WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 22 AUGUST 2026
previews, articles, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke
WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 22 AUGUST 2026
Previews: Royal Exchange Theatre announces major costume exhibition and 50th anniversary celebrations, An intimate night of Iranian pop music, Beautiful, Radiant Things Exhibition Preview plus The Void.
Royal Exchange Theatre announces major costume exhibition and 50th anniversary celebrations
Preview by Steve Cooke
Royal Exchange Theatre has announced plans surrounding the celebration of its 50th anniversary, with a series of events celebrating the venue's longstanding commitment to storytelling, championing new voices, and fostering new talents, as well as looking back on its extraordinary origins from the Manchester’s Exchange to one of the most unique and radical designs in UK theatre.
Launching on 16th September 2026 and running until 15th November 2026, Mythic Reinvention: an Exhibition Celebrating 50 years of Costume and Crafty forms a central part. It will bring the theatre’s extraordinary costume archive to life through a free public exhibition, curated by international award-winning designer Leslie Travers.
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Leading up to the exhibition launch, Exchanging Stories, a series of live industry conversations, will look back at the venue’s exceptional history across design and craft, exploring the origins of the venue’s unique space and the theatre’s commitment to championing new work and its key role in shaping the UK’s theatre ecosystem.
Inspired by the unique architecture of the venue’s Victorian Great Hall, the exhibition will feature pieces from past productions and provide an exclusive insight into the inner workings of the theatre’s costume department from the artists who created some of the Exchange’s most iconic shows. Audiences will be able to discover pieces from the archives, including costumes worn by Dame Helen Mirren, Don Warrington, Andrew Garfield, Sir Tom Courtenay, Maxine Peake and Suranne Jones, from 16th September – 15th November.
Alongside the exhibition, the venue will be hosting a series of industry conversations titled Exchanging Stories, exploring what contributed to making the venue so unique over the past five decades. Audiences will be able to hear multi-award-winning actor David Threllfall in conversation with acclaimed director Matthew Dunster ahead of King Lear starting performances in October; Rory Mullarkey, whose play Even These Things premiered at the venue in May 2026, Simon Stephens, Daisy Miles and Tolu Okanlawon will discuss the Exchange’s remarkable legacy of presenting and championing groundbreaking new writing, launching the careers of some of the world's most influential playwrights, and the theatre’s crucial role in shaping the UK's theatre ecology; Victoria Turner from Levitt Bernstein, the original architects behind the venue, and Artistic Director / Co-CEO Selina Cartmell will look back on the process of transforming one of the world's largest rooms into a home for theatre and how the iconic module structure came about; award-winning set and costume designer Leslie Travers and the Royal Exchange Theatre’s Head of Costume, Tracy Dunk, will give audiences a look inside the making of the Mythic Reinvention exhibition and the stories behind the extraordinary costumes and objects from the theatre’s archive.
To complete the festivities, the theatre will be holding a gala night on Tuesday, 15th September 2026, the exact date of its 50th birthday. The evening will see friends of the theatre and industry figures gather together to celebrate 50 years of the Royal Exchange Theatre and looking ahead to its future.
Artistic Director and Co-CEO, Selina Cartmell said: “Nearly 50 years ago the Royal Exchange Theatre set out to become a beacon of world class artistic excellence rooted in Manchester. As we celebrate this milestone in our history, we are beyond proud to be offering an anniversary in the image of this extraordinary space: bold, radical and new. The costume exhibition hosted in our unique space and the accompanying series of conversations on the Royal Exchange's storytelling mission and remarkable history will give audiences a never seen before look into what makes the Royal Exchange such a special place and will be a chance to celebrate every individual who has helped create and shape this beloved theatre as we look to our future”.
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE, St Ann’s Square, Manchester, M2 7DH
Box Office: 0161 833 9833 / royalexchange.co.uk
An intimate night of Iranian pop music
Preview by Steve Cooke\
A great opportunity for music lovers to experience an intimate night of Iranian pop music as Iranian pop singer Masoud Sadeghloo brings his first ever UK tour to Manchester as part of his first UK-wide tour.\
Masoud Sadeghloo began his career as a wrestler before rising to fame with a string of hits including ‘Akhare Shab’, ‘Divoone Bazi’, and ‘Zire Baroona Beraghs’. His music blends traditional folk with contemporary pop and electronic sounds, exploring themes of longing and melancholy.
