarinettist Michel Lethiec in quintets by Thierry Muller, director of the Nice Conservatoire, and Czech composer and world-music enthusiast Kryštof Mařatka. The University’s David Fanning then joins the Quartet for Dvořák’s evergreen Piano Quintet.

‘Amazing classical music concert. Quatuor Danel plays all of this music magnificently’ David Hurwirtz, Classics Today

http://www.quatuordanel.eu/
@4tDanel | #QuatuorDanel | quatuordanel

After the event is off sale online, tickets can be purchased directly from the Martin Harris Centre Box Office subject to availability. You can contact the Martin Harris Centre Box Office, on 0161 275 8951 or boxoffice@manchester.ac.uk.

Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall
University of Manchester,
Bridgeford Street,
off Oxford Road,
Manchester, M13 9PL

22nd-24th & 27th-31st December
10:00, 12:00 & 14:00

Adult and child ticket £15
Additional adult ticket £12
*If your family doesn't look like this then please call Box Office to discuss other options.

From the company that brought you the sell-out productions of Snowbabies! and Aleena's Garden, Little Penguin’s First Christmas is an immersive, festive experience for babies aged 0-36 months and their grown-ups!

Filled with puppetry, original music and sensory delights to stimulate and captivate, this show is a perfect first theatrical experience for your little one.

Join Little Penguin in her winter wonderland as she discovers the magic of her first Christmas.

Included in your child’s ticket price is their very own copy of Little Penguin’s First Christmas to take home!

China Crisis were never your run-of-the-mill 80s pop band. Formed in Liverpool by singer Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon, they distilled their love of David Bowie and Steely Dan into an exquisitely melancholy post-punk sound that saw them win their just chart rewards. Has there ever been a more wistful Top 10 hit than the charming Wishful Thinking?

Their hero Walter Becker – of Steely Dan fame – was so impressed he even became a band member back in 1985, producing and playing on Top 10 album Flaunt the Imperfection, and returning for 1989’s hugely acclaimed Diary of a Hollow Horse. And, all the while, the hits kept rolling in… Christian, Black Man Ray and King in a Catholic Style all made their way into the UK Top 20

Put your taste buds to the test with an evening of gin tasting, served alongside a fine four course menu on board our beautiful Pullman style dining carriages.

£79.50 per head for 2021 - Adults only

The prices shown above include the meal (includes VAT) + train fare (no VAT payable)

What’s included?

    A beautiful 3 hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley
    An expert led gin tasting evening with Kwoff Wines
    A four course meal with gins followed by tea or coffee after dinner mints

Gin Tasting Dinners run on selected Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year. The evening starts at Bury Bolton Street Station at 7:30pm and finishes at approximately 10:15pm.

Direct from Fabulous Las Vegas

The Bowdon Rooms New Year Extravaganza
Presents the International Swinging Sensation Cole Page and his LIVE Big Band

Set to be even bigger, even better, than last year, it is the one night of the year you simply cannot miss!

Join us for a spectacular evening of live entertainment as we wave goodbye to 2021 and say hello to 2022.

Direct from a sell out season at The Wynn Las Vegas, Cole Page and his swinging Big Band will have you singing into the new year.
His Breathtaking vocals embody a classic jazz era and epitomise the very essence of swing.

“Cole Page is a performer you’ll never forget seeing!” Zara Phillips

“Nobody sings these songs better” Steve Wynn

What to expect:
Award winning Four Course Meal*
Incredible line up of live entertainment including a 7 Piece Big Band
Champagne Reception
Stunning venue with Edwardian Ballroom
A midnight countdown ceremony to remember
Exclusive Auction and Raffle for local NHS charities
Dresscode: Viva Las Vegas
Dancing until 2.00am
Table Bookings available

Coles’ last visit to Manchester with his ‘A Swinging Affair’ theatre show, brought 2,000 music lovers to the famous Opera House & Bridgewater Hall in Manchester for a sell out hit show.
For Table bookings of 10 or more please contact the venue directly on 0161 926 8992
* Please contact us directly on 0161 926 8992 with any dietary requirements or allergies.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
A new pantomime by Elaine McCann

In Bumble Green, the villagers get together to hear if they’ve won  ‘The Happiest Village in Salford’  award for the tenth year running.   Chelsey Bunne is covering the event for CBTV,  Daisy the Cow has made sure she gets a front row seat with her best friend, Jack  - and Jack’s Mum, Dame Dolly Potts, has her acceptance speech ready.

This time though, things don’t turn out exactly as everyone expected and the whole village has to come together to beat the Ogre at his own game !  But in the end, as in all pantomimes,  Good triumphs over Bad and happiness returns to Bumble Green !

With an Ogre’s castle in the clouds, a Beanstalk that grows out of nowhere, Goodies and Baddies galore - and plenty of  singing, dancing and fun – Salford’s own Barton Theatre Company 2022 panto is, once more, a show for all the family .

Together with special guest Ray Ennis (the original Swinging Blue Jeans), broadcasting legend Mike Sweeney takes to the stage in a show packed with the very best of 60s music!

As lead singer of The Salford Jets, Mike had a string of hit singles in the 70’s and 80’s including Who You Looking At and Gina I’ve Got A Cortina.  His music career has also seen him fronting 60’s hit band The Mindbenders (Groovy Kind of Love – which later became a massive hit for Phil Collins) during the 80s and 90s. Mike is currently the host of BBC Radio Manchester’s Morning Show, where his absolute authority on music (particularly the sounds of the 60s) coupled with his funny and straight-talking views unsurprisingly draws flocks of fans every day.

Ray Ennis achieved chart success with the original Swinging Blue Jeans with some of the most iconic rock & roll songs ever made – Hippy Hippy Shake, Good Golly Miss Molly and You’re No Good, to name just a few.

Re-live magical moments of the 60s with some of the best-loved songs and performers the decade has produced!

The only tribute name-checked by The Chief himself....AKA Noel Gallagher, The UK's leading Noel Gallagher/Oasis tribute act returns to The Old Courts.

In March 2015, the second Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds album, "Chasing Yesterday" was released, & after years of deliberation, Matt put together a band of musicians to recreate the former Oasis leader's songs & shows, and fulfil a long held dream of playing a whole set of Noel's songs.

The band started gigging in November 2015 at pubs & bars in the North West of England, & have since played to thousands of people at festivals, music venues, bars & pubs across England. When Noel released “Who Built The Moon?” in November 2017, the band immediately added the stand out tracks to their set.

Approx. stage times:

Doors: 19:30

support tbc: 20:00 - 20:40

AKA Noel Gallagher: 21:00 - 23:00

Voodoo Room - A Night of Hendrix, Clapton & Cream

Paying tribute to these legends of Blues/Rock are VOODOO ROOM.