Royal Exchange

No Pay? No Way! review – a bubblegum drama of despair

Dario Fo and Franca Rama’s bitterly comic 1974 satire is a timely fit for today’s cost of living crisis, here impeded by a cartoonishly bright set

Clare Brennan

28, May, 2023 @10:30 AM

No Pay? No Way! review – rising food prices lead to theft and farce

An updated version of Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s 1974 satire speaks to our times but also suffers from a lack of cohesion

Nick Ahad

19, May, 2023 @5:00 PM

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof review – giving Tennessee Williams new scope

A mainly black cast and modern setting inject this new production with a dose of symbolic power

Clare Brennan

09, Apr, 2023 @11:00 AM

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof review – Succession-style scheming in the deep south

Modern-day version casts Tennessee Williams’s steamy melodrama in a new light, with a focus on the corruptibility of wealth

Mark Fisher

30, Mar, 2023 @10:04 AM

Beginning review – touching after-party tale of the last two left standing

David Eldridge’s insightful play about a pair of singletons sizing each other up at the end of the night is relocated for a funny and moving revival

Chris Wiegand

23, Feb, 2023 @8:00 AM

‘Is that a theatre?’ How Manchester built a dream space to leave the world behind

The former artistic director of the Royal Exchange reveals its extraordinary history – and the dramatic opportunities and unforgettable moments its unique design gave him

Greg Hersov

05, Jan, 2023 @8:00 PM

Betty! A Sort of Musical review – Maxine Peake brings Boothroyd’s story to the stage

A slightly wonky meta structure involving a team of amdram actors muddles this show about the former MP but it has abundant charm

Catherine Love

09, Dec, 2022 @11:48 AM

Josie Rourke: ‘If Shakespeare was alive now he’d be under commission to Nica Burns’

As You Like It comes to London’s new venue @sohoplace this winter. The play’s director and the theatre’s owner discuss arts cuts, the industry’s gender balance and the pandemic

Arifa Akbar

28, Nov, 2022 @10:28 AM

Play ‘born of rage’ over Asian female stereotypes lambasts Miss Saigon

Kimber Lee’s award-winning drama, untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, will be staged at Manchester’s Royal Exchange while Miss Saigon opens at the Sheffield Crucible

Chris Wiegand Stage editor

22, Nov, 2022 @1:08 PM

The week in theatre: I, Joan; The Glass Menagerie; Silence – review

Isobel Thom is a candid, non-binary Joan of Arc in Charlie Josephine’s eye-opening new play

Susannah Clapp

11, Sep, 2022 @9:30 AM

The Glass Menagerie review – astonishing refresh upturns a delicate classic

Making dynamic use of a sparse stage and a spinning neon sign, Atri Banerjee’s adventurous production gives new shape to Tennessee Williams’ play