previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke
MIDWEEK COLUMN WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2024
Gwyneth Goes Skiing
Preview by Steve Cooke
After sell-out London runs, critical acclaim, a U.S. transfer and a run at Edinburgh Fringe, join harbingers of queer chaos Awkward Productions (Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story), as they transform Hope Mill Theatre into Deer Valley Ski Resort.
She’s the Goop-founding, Door-Sliding, Shakespeare-In-Loving, consciously uncoupling Hollywood superstar. He’s a retired Optometrist from Utah. In 2016, they went skiing.
On the slopes of Deer Valley, their worlds collided, and so did they – literally.
Seven years later in 2023, they went to court. Double ouch.
This is their story. Kind of. Not really.
Written and performed by Linus Karp and Joseph Martin, featuring original songs by Leland (RuPaul, Troye Sivan, Cher), with a special video appearance by Trixie Mattel (RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 winner), and the singing voices of Darren Criss (Glee, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story), and Catherine Cohen (Edinburgh Comedy Award winner).
A story of love, betrayal, and skiing – where you are the jury.
11 - 21 September
Hope Mill Theatre, 113 Pollard Street, Manchester M4 7JA
2 minute walk from New Islington Metrolink Station. Just one stop from Manchester Piccadilly.
ALISON BURNS AND JONATHAN ELLIS AT TLC
Review by Dr Joe Dawson
Alison Burns was introduced to the cello at the age of ten after a small collection of old string instruments was found lying dormant in a school cupboard. She rapidly progressed to her local Youth Orchestra and String Orchestra.
Alison gained a Fellowship diploma after four years at Trinity College of Music, London, followed by a diploma from the National Centre for Orchestral Studies.
Nowadays, Alison enjoys teaching and playing in two amateur orchestras as well as a piano trio. She is the Secretary of Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra and is also the Hon Rep for the Stockport branch of the ABRSM. She also runs a holiday cottage on the edge of the Peak District where she lives with her husband and son.
After starting to learn the piano at the age of three, Jonathan Ellis studied at Wells Cathedral School and moved on to the joint music course of the RNCM and Manchester University, where he graduated first-class from both institutions and gained higher diplomas and prizes as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician.
The audience counted themselves twice blessed with players of this calibre.
Sonata No. 5 in E minor, RV 40 Antonio Vivaldi was an attractive appetiser for the imposing Cello Sonata Op. 6 of Samuel Barber, all beautifully played with masterful interpretation and skill.
The soulful qualities of the cello matched the melancholic contemplative moods of Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, and even more with Bloch’s From Jewish Life, where the expressive use of quarter tones highlighted the ancient folk language.
In contrast the lilting Sicilienne, Op. 78 by Fauré was a graceful and captivating Sicilian folk dance echoing Cole Porter’s words, ‘How strange the change from major to minor.’
An encore was demanded and the delightful Dance Rustique by William Squire from 1895 put a spring in everyone’s step.
Alison’s rich and resonant cello sound in the acoustic at St Mary in the Baum and great music choices superbly accompanied, made for a memorable concert experience.
Songs for the Storm to Come By Mikhail Karikis
Preview by Steve Cooke
HOME has announced its forthcoming solo exhibition, Songs for the Storm to Come, an immersive sound and multi-screen installation, by award winning, internationally renowned Greek/British artist, Mikhail Karikis. Powerfully evocative and emotive, the work and soundscape composed by Karikis and developed with a local choir, focuses on the way humans relate to, and interact with, the environment and the role communal sound making plays in expressing this relationship.
Continuing his practice of collaborating with communities, Karikis worked with members of Manchester based SHE cooperative choir for women and non-binary people. In Songs for the Storm to Come, the participants observe maps sourced from climate modelling data showing Britain’s transformed geography for 2050, as a result of rising sea water. They reflect on the radical social and political changes required and call for the power to bring us together and motivate us to form communities in the face of such changes.
Mikhail Karikis: Songs for the Storm to Come is curated by Clarissa Corfe.
Fri 11 Oct – Sun 5 Jan
For the Festive period, the Main Gallery will be open until 16:00 on Dec 24, 26, and 31, with bookable slots at 12:00 and 14:00.
Box Office 0161 200 1500
Restaurant 0161 212 3500
2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN
SONGS FROM THE STORM TO COME – THE EXHIBITION
Guided by Karikis through the ‘deep listening’ workshop methods of queer composer Pauline Oliveros, as well as drawing on the book ‘ideas to postpone the end of the world’ by the Brazilian, indigenous movement leader and philosopher Ailton Krenak, and reflecting on the text, ‘the universal right to breathe’ by the Cameroonian political thinker Achille Mbembe, the group imagine and articulate possible alternatives. In the process, the participants build a repository of ideas and hopes, evoking a universe of solutions through a captivating groundswell of spoken word, vocal percussion and harmony.
In collaboration with sound researchers from the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, Karikis has used the participants’ voices to vibrate and sculpt different physical materials through the use of cymatics. In the process, their collective voices conjure new horizons, chanting imagined near-future soundscapes and transforming their voices into meteorological phenomena.
