WHAT'S ON

VISITING COMPANY | HANNAH BRACKENBURY

SATURDAY 24TH JULY 2021

VICTORIOUS

Join award-winning musical comedy performer Hannah Brackenbury as she presents a joyful and poignant musical tribute to the late, great comedy genius Victoria Wood. Winner of Best Show (Funny Women Awards 2019) and Best of the Festival (Brighton Fringe 2018), this hilarious and uplifting hour-long show celebrates the life and musical work of a much-missed British comedy icon.

Featuring a generous helping of classic Victoria Wood songs including 'Pam', 'Bum to the World', 'Music & Movement' and the unforgettable 'Ballad of Barry & Freda', deftly interwoven with Brackenbury's own original songs, witty poems and tender monologues written in memory and celebration of her life-long comedy hero.

VISITING COMPANY | JB BARRINGTON

SATURDAY 14TH AUGUST 2021

A NIGHT OF COMEDY & POETRY WITH JB BARRINGTON & FRIENDS

JB Barrington is a Salford born award winning performance poet renown for his searing and satirical poetry and snarling delivery of strong sentiments and sharp rhymes. He's is funny, endearing, nostalgic and a spoken word maestro who provides one of the most powerful performances on the UK scene

"Lovely stuff; touches heart-strings and the odd raw nerve" - Johnny Vegas

“Savagely funny and profoundly moving” - Cheltenham Poetry Festival

"Great poetry, absolute class" Steve Cradock (OCS & Paul Weller)

PERFORMING ON THE EVENING WITH JB

MARVIN CHEESMAN | JIM HIGO | JENNY BERRY | JIM BURKE

VISITING COMPANY | PART OF GM FRINGE 2021

FRIDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER

SUBDURAL HEMATOMA

Subdural Hematoma is the story of several people's journey through a brain injury and a celebration of what lies ahead on the other side.

Mixing the voices of her parents with tragic and, at times, highly comedic moments- you will not know if you are supposed to laugh or cry.

Hell, go ahead and do both. Let us submerge ourselves in the lighter side of a debilitating, severe, life changing head injury and emerge…well not that different really, but being able to pronounce subdural hematoma so that’s something.

18 + AGE RESTRICTION | 60 MINUTES

VISITING COMPANY |PART OF GM FRINGE 2021

SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER

A NIGHT AT THE MUSICALS WITH THOMAS CAMERON

‘Singing sensation’ Thomas Cameron is a Classic Brit Award-nominated, chart-topping young English tenor, whose powerful voice has been described as having velvet-like qualities and is making waves in the world of classical music.Performing the hits from the world of musical theatre, classical and contemporary music, Thomas has blown away audiences internationally with his critically acclaimed show. Join Thomas and his pianist for a breathtaking performance of his BBC featured debut album, including his Broadway number one single, Bring Him Home, the well-loved Moon River and some of musical theatre's biggest songs.

“Already wowing the music world” BBC One

60 MINUTES

VISITING COMPANY | MOON HOUSE THEATRE | PART OF GM FRINGE 2021

SUNDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER

NEAT FREAK

“Arranging and rearranging my books from shortest to tallest, tallest to shortest, from ABC to 123 — try again seven times more — it just isn’t right, do it once more before all human life ceases to exist."

Meg is a normal person with a normal life - apart from one small detail; she has these secret little habits that she has to do in order to keep things right, to keep things safe. And if she doesn’t do them then it feels like her life as she knows it will fall apart.

Created by Moon House Theatre, The Neat Freak is a modern Greek tragedy that follows one woman's story of what happens when the thoughts in your head take centre stage.

14+ AGE RESTRICTION | 60 MINUTES

INHOUSE COMPANY | YOUNG PERFORMERS COMPANY| PART OF GM FRINGE

SATURDAY 11TH & SUNDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER

YOUR PAYGROUND VOICE IS GONE BY LIBBY HALL

“Miss Polly had a dolly and its head popped off”

On a rainy afternoon, at a fly tip in the woods, an eclectic group of teenagers are catapulted head first into the unknown territory of adulthood. Events unfold that will change the course of their lives forever, friendships are tested and secrets are exposed. As they try to cling to the last shards of their innocence, it becomes clear that ‘growing up' is not as great as they thought.

A dark and humorous hour long play about friendship and loss of innocence.

VISITING COMPANY | STEVE BONHAM AND THE LONG ROAD | PART OF GM FRINGE 2021

SATURDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER 2021

AMERICAN WILDERNESS ODYSSEY STEVE BONHAM AND THE LONG ROAD

Join three adventurers on an incredible journey, searching for the moonshine, myth and madness of the American Wilderness. An evening of stories and songs. Tales of outlaws, ghost towns, the emigrant, the doomed lover, the extraordinary lives of ordinary people, real and imagined. Written from the nitty-gritty experience of month-long treks and road trips, off the main strip, along the backwoods and byways of the southern states of America, Steve Bonham and The Long Road bring to life the songs and stories from their acclaimed American Wilderness Odyssey album and its companion book.
"Ambitious, hypnotic, brooding, infused with sadness and joy, capturing the panorama of its physical and emotional canvas ... irresistible."- Fatea Magazine

VISITNG COMPANY | PART OF GM FRINGE

SATURDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER

NATHAN CASSIDY : BUMBLEBEE

Multi-award winning comedian Nathan Cassidy's hilarious and thrilling true crime stand-up show.
Thought your 2020 was bad? You get home, the door is smashed, a burglar flees.

