Tender is the night...

Old romantics should enjoy a re-telling of Shakespeare’s greatest love story – set at the Lancashire seaside.
A Tender Thing: Photo by Jonathan Bean (www.beanphoto.co.uk)A Tender Thing: Photo by Jonathan Bean (www.beanphoto.co.uk)
A Tender Thing: Photo by Jonathan Bean (www.beanphoto.co.uk)

A Tender Thing, at the Dukes in Lancaster from Thursday to October 17, imagines what would have happened to Romeo and Juliet had they lived beyond their youth, focusing on the end of a married life spent loving, bickering and laughing.

The sun has risen and set over their many happy years together, against the backdrop of Morecambe Bay. But love, still strong, is now tested by the physical and emotional demands of caring for each other to the end.

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A Tender Thing is directed by Louie Ingham who’s been inspired by her memories of her own late grandparents and their annual holidays in Morecambe and Heysham.

Like many in the 50s and 60s, Louie’s grandparents travelled from Yorkshire to spend time caravanning by Morecambe Bay.

The new production is performed in The Round and stars Lancaster-based actor Ian Blower and Jenny Lee in the title roles.

It also features flashbacks to their youth, when their young selves will be played by Lucas Button and Ruby Henderson, both graduates of The Dukes Young Actors who Louie has directed for several years.

Box Office: 01524 598500 or www.dukes-lancaster.org.

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HOME in Manchester next week presents the UK premiere of La Mélancolie Des Dragons.

An entertaining multi-media production combining performance, music, and visual art, it is directed by HOME’s international guest artist, Paris-based theatre-maker Philippe Quesne.

A group of metalheads are eating crisps in a stranded Citroën car. Time has stopped. Until they meet their own Snow White.

Using only a projector, a smoke machine and a few wigs, together with a flute rendition of German rock band The Scorpions’ 1984 hit Still Loving You, they invent a playground that is both minimal and multifunctional.

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The show uses numerous literary, musical and pictorial references, such as Dürer’s engraving Melancolia in which a representation of the main character’s mind is scattered around him.

It runs Thursday to Saturday, including a Saturday matinee. Box office: 0161 200 1500 or www.homemcr.org

Donald Robertson is Not A Stand-Up Comedian, last year’s five star hit Edinburgh Fringe show and winner of The Scottish Arts Club Award, is in the North West next week.

Writer/performer Gary McNair’s acclaimed monologue weaves a classic coming-of-age story with a deconstruction of the darker side of stand-up comedy.

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What would you do if everyone in the world hated you? Would you run? Would you fight? Or would you try to make them laugh?

Donald Robertson has no mates and he isn’t funny. But with guidance from his new mentor Gary, he hopes this is all about to change. He’s at the Lowry in Salford next Thursday (October 1).

Next Thursday, Psappha –Manchester’s professional new music group – will open the doors of a brand new venue for the city.

A former church in the heart of Ancoats, St Michael’s begins its new life as a performance venue with Psappha’s premiere of Quest, three live pieces of contemporary music.

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Quest is the first of a series of performances which will showcase Psappha over the next six months, in St Michael’s and nearby in the popular Halle St Peter’s.

The evening features work by Ed Bennett, George Crumb and John Adams and Psappha is delighted to welcome guitar soloist and BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom McKinney.

Led by artistic director Tim Williams, Psappha have created and performed contemporary music around the world since 1991. Details: www.psappha.com

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