ManchesterOnline

Afrika! Afrika! @ Trafford Centre

STARS from stage, screen and sport flocked to the Manchester premiere of circus adventure Afrika! Afrika!

Lady Boys Of Bangkok @ Sabai Pavilion

IT’S a little hard to imagine that this devilishly entertaining show is part of a tenth anniversary tour, that a group of transvestites from Bangkok have become such a popular feature on the entertainment scene.

Crown Matrimonial @ The Lowry

I SUPPOSE Hyacinth Bucket modelled herself to some degree on Queen Mary. As the last of the royals to stay aloof from the urge to be public property, all we really know of her is that she was dignified and discreet.

Hay Fever @ Royal Exchange

WRITTEN in just three days by a young Noel Coward who was yet to become rich and famous, Hay Fever has long been acknowledged as one of Coward’s greatest plays and a great English comedy.

Quadruped @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

WRITER Robert Shore describes this elegantly-contructed, constantly-surprising triptych as an “evolutionary drama” and it’s certainly a tale with a sting in it.

The Impossibility Club @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

REUNITING the writer (Mark Griffiths) and star (Nicola Harper) of last year’s 24:7 hit, The Lullaby Witch, The Impossibility Club starts off with an intriguing, initially amusing premise but takes it in a much darker direction.

Thrills out of Africa

EXHILARATING and life-enhancing, Afrika! Afrika! is the show that assaults the senses and uplifts the soul.

Lands End @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

LONDON is drowning, most of Cornwall is submerged, the globe is plagued by strange phenomena and the civil authority is in chaos.

A Dog Called Redemption @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

LIFE and love against the odds are celebrated in Matthew Landers’ engrossing comedy-drama.

Grass @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

WRITER Mark Whiteley, from Oldham-based touring theatre company Hard Graft, based his hard-hitting but highly entertaining comedy drama on a real-life story he was told by a young offender.

The Colorado Session @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

HIGH-powered lawyer Jacqueline (Harriet Plewis), obviously addled by drugs and grief, is still addicted to absent film-maker boyfriend Ethan (Alan Lane).

Granny Must Die @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

IAN Townsend’s enormously entertaining comedy opens with Granny (Carla Stokes) selling her soul to the Devil in return for eternal life.

ContreCoup @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

THE eagerly-anticipated new play from M.E.N. Theatre Award-winning Ross Andrews, winner of an M.E.N. Theatre Award for his The Judgement Of Mr. Jenkins and nominated last year for Eating Out, is a surprising and sobering dark comedy.

Dave & Jeff Versus the Crazy Corpse Loving Consultant From Cardiothoracics @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

AS well as the longest title in the festival, Stephen Michael Lowe’s comedy is probably the silliest show in sight.

Daisies @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

LUCY – rather nervous and much given to verbal spouting – seems a nice girl, though very free with her sexual favours.

Fully House Trained @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

PACKING 14 comedy sketches and four risqué (not to say filthy) TV commercials into an hour, writers Peter Collins, Neil A Edwards and Graeme Flynn have a go at a range of targets, from the TV agony aunt who needs serious help herself to a GCSE course on computer hacking and covering porn site tracks.

Fourteen @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

DESPERATELY mixed up serial runaway Anne-Marie is the Fourteen of the title, years old that is. But she has enough emotional problems to last anyone a whole lifetime.

Human Habitation @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

FRESH out of psychiatric hospital, Blackpool lad Michael (Ben Worth) is settling into a squalid flat in down town Manchester. Michael is a young family man with two kids – only his mind shoots blanks.

Lay Down and Love Me Again @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

ALL the way from Toronto for an energy-sapping one-man show comes the remarkable, if bewildering, James Howell.

Watching Stars @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

THEY met in a night club earlier in the evening. Now they’re on a bench overlooking the city, exploring each other’s past history, circling around the subject of sex. They’re apparently two people with no clear idea of where their lives are going.

