| Library Theatre, Manchester shows & productions | | |
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Wednesday 14th to Saturday 17th May 2008 |
| A
secret, a spa in Bangkok and two naked Germans…
Martin, an ex-rent boy drug-dealing lawyer,
offers to share his tales of misfortune with
Stefan, a jaded hack writer on a junket. Together
they engage in an intricate exchange of outrageous
stories, weaving through movies, sex, celebrity
and genocide. With its razor-sharp dialogue
and lightning pace, Tough Time, Nice Time is
challenging, vividly imaginative, and utterly
absorbing. This production is suitable for adults
only. Performance
times: Wednesday & Thursday - 7.30pm, Friday
- 8pm, Saturday - 3pm & 8pm.
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| Saturday
17th May 2008 - 4pm |
| Black
or white? English or Scottish? Gay or straight?
Christian or Muslim? Group-based identity seems
more and more important in society. But are identities
a crucial form of support and solidarity for minorities
- or does our obsession with identity set us on
a path to division and hatred. Philosopher Julian
Baggini joins founder of Black History Month Linda
Bellos, The Independent's Johann Hari and Billy
Bragg, singer and author of The Progressive Patriot,
to debate where our loyalties should lie. Part
of Queer Up North International Festival 2008.
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Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th May 2008 |
| Rock
Hudson was the biggest screen idol in 1950’s
Hollywood – the ultimate Tinseltown hunk.
But his career was perpetually under threat from
Confidential Magazine, every queer actor’s
nemesis: and only one man stood between stardom
and oblivion. Rock is the story of Henry Willson,
the man who made stars of Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter,
Troy Donaghue and several other oddly-name men;
the most unscrupulous agent in Los Angeles; the
man who would do anything to protect his money-spinning
protégé… Starring the incomparable
Bette Bourne and written by Tim Fountain, the
team behind Resident Alien, Library Theatre’s
hit play about Quentin Crisp, Rock is a brand
new play that brings the seamy world of 1950s
Hollywood to vivid life. Rock is commissioned
by Homotopia & Glasgay! Performance
times: Tuesday to Thursday - 7.30pm, Friday -
8pm, Saturday - 3pm & 8pm.
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Friday 30th May to Saturday 21st June 2008 |
Mal
and Jill Rodale, a middle-aged married couple,
are coping with their share of problems. Secret
problems, to avoid hurt and confrontation, which
they hide from each other. Like most married
couples. For Mal, it’s work problems and
Sam, a son who is disappointing him, although
Sam doesn’t disappoint Jill. Jill, meanwhile,
worries about her daughter Chrissie’s
marriage, though Mal won’t hear a word
said against her. But a most unexpected sort
of help is at hand; a solution that will change
all their lives in ways they would never have
imagined.
Alan Ayckbourn’s 70th play, an ingenious
comedy which asks the audience to question its
perceptions of men and women, shows that the
master playwright is still very much on top
of his game. Performance times: Tuesday
to Thursday - 7.30pm, Friday & Saturday
- 8pm. There are 3pm matinees on Thursdays and
Saturdays.
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Saturday 29th November 2008 to Saturday 17th January
2009 |
| Mal
and Jill Rodale, a middle-aged married couple,
are coping with their share of Neil Bartlett’s
adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist
in 2005 at the Library Theatre was a huge hit
with both critics and audiences alike. He has
now turned his hand to Great Expectations, Dickens’
much-loved tale of Pip, a callow young man whose
path through life is shaped by two experiences
in his early years which turn out to have far-reaching
consequences for him. Pip first has a traumatic
and dramatic encounter with escaped convict Magwitch,
whom he befriends, and then the eccentric and
capricious Miss Havisham, and her beautiful but
spiteful adopted daughter, Estella. Neil Bartlett’s
powerful and imaginative stage version of Dickens’
story promises to be one of the most thrilling
theatrical experiences of the year. Performance
times vary so please check our calendar
pages for times of all the dates.
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