Theatre in the North
Kristy Stott, Theatre EditorDocumentary performance, groundbreaking dance, world premieres and fresh takes on classic works – we select our early theatre highlights for 2025.
Happening this month…shake off those January blues, get wrapped up and check out some of the super contemporary dance happening at Lowry. We’ve got our eyes on shows from Pagrav Dance, Olivier Award-winning Botis Seva and the explosive Acosta Danza.
Meanwhile, our friends at HOME welcome Mariupol Drama, a powerful documentary performance based on the true testimonies of the Ukrainian actors who sought refuge in a Donetsk Theatre during the Russian strikes of March 2022, and PUSH Festival 2025 – a two-week celebration of all the good stuff happening in the North West – performances, visual art, screenings and workshops.
The Royal Exchange Theatre launch a cracking new spring season with an incredible Caryl Churchill double-bill of performance. And over in Liverpool, top-notch performance continues with the acclaimed production of The Merchant of Venice 1936, starring Tracy-Ann Oberman, and a special Everyman 60th birthday production of Shirley Valentine.
What else? Storyhouse present the world premiere musical of David Baddiel’s best-selling children’s book, The Parent Agency; Complicité’s Simon McBurney and choreographer Crystal Pite present Figures in Extinction – for the first time ever, in its entirety – at Aviva Studios, and in contrast, Sue Ryding of LipService Theatre presents Funny Stuff, an intimate, humorous and creative evening examining grief and letting go.
Read on for details of more unmissable theatre happening in Manchester and across the North over the next few months.
