2015 Archives - UPSTAGED MANCHESTER

My Favourite Productions of 2015

It has been an exciting year for Upstaged Manchester and I feel blessed and nostalgic as I remember the productions that have lifted my heart, helped me to question and generally captivated me this year. Here is a list of my theatrical highlights for 2015.

Yen at The Royal Exchange

I couldn’t shake this 2013 Bruntwood Prize Winner by Anna Jordan for quite a while – it left my mind doing somersaults. Jordan’s phenomenal writing and her vivid characters combined with Ned Bennett’s clever direction and Georgia Lowe’s sparse set design gave an unforgettable fusion of total brilliance.

Nirbhaya at The Contact Theatre

This brave, real and haunting piece of work, exploring the effect of the brutal attack that Jyoti Singh endured on board a bus in Delhi on December 16th 2012, stopped me in my tracks and left me speechless. A perfect example of the role that theatre has in spreading an important message and how art can bring about change.

Shooting With Light at The Lowry

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This is by far the best production I have ever seen in the Lowry Studio – slick choreography and an atmospheric soundscape. Idol Motion will certainly be a theatre company that I will be looking out for in 2016.

The Rolling Stone at The Royal Exchange

The Rolling Stone had me captivated – on the edge of my seat throughout. With outstanding performances from all, Chris Urch’s Bruntwood Prize Winner about the persecution of gay men in Uganda stays with you for a long time. I am so pleased that it is being performed at Orange Tree Theatre in January and February of 2016.

Boeing Boeing at Oldham Coliseum

I had never seen a farce done well – until I saw this version of Boeing Boeing directed by Robin Herford. An energetic production with an outstanding cast – their timing and delivery was impeccable. It really lifted my heart to see the performance propelled along by gasps, laughter and impromptu applause from the audience.

Beautiful Thing at The Lowry

The combination of Jonathan Harvey’s brilliant writing and Nikolai Foster’s intelligent direction managed to bring out every nuance in the script – I found myself noticing elements that I hadn’t fully appreciated in previous interpretations. This production felt like a celebration and a salute to how far rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people have come over the last 20 years, and a recognition that we still have a fair way to go.

Kafka’s Monkey at HOME

What an accomplished performer Kathryn Hunter is – such a rich tone and incredible physicality. Masterfully directed by Walter Meierjohann, I feel blessed to have witnessed a performance like this – this show certainly put Manchester’s new arts space HOME on the map.

Golem at HOME

A true theatrical spectacle and a perfect amalgam of animation, live performance, music and claymation. Golem was like nothing that I had ever seen before – sharp interaction between the performers, Paul Barritt’s eye-popping animation and Lillian Henley’s brilliant silent movie-esque score.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Lowry

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a tremendous piece of theatre – a perfect collaboration with outstanding performances throughout. Gripping and heartfelt – the perfect example of the power that theatre has to change the way that we view the world.

Wicked at The Lowry

Emily Tierney as Glinda & Ashleigh Gray as Elphaba. ©Matt Crockett

Well, I’m a big fan of Wicked and despite having seen the production before it just gets better and better for me every time. With magnificent music and lyrics, Wicked is a theatrical feast for your eyes, ears and hearts.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you – thank you for all of your support this year.

Wishing you all the best in 2016.

-Kristy Stott

Jackie Hagan: Some People Have Too Many Legs ©Lee Baxter — Jackie Hagan: Some People Have Too Many Legs
©Lee Baxter

Date: 9 may 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Contact Manchester’s Flying Solo Festival celebrates the ability of one artist to hold the stage and the interest of the audience for an entire performance. It makes for an intensive and rewarding experience for the theatre goers and this is particularly true of Jackie Hagan’s show, Some People Have Too Many Legs.

Just before Jackie starts her main show, she comes out onto the stage and introduces herself to the audience, who according to her, ‘look just like Facebook, little squares, only your faces are moving’. Her direct, honest and optimistic style makes her instantly likeable and when she tells us that she is pleased to be performing in the Contact Theatre on this side of Oxford Road, rather than residing as an inpatient over the road at the MRI- where she was 2 years ago when she developed blood clots in her right leg, we share her enthusiasm and appetite for storytelling and performance.

Jackie Hagan is a luminous storyteller, when she relays important happenings in her life – growing up, loss and grief and falling in love during challenging times – she does it with positivity and determination. She juxtaposes feelings of fear and sadness with her sparkly optimism and imagination – her well paced humour glitters throughout engaging our hearts and minds as we wonder what she might reveal to us next.

A white tent, equipped with fairy lights and white lace provide the staging for Jackie’s story. This setting works well as an intimate frame for flashbacks and as a stark and sterile backdrop for the hospital ward. Jackie explores the various coping methods that she found some comfort in when she became an amputee and she also animates a week by week account which assist us in understanding her experience. It is not self pitying but positive and uplifting especially when the performance becomes interactive and we are invited to open the envelopes that we were given at the start of the show. We all share in Jackie’s dream sequence as she holds up a handwritten banner which says “I know you have had to cope too.”

“You’ll notice that where most of you have got a tube of meat I’ve got a pillar of glitter”

Some People Have Too Many Legs is an inspirational show that can be appreciated by everyone. Jackie Hagan’s straight talking, bubbly and empowering persona translates well in performance – not every disabled person wants to be called brave or become a Paralympian. This show is testament that a very beautiful, amusing and cathartic piece of art can emerge from the most difficult of situations and sometimes we all have to “throw some glitter at it in the only way you can”.