Songs for the Storm to Come engages with the urgency of climate change by embracing science, personal and collective perspectives, emotional resonance, practical and speculative thinking. It proposes listening and communal sound-making as strategies to cultivate empathy, foster climate care, prepare for what’s to come and activate the possible; while rejoicing in the transformative power of sound, it declares that changing the course of global warming is in our hands.
Clarissa Corfe, Creative Producer: Visual Art said “We’re thrilled to be working with Mikhail Karikis on Songs for the Storm to Come. He is known for his exceptional skill in collaborating with people in many places around the world – I first experienced a really powerful artwork of his at Art Sheffield some years ago and we strongly felt his work would resonate with HOME’s audiences. For us, he has collaborated with a local choir and made an entirely new artwork to be experienced on multiple screens addressing the geographic, social and psychological transformation brought about by climate change. Through gentle provocation, dissolving inhibition, conversation, listening, Mikhail and the singers create magic through the power of communal sound, a multi-sensory work impelling resilience, hope and action in the face of one of the most urgent issues of our time.”
MICHAEL KARIKIS
Karikis exhibits internationally. In his most recent work for the stage, ‘Universe of Solutions’, he was artistic director for UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network inaugural cultural event for which he collaborated with 150 young people. Solo presentations include Sounds of a Revolution, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, PT (2024); Voices, Communities, Ecologies, Cukrarna Centre for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, SO (2024); Because We Are Together (2023), National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens GR; Ferocious Love, Tate Liverpool (2020); For Many Voices, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA), UK (2019-20); Children of Unquiet, TATE St Ives, UK (2019-20); I Hear You, De la Warr Pavilion, UK (2019-20); Mikhail Karikis, MORI Art Museum, Tokyo, JP (2019); No Ordinary Protest, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2018); Ain’t Got No Fear, Turku Art Museum, FI (2018); The Chalk Factory, Aarhus 2017 European Capital of Culture, DK (2017) and Love Is the Institution of Revolution, Casino Luxembourg Forum d’art Contemporain, LU (2017).
Group exhibitions include 54th Venice Biennale, (2011), IT; Manifesta 9, Ghenk, (2012); 19th Biennale of Sydney, (2014); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, IN, (2016); Media City Seoul, KR (2015); British Art Show 8 (2016-7); 2nd Riga International Biennale of Contemporary Art, LV (2020), 2nd Saitama Triennale (2024), JP and others.
Karikis’s creative endeavours include music performances at Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Barbican Theatre, and musical collaborations with Björk, DJ Spooky and the Belgian record label Sub Rosa.
SHE CHOIR MANCHESTER
SHE Choir Manchester is a free, cooperative, non-auditioned community choir for women and non-binary people. Through an inclusive and collaborative ethos, it has sparked an international network of choirs that celebrates music and friendship. Founded in Manchester by Susie, Hannah and Ellie (S.H.E) in 2010. www.SHEchoir.com
Dr Neil Bruce and Matteo Polato are researchers from the Music and Sound department at School of Digital Art at Manchester Metropolitan University, and part of the D∀RK – Dark Arts Research Kollective, a group of academics and artists who explore the creative, communal and boundary-breaking potential of occultural practices.
RECOMMENDED
Wednesday 11 September 2024
Rochdale Photographic Society
Tonight's session - Christine Widdall FBPE MPAGB EFIAP APAGB
Presentation - ‘What are we going to do about AI?’
We meet every Wednesday at Rochdale Unitarian Church, starting at 7.30pm prompt (doors open from 7.15pm). The door is kept locked so please ring the bell on arrival.
If you would like to see the club for yourself and meet our members, you are welcome to attend as our guest for up to 3 weeks before committing to membership. Annual subscription is £36 for single or £46 for joint membership.
A weekly room fee of £2.50 is also payable on arrival at the meeting. Refreshments are 50p.
£2.50 for room fee
Doors open 7.15pm, 7.30pm start
Rochdale Unitaria Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime11 September 2024
Wednesday 11 September 2024
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have Telemann Baroque Ensemble: Alastair flute, Elaine da Costa & Sarah Snape violins, Penelope Bisby viola, Roger Bisby cello and Peter Collier harpsichord.
The concert series has been held at St Mary’s since 2001 and was granted the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020… during the pandemic!
Running every Wednesday, Music at Lunchtime is a weekly live classical music concert series that has been going since the 1960s. The sessions were initially run at the old Rochdale Art Gallery by the local authority, but since May 2001 have been run by volunteer-enthusiasts and artistic director, Dr Joe Dawson.
£6
Phone: Dr Joe Dawson
01706 648872n Church, Clover Street, Rochdale OL12 6TP
Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm - 1.30pm
St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane/St Mary's Gate, Rochdale OL16 1DZ
Wednesday 11 September 2024 - Saturday 14 September 2024
Dirty Dusting
The MAD Theatre company at the Mill proudly presents an evening of an adult comedy.
Written by Ed Waugh, Trevor Wood and directed by Lynda Hoyle.
Raucous comedy about three lady cleaners of a certain age who on finding out they are being made redundant, set up a sex chat line to make money. With an unforgiving boss. What could possibly go wrong?
