WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2025
- STEVE COOKE AATA
- Sep 20
- 10 min read
previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke
WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2025
Sit back and enjoy the view: new outdoor gallery on Rochdale Town Hall Square
Preview by Steve Cooke
A striking new outdoor art gallery has been installed in front of the recently refurbished Grade 1 listed Rochdale Town Hall.
Six double-sided exhibition stands with built-in seating now form the appropriately named ‘Square Gallery’ providing space for residents and visitors to relax and enjoy the scenery as well as viewing 12 square panels that will host new exhibitions every few months, providing a high-profile platform for arts organisations, artists and community groups to exhibit their work.
To mark Rochdale’s year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture, the Square Gallery’s first exhibition highlights what you can look forward to over the second half of the year as well as putting the spotlight on some of the major events and activities that have taken place so far, alongside poetry from the town’s poet laureate, a photo backdrop for sharing on social media and a cultural map of the town.
This new addition to Rochdale Town Hall Square follows the Town of Culture Outdoor Gallery unveiled in May on Drake Street that showcases the vibrant work of 30 local artists. The display includes poetry, photography, traditional and digital art. It also adds to the wide range of programmes and activities taking place on the square in recent months attracting over 20,000 visitors including the Feel Good Family Picnic, the Family Fun Day, Merhaba Halal Food Festival, Side-by-Side Festival, Street Eat food festival and the Flight of Fancy Parade.
Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The Square Gallery is a fantastic addition to the town centre and with thousands of people walking past each week it brings art into the heart of the community, making it accessible and part of everyday life. With seating included it’s got a really practical use too and I encourage residents who would like to see their work featured to get in touch.”
Jen Cleary, north west director of Arts Council England said: “We’re excited to welcome Square Gallery to Rochdale’s vibrant cultural offer. Supported by the Cultural Development Fund, it adds an extra dimension to the redeveloped town square - creating new opportunities for local artists and cultural organisations to exhibit their work, and for visitors to sit and enjoy the creative work on display. I’m sure that it will quickly become a well-used and loved part of the town.”
Future exhibitions at the Square Gallery will include a takeover by Rochdale Youth Arts Festival in March 2026 - the closing event of the town’s year in the cultural spotlight co-produced with the boroughs young people. The Square Gallery’s programme is curated by Rochdale Creates, which brings together arts organisations from across the borough.
This new gallery is part of a series of improvements across Rochdale Town Hall Square following new paving, landscaping, lighting and signage to improve the overall visitor experience. It is supported by the Department for Culture Media and Sport, administered by Arts Council England.
If you are interested in staging an exhibition at the Square Gallery, email admin@rochdalecreates.co.uk You will need to cover the costs for the printing and installation.
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The gallery is part of a spectacular line up of festivals, live performances, exhibitions and art during Rochdale’s year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture 2025-26. The title, awarded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, celebrates the town’s rich history, creativity, talent and diverse arts scene. Find out more at www.rochdale.gov.uk/TownOfCulture and www.rochdalecreates.co.uk
Rochdale's Cultural Development Fund project is managed by Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) on behalf of Rochdale Borough Council.
Manford's Comedy Club at Middleton Arena
Preview by Steve Cooke
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Manford’s Comedy Club returns to Middleton Arena! This beautiful and impressive venue is the perfect space to play host to the award-winning comedy club.
Each show has a different line-up of four top comedians, who are all personally chosen by Jason Manford. The line-up for the show will be announced soon and will feature many comedians from the UK and international comedy circuit.
The line-up so far includes:
MC: Kate Smurthwaite
Kate Smurthwaite is a left wing, feminist, atheist, polyamorous comedian and activist. She is also the host and star of the News at Kate video series.
She performs stand-up comedy at all the major clubs in the UK and around the world. She was most recently touring her 14th one-woman show B***h which previewed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Barry Dodds
Loveable Geordie Barry, charms audiences with his unique brand of disarming wit and wry, down-to-earth observational humour.
Self-confessed comedy geek, Barry took to the comedy stage at the tender age of 21 and soon had audiences eating out of the palm of his hand. Using his own combination of irrepressibly cheeky, and surprisingly dark, material, he quickly found himself taking the national comedy circuit by storm.
Peter Brush
A highly distinctive performer and deft writer of finely crafted jokes, Peter Brush unassumingly takes the stage with his slight bespectacled frame and scruffy hair, before consummately conquering it with an arsenal of razor sharp quirky one-liners and peerlessly original routines, all delivered in an amusingly awkward fashion.