Ways To Look At Fish @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

THE sins of the fathers… with a twist. Three generations of fatherhood come together in one day, with bitterness, enlightenment, love and eventual reconciliation. And amidst it all, the embattled mum retains her hope and belief.

24:7 Theatre Festival is here

FROM humble beginnings in 2004, the inspiring 24:7 Theatre Festival has rapidly grown to become this country's premiere showcase for new talent.

Charley’s Aunt @ Dunham Massey Hall

THE ancient walls of Dunham Massey Hall have looked down on many open air productions, but none so rib-ticklingly funny as Brandon Thomas’s farce, Charley’s Aunt.

Foyer of fun is free for all

COMEDY, belly-dancing and jazz clarinettist Arun Ghosh are among the highlights of a summer season of Special FX, the popular programme of free entertainment staged every Friday in the Royal Exchange foyer.

Are you Reviewer of the Month?

WOULD you like to eulogise or vent your spleen about a recent music gig, comedy set or theatre show you have recently witnessed? Then enter M.E.N. Online's Reviewer of the Month competition.

Now booking!

A QUICK run down of the theatre and dance shows appearing in Manchester over the next few months... a lot of the shows will be reviewed on M.E.N. Online soon after they open.

New Swan Lake's big splash

THE great classical ballet Swan Lake is so well-known it has been re-invented or parodied many times - it even crops up in the smash-hit film Billy Elliot, which closes with Billy performing in Matthew Bourne's all-male version of the masterwork.

M.E.N. Student Guide: Theatre and comedy

WHEN it comes to theatre, Manchester has its own holy trinity of venues then consistently lay on the most commercial or critically-acclaimed shows or both.

Joker Gest's new musical

THERE'S never a dull moment in the world of David Gest. So when the I'm A Celebrity... star and showbiz producer decided to head to Manchester this week, The Diary couldn't wait for a catch-up over afternoon tea.

Marti is loving devil of a role

SCOTTISH singing heart-throb Marti Pellow was in devilishly fine form as he launched his latest starring role in the decadent surroundings of city centre restaurant Negresco.

Lorna lands at The Lowry

SCREEN icon Judy Garland's daughters are like buses - you don't see them for ages then two come along at the same time.

Peter Pan role for Gemma

THERE'S certainly nothing boyish about the figure of glamour girl Gemma Atkinson.

Mary Poppins popping in

FOLLOWING a smash-hit West End run, Mary Poppins is heading to Manchester. Lancaster-born Lisa O'Hare will star as Mary Poppins and Daniel Crossley (from Southport) as Bert.

Royal Exchange's autumn/winter season

CLASSIC Chekhov, Greek tragedy, a 50th anniversary production of an iconic Manchester drama, a vintage wartime farce and the world premiere of the latest play from acclaimed Canadian playwright Brad Fraser are all part of the Royal Exchange's newly-announced autumn-winter season.

Bolton Octagon's 40th anniversary season

THE multi-award-winning Octagon Theatre, Bolton, celebrates its 40th anniversary season from September 2007 to July 2008 with nine plays, including five world premieres, plus all sorts of special events.

The Library's autumn/winter season

THE regional premiere of Tom Stoppard's lauded drama Rock'n'Roll is just one of the highlights of the new season unveiled by the award-winning Library Theatre Company.

Oldham Coliseum's autumn/winter season

OLDHAM Coliseum has just announced its autumn/winter season which blasts off on September 4 with a second opportunity to enjoy Brassed Off.

Library Theatre's autumn/spring season

WHEN I heard that the Library Theatre are opening this year's autumn/spring season with Noel Coward's Private Lives, I was a bit taken aback. Isn't that the sort of stuff another big city-centre Manchester theatre - let's just call it the Rex, shall we? - are more usually likely to do?

The Lowry's autumn/winter season

FROM Calendar Girls and Le Grand Cirque to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Romeo and Juliet, The Lowry has just announced a typically diverse line-up for its Autumn/Winter season.