You chase – to the backing of ‘Flight of the bumblebee’. And then… a sting in the tale – let’s play.

New show from multi-award winning comedian and host of global hit podcasts Psycomedy and Daily Notes.

Best Show Leicester Comedy Festival Nominee 2020
The only live show Edinburgh Fringe 2020
Best Show Buxton Fringe Winner (and 5-time nominee)
“Star-in-waiting…He is untouchable” (Bruce Dessau, The Times 2020)

Photo credit Andy Hollingworth

18+ AGE RESTRICTION | 6O MINUTES

VISITING COMPANY | NORTHERN REP THEATRE | PART OF GM FRINGE 2021

WEDNESDAY 22ND - FRIDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER

BYSMAL BOYS

It's 1977 and for the first time in Fire Brigade history, a national strike threatens to bring the country to a stand still.
In a quiet corner of Cheshire, the lads of Blue Watch, Macclesfield are waiting with baited breath to see what this means for them. Will their hopes blaze to union glory or smoulder to ashes and what will this mean for the Brigade, their loved ones and the lads themselves?

Set against the true life backdrop of the strike action as autumn gives way to the Winter of Discontent. Genders' new play explores this rarely examined period of history and the impact that is still felt today.

Conflictive, comic yet utterly compassionate, the boys of Blue Watch navigate their individual stories and that of their brotherhood. It may just be 30% but is that all they really stand to lose?

12+ AGE RESTRICTION | 2HRS 15 MINUTES (INTERVAL)

VISITING COMPANY | PART OF GM FRINGE

MONDAY 27TH & TUESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER

COCK THERAPY

'Young gay man Roz thinks he's a sex addict. His therapist, aptly named The Therapist, believes there's more to Roz's love for sex than meets the eye. The Therapist is determined to dig deeper into Roz's actions and to help him with his addiction- if he can get a word in edgeways.

Expect plenty of laughs, surprises, and mentions of bumholes.
What would Freud have said?!

A tragicomedy, written by first-time playwright, Joe Henry.

18+ AGE RESTRICTION| 60 MINUTES

VISITING COMPANY | PERIPETEIA THEATRE COMPANY | PART OF GM FRINGE

WEDNESDAY 29TH & THURSDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 2021

SANDY BY ANNA PELLEGRINI

Sandy is a two hander play about femininity and womanhood. The show explores the way in which definitions can create meanings that then latch on to things and to people in an almost unremovable way. By exploring the relationship between a woman and a “female” object, the play reveals what both their relationship is to the world and society as a whole.If an object had consciousness, what would its thoughts be? What experience of the world would it have? And how would human beings look like from its perspective? Sandy highlights the similarity and differences existing between two distant and yet congruent female perspectives while triggering a reflection about our society and ourselves.

14 + AGE RESTRICTION | 60 MINUTES

VISITING COMPANY | TWO IN A BED THEATRE COMPANY

FRIDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2021

HOLD ME CLOSE BY JOE WALSH

“Biscuits? Who the bloody hell do you think we are? Loose women? Biscuits are only for three things; funerals, kids parties and hospitals”

Back in his childhood home after several years, David finds himself realising he’s a lot more like his mum than he ever thought he was. While drinking whiskey, peeling potatoes and playing dominos, can they both rekindle the mother and son love they once had back when he was just a little kid?

Find out about Sheilas weird obsession with Wayne Rooney, if David still knows all the words to his favourite Eurovision song and who the bloody hell Gary Ashburn is? Hold Me Close is a heartwarming northern comedy drama all about redemption and finding your feet again.

Directed by Joe Walsh. Performed by Deborah Sekibo (Coronation Street) and Jake Talbot (Drowning)

60 MINUTES

VISITING COMPANY | OFF THE CUFF THEATRE COMPANY

SATURDAY 6TH NOVEMBER 2021

HE'S IN A BETTER PLACE BY JAKE J WILSON

“Oh I do love a good funeral”.

After laying their dad to rest, Marcus, Abbie and Chelsea Nicholson arrive at the old family home to reminisce about their late father and his life. But when their personal memories start to conflict each other and extended family arrive at the house to provide their own testimonies, the three siblings are left with one question. Did they even know him at all?

90 MINUTES WITH AN INTERVAL

VISITING COMPANY | THE BAR STEWARDS SONS OF VAL DOONICAN

FRIDAY 12TH NOVEMBER 2021

THE BAR - STEWARDS SONS OF VAL DOONICAN

Hailing from Barnsley, The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican are on a mission! Determined to follow in their spiritual father’s immortal footsteps and keep his legacy alive, they have a talent for Bar-Stewardizing other famous people’s songs with new comedy lyrics, on acoustic geetar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, accordion, keyboard, keytar, and the world's first synthesiser ukulele!
They continue to wow audiences with their anarchic live shows and a fine selection of their greatest hits, including the likes of “Jump Ararnd”, “The Lady In Greggs”, "How Deep Is Your Glove?", "Paint 'em Back", "Walking In Manpiss" and “If I Could Punch A Face… It’d Be Justin Bieber’s”.