Tickets from £14.00
Visit: https://www.yourtrustrochdale.co.uk/whats-on/events/manfords-comedy-club/book/?instance=538002
General Enquiries & Bookings: 0161 662 4000
Ticket Sales & Event Enquiries (open Mon-Fri 10am – 2.30pm: 0300 303 8633
Box Office: arts.events@yourtrustrochdale.co.uk
Thursday 2 October 2025
7.30pm
Dancing at Lughnasa a Royal Exchange Theatre & Sheffield Theatres co-production
Preview by Steve Cooke
Coming up at the Royal Exchange Theatre this autumn is Brian Friel’s multi award winning drama Dancing at Lughnasa.
“I want to dance, Kate. It’s the festival of Lughnasa. I’m only thirty-five. I want to dance.”
On the outskirts of Ballybeg, County Donegal, the five Mundy sisters’ lives are bound by responsibilities and social expectations.
When influences from a wider, more modern world creep into their home, the sisters’ are swept along in a sea of change and suddenly the life they know is gone for good.
Brian Friel’s multi-award-winning drama is a powerful and moving exploration of reflection, memory and how the future will arrive no matter how much we resist.
Brian Friel (1929-2015) is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights and a hugely accomplished short story writer. His plays, including Dancing at Lughnasa, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Translations, and Faith Healer, continue to captivate audiences worldwide. Often hailed as "Ireland’s Chekhov," Friel’s plays explore themes of identity, language, memory, and the human condition, drawing deeply on the cultural and political landscape of the north west of Ireland, in particular Derry and Donegal. In 1980 in Derry, he established Field Day Theatre Company with actor Stephen Rea. The company toured plays throughout Ireland and became a hugely important cultural force during the dark years of the ‘Troubles’. His legacy lives on through the timeless relevance of his works. Friel plays continue to entrance audiences across the globe.
Brian Friel was born in Knockmoyle, near Omagh, County Tyrone on January 9, 1929. The family moved to Derry when Brian was ten years old. He was educated at St Columb’s College, Derry before attending St Patrick's College, Maynooth and then training as a teacher at St Joseph's Training College, Belfast. Brian taught in Derry from 1950 until 1960 until a contract from the New Yorker magazine enabled him to leave teaching and pursue a career as a writer. In the late 1960s, the Friel family moved from Derry to Muff, County Donegal before settling finally in nearby Greencastle. He passed away on October 2, 2015, and was laid to rest in the graveyard in his beloved Glenties.
His play Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) is dedicated to “those five brave Glenties women” referring to his mother Christina McLoone and his four aunts who grew up in ‘The Laurels’ and are now immortalised as the Mundy sisters of the play. His uncle, Barney McLoone served as inspiration for the missionary priest who returns home in the play. The last McLoone sister, Maggie, lived in ‘The Laurels’ until her death in the late 1950s when the house was bought by a local family. Such is the significance of the ‘The Laurels’ to the play that when the 1998 film version was released, Brian Friel along with actresses Meryl Streep and Sophie Thompson unveiled a plaque on the house on September 24, 1998.
From £12
Fri 10 Oct – Sat 8 Nov 2025
Middleton Arena, LCpl Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton, Greater Manchester M24 1AG
See Britten at his best at Lowry this autumn
Preview by Steve Cooke
In this ENO [English National Opera] first, we join them for May Day celebrations in a fresh and witty new take on Britten’s quirky, good-natured coming-of-age comedy Albert Herring - playing for two nights only at Lowry, Salford.
We meet our characters in Loxford, 1943. A typical small market town, where nothing escapes the eye of the redoubtable Lady Billows. When there are no virtuous girls left in the village, the May Queen organising committee decide to break with tradition and crown the shy and innocent greengrocer’s boy Albert Herring as the May King...
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Our unlikely rebel Albert is played by tenor Caspar Singh, and Mrs Herring, his overbearing mother, is played by Leah-Marian Jones. Emma Bell plays Lady Billows, while Mark Le Brocq plays the Mayor. Sir Willard White, who recently 'added gravitas' (The Telegraph) in a performance of The Lady Macbeth at BBC Proms, plays Superintendent Budd.
Albert Herring, the third opera written by English composer Benjamin Britten, is a whimsical tale set in a small Suffolk village. It was composed in 1947. After writing two very serious operas Britten decided to turn his hand to comedy.