Masoud Sadeghloo, Sunday13 September, The Hall, Aviva Studios, St John's, Manchester, M3 4JQ
Tickets
Standard*:£55.45, £75.45, £95.45, £105.45, £125.45, £155.45
*A facility and booking fee applies to all tickets.
Age Restriction 12+. Anyone aged Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18+
Accessibility features available for this event:
Wheelchair Access
Beautiful, Radiant Things Exhibition Preview
By Steve Cooke
An opportunity to attend the preview of Beautiful, Radiant Things, a new exhibition by Helen Davies.
This exhibition studies workers’ protests, through needlelace and knit. The work investigates bread as a symbol: of life, of money, of struggle. As a furious but powerless woman, Helen imagines a softer, sweeter world.
Helen is a knit, crochet and embroidery artist based in Lancashire. She uses traditionally ‘feminine’ crafts to make bright, loud work that focuses on themes of mental health and identity, from a leftist, feminist viewpoint. Helen’s work is often wearable, and she loves the added dimension of showing her work as part of a living, moving body. Her newest work uses traditional needlelace techniques, celebrating the history of lace and the women who made it.
Helen has always been interested in the intersection between craft and fine art, especially the connotations of needle crafts as women’s work, and of lower value, as a means to make functional items for the home. Helen also embraces the history of knitting as a subversive and political practice.
Mental health and anger are strong themes in Helen’s work, particularly her own experiences with anxiety and unhappiness. While addressing very personal and delicate subjects, Helen’s work is contrastingly humorous, brash and vibrant. She also frequently explores political and social subjects, exploring the relationships between social instability and inner turmoil.
Helen’s work also takes inspiration from drag and costume, simultaneously decorating and hiding the body and face.
Free / Pay What You Want
13:00 on Saturday 3 October at Ebor Studio, William Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL15 8JP
The Void
Preview by Steve Cooke
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Are you a Horror Fan? Dare you enter a world infected by fear? If so, then The Void at Heywood Civic is for you!
Eight million miles from Earth, a mysterious distress call crackles through the ether and draws Flint, a haunted space ranger, towards the Odyssey – an ageing research vessel in the grip of a nightmare. Boarding the craft, he finds a failing ship, a missing crew, and a deadly force running out of control…
The Void is a chilling sci-fi horror created for the stage – a decaying future of desperate humans, all-seeing AI, and memories of a distant, dangerous past. Combining powerful illusions, atmospheric projections and a creeping sense of dread, this story asks… what are you afraid of?
Age recommendation: 13+
Content warning: Contains some strong language, disturbing images and scenes of horror. This production contains haze, spark effects, flashing lights including strobe lighting, and sudden loud noises.
Watch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgt3y9raC4s
Pay what you can policy:
Standard: £16.80
Lower: £14.70
Higher: £18.90
All prices are inclusive of booking fee.
7.30pm on Friday 9 October at Heywood Civic, LCpl Stephen Shaw MC Way, Heywood, Greater Manchester OL10 1LW
RECOMMENDED
Saturday, 22 August 2026
Reading Group - Middleton Library
Last Saturday of every month. Discover new authors and discuss books with other readers in this friendly and relaxed reading group.
For adults with no booking required.
Books are provided and loaned through the library. Refreshments will be provided.
Free
1.30pm - 2.30pm
Middleton Library, Long Street, Middleton M24 6DU
Saturday, 22 August 2026
Lego Club - Rochdale Central Library
Every other Saturday. Get creative with Lego and join our free club, suitable for all the family. There's Duplo available for younger siblings.
For families with children aged 2 and over, and teenagers.
No need to book, you can just turn up.
Free
12pm - 1pm
Rochdale Central Library, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU
Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Holiday Hive Carnival Crafts - Castleton Library
It's Carnival-Factor week across Rochdale Borough Libraries, if you can't make this event, you can catch the Holiday Hive at other locations across the borough. View all Holiday Hive events: https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/events/20239/holiday-hive?location=&period=full
families with children of all ages but is most suitable for children of walking age. Children must be supervised by an appropriate adult at all times.
No need to book, you can just come along. However, resources are limited so activities are ‘first come, first served’. You may need to wait for a space at busy times.
Photographs: photographs may be taken
Free
10am - 11.30am
Castleton Library, 604 Manchester Road, Rochdale OL11 3AF
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have - Henry McNamara bass clarinettist (Arizona State & Sheffield Universities)
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 648872
St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane/St Mary's Gate, Rochdale OL16 1DZ
Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm - 1.30pm
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