£9, concessions £7
Phone: Tracy Richards 07886 229544
Wednesday to Friday 7.30pm & Saturday 2.30pm
Ellenroad Steam Museum, Elizabethan Way, Newhey, Rochdale OL16 4LE
Thursday 12 September 2024
The Makings of a Murderer 2 – The Real Manhunter
Following sell-out shows nationwide, the UK’s top true crime theatre tour is back with a brand-new lineup!
Featuring Senior Investigating officer Colin Sutton, who caught serial killer Levi Bellfield and ‘Night Stalker’ Delroy Grant.
Join us for a chilling, thrilling night at the theatre as Colin, who was head of a Metropolitan Police murder squad tells us the stories of how he caught some of the UK’s most evil murderers.
In this all-new show, Colin, who the ITV drama series ‘Manhunt,’ played by Martin Clunes, is based on, will talk you through his remarkable career and what it is like to chase and catch a serial killer in a unique and one-off night at the theatre – for true crime fans and theatre goers alike.
Doors open at 6.45pm.
Tickets from £29.00
Phone: Middleton Arena 0300 303 8633
7.30pm
Middleton Arena, LCpl Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton M24 1AG
Friday 13 September 2024
Stax of Soul – The Legacy Tour
Step into Middleton Arena for Stax of Soul’s triumphant return after their sold-out 40th Anniversary Tour in 2023. Originating in Manchester in 1983, the band now embarks on their 2024 Legacy Tour, marking 41 years of musical brilliance and the onset of their fifth decade.
This powerhouse promises an extraordinary evening, paying homage to devoted fans whose support has fuelled their journey. Renowned for their vibrant brass section and electrifying performances, this legendary nine-piece band brings soul-stirring hits from Stax, Atlantic, Motown, and Northern Soul, paying tribute to luminaries like James Brown and The Blues Brothers.
Featuring over 30 iconic and unforgettable soul classics such as Get Ready, Higher and Higher, Tenderness, My Girl, Stand By Me, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Give Me Just A Little More Time, The Snake, Gimme Some Lovin’, Minnie The Moocher, Shake a Tail Feather, Hold On, I’m Comin’, Soul Man, I Got You (I Feel Good), Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, In the Midnight Hour, It’s The Same Old Song, Stop Her On Sight and many more.
Doors open at 7.00pm.
Tickets from £21.00
Phone: Middleton Arena 0300 303 8633
7.30pm
Middleton Arena, LCpl Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton M24 1AG
Saturday 14 September 2024
Pure 80's Festival
A new music festival based in the village of Littleborough; featuring the best performers, tributes and bands that will transport you straight to the heart of the 80s.
Milnrow Calling has glowed up and they are going retro. It is now the Pure 80's Festival hosted at Littleborough Cricket Club.
Get ready for the best 80’s tribute acts and a big-name headliner. Dig out your neon, leather, and lace and join us for an epic day and night!
Katrina - (formerly Katrina and The Waves)
Pat Sharp - 80s DJ & TV Icon
Eltonesque
The Freddie & Queen Experience
Classic Rock Revival
Filthy Animals Rock Band
Host DJ Laura Beth
There will also be a food village which will consist of top local food vendors keeping all the hungry festival-goers happy throughout the day.
Fancy dress encouraged.
£35
All ticket prices include a booking fee.
1pm - 10pm
Littleborough Cricket Club, Denhurst Road, Littleborough OL15 9LD
Saturday 14 September 2024
Riverside Artisan Market
Running on the second Saturday of every month, the successful Riverside Artisan Market returns again to Rochdale Riverside this weekend.
A big thankyou to all our customers for helping us to grow this market every month.
A warm welcome is waiting from over 30 small independent businesses who grow, rear, make or bake what you see. All different, all quality and made by the people you speak to.
From artisan meats to hand made fudge and glass creations.
From room sprays, wax melts, handmade soaps and quirky gift ideas
From preserves, chutneys, oils and vinegars to delicious savoury pies, sweet treats and fresh fruit and veg and so much more.
Come say hi, let us know what you think and while you’re here check out the great Rochdale Riverside and the other lovely places Rochdale Town Centre has to offer.
10am - 4pm
Riverside Retail & Leisure Complex, Riverside Walk, Town Centre, Rochdale OL16 1TR
Saturday 14 September 2024
Here Come The Girls
Get ready to be blown away by the ultimate celebration of some of the most iconic female artists of all time!
This multi-diva show is a feast for the senses, featuring the likes of Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Shania Twain, Annie Lennox, Gloria Estefan, Blondie, Katy Perry, Adele, Abba and Bananarama!
With a repertoire spanning five decades, this show is a non-stop party of all your favourite songs from these legendary ladies. Get ready to dance, sing and be swept away by the energy and excitement of this spectacular, fast-paced performance.
Doors open at 7.00pm.
Tickets from £21.50
Phone: Middleton Arena 0300 303 8633
7.30pm
Middleton Arena, LCpl Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton M24 1AG
celebrating creative arts and artists - an oasis of positivity supporting individual and community wellbeing.
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