A Funny Opera about an English Town - in a small Suffolk town, a May Queen must be chosen. However, the townspeople are convinced that none of the girls are still virgins. So, they pick someone who definitely is – the painfully shy Albert Herring – so the town will this time have a May King.
The opera is peopled by eccentric inhabitants that you’d imagine lived in 1900s England when the opera was originally set. The town has a local aristocrat, a vicar, a police officer, the mayor, a school teacher, a young woman from the bakery, a boy from the butchers. And the titular Albert is himself the son of the local greengrocer.
Albert feels humiliated at being chosen as The May King, so he disappears on a wild night of drunkenness and disorder. Leaving the townspeople to think about what they’ve done.
Benjamin Britten was probably the most remarkable English composer of the 1900s. He changed the face of British opera and composed brilliant choral works.
Whether it was A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra or the opera Noye’s Fludde, both specifically written for children; Or any of his 15 operas – from his first, Peter Grimes, through A Midsummer Night’s Dream based on Shakespeare’s play to his last,
Death in Venice, Britten wrote emotive and very accessible music.
In Albert Herring, listen out for the musical themes for each of the characters. These themes are quoted from other styles of music.
For the lady of the manor, there’s a theme that echoes grand baroque opera.
For the vicar there’s a theme that echoes Victorian hymns.
For the schoolteacher has a classic ballad-style theme.
ENO’s new production will be directed and designed by the 2023 Olivier Award winner for Best New Opera, Antony McDonald.
Continuing their commitment to new singers, two of ENO Harewood Artists, Dan D’Souza and Anna Elizabeth Cooper will play Sid and Nancy with British-Indian Tenor Caspar Singh performing the title role of Albert Herring. They will be joined by some of Britain’s finest opera singers in Emma Bell and Willard White.
ENO has long been connected with Britten as he premiered his first opera, Peter Grimes, when ENO was called Sadler’s Wells Oper) in 1945. Britten’s operas are a core part of the company’s repertoire.
Watch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbLWLFsp-V0&t=6s
From £22
2.30pm , Tuesday, 21 October 2025
7.30pm, Wednesday, 22 October 2025
2hrs 45mins, There is one interval.
Lowry, Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ
RECOMMENDED
Saturday, 20 September 2025
Lego Club - Rochdale Central Library
Get creative with Lego and join our free club.
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.
Free
12pm - 1pm
Rochdale Central Library, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Littleborough U3A Creative Writing Group 2 (Mondays) - Littleborough Library
4th Monday of every month. This group looks at a wide variety of topics and are always glad when members produce ideas and things to talk about.
You must be a U3A member to take part in U3A activities. Join Littleborough U3A
Join this group on the Littleborough U3A website at https://littleborough.u3asite.uk/welcome/
Time: 2pm - 3pm
Littleborough Library, Hare Hill Park, Littleborough OL15 9HE
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
National Theatre Live – Inter Alia (15) a new play by Suzie Miller.Oscar-nominated Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Saltburn) is Jessica in the much-anticipated next play from the team behind Prima Facie.
Jessica Parks is a smart Crown Court Judge at the top of her career. Behind the robe, she is a karaoke fiend, a loving wife and a supportive parent. When an event threatens to throw her life completely off balance, can she hold her family upright?
Writer Suzie Miller and director Justin Martin reunite following their global phenomenon Prima Facie, with this searing examination of modern motherhood and masculinity.This production has been filmed in front of a live audience. Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIHOYJBdpjs
Tickets from £10.00Visit: https://www.yourtrustrochdale.co.uk/whats-on/events/national-theatre-live-inter-alia-15/book/?instance=538603
General Enquiries & Bookings:0161 662 4000
Ticket Sales & Event Enquiries (open Mon-Fri 10am – 2.30pm: 0300 303 8633
Box Office:arts.events@yourtrustrochdale.co.uk
7:00pm - Doors open: 6:30pmMiddleton Arena, LCpl Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton, Greater Manchester M24 1AG
Wednesday 24 September 2025
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have - Anne Butterworth soprano Stephen Taylor baritone
The concert series has been held at St Mary’s since 2001 and was granted the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020.
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
Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm - 1.30pm
St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane/St Mary's Gate, Rochdale OL16 1DZ
celebrating creative arts and artists - an oasis of positivity supporting individual and community wellbeing.
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