Royal Exchange, Manchester
Encyclopedia
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed Victorian
building in Manchester
, England. It is located in the city centre
on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square
, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Exchange Theatre and the Royal Exchange shopping centre.
Sitting in the heart of Manchester, the Exchange Theatre has been heavily damaged twice since opening in 1921, first in the Manchester Blitz
and secondly in the 1996 Manchester bombing
. The current building is the last of several buildings on the site used for commodities exchange
, primarily but not exclusively of cotton and textiles.
between 1914 and 1931 to form the largest trading room
in England.
when it took a direct hit from a bomb during a German
air raid at Christmas, 1940
. The interior was rebuilt with a smaller trading area. The top stages of the clock tower, which had been destroyed, were replaced in a simpler form. Trading ceased in 1968, and the building was threatened with demolition.
s — Michael Elliott
, Caspar Wrede
, Richard Negri
, James Maxwell
and Braham Murray
— a group whose origins lay in the 59 and later 69 Theatre Companies whose work had an impact first in London and then Manchester. It was opened by Sir Laurence Olivier on 15 September 1976. In 1979, the artistic directorship was augmented by the appointment of Gregory Hersov. Of the original group, Hersov and Braham Murray remain active.
survived almost unscathed is probably due to the sheltering effect of the stone-built Exchange.
Repairs took over two years and cost £32 million, a sum provided by the National Lottery
. Whilst its home was being rebuilt, the theatre company performed in a mobile theatre, which was set up in an indoor market building in Castlefield
.
As well as repairing the theatre the reconstruction programme added a second performance space, a bookshop, craft shop, restaurant, bars and rooms for corporate hospitality. The theatre's workshops, costume department and rehearsal rooms were moved to a second site on Swan Street.
The refurbished theatre was re-opened on 30 November 1998 by Prince Edward
. The opening production was Stanley Houghton's Hindle Wakes, the play that would have been presented on the day the bomb went off.
In 1999, the Royal Exchange was awarded 'Theatre of the Year' in the Barclays Theatre Awards, in recognition of its successful refurbishment and ambitious re-opening season.
in which the stage area is surrounded on all sides, and above, by seating.
The theatre's unique design was conceived by Richard Negri
of the Wimbledon School of Art, and was intended to create an unusually vivid and immediate relationship between actors and audiences. As the floor of the Exchange was unable to take the weight of the theatre and its audience, the module is suspended from the four columns that carry the hall's central dome. Only the stage area and ground-level seating rest on the floor of the hall.
The theatre can seat up to 700 people on three levels, making it the largest theatre in the round in Britain. There are 400 seats at ground level in a raked configuration, above which are two galleries, each with 150 seats set in two rows.
with no fixed stage area and moveable seats, allowing for a variety of production styles (in the round, thrust
etc.) It acts as host to a programme of visiting touring theatre companies, stand-up comedians and performances for young people.
or from a 400 seat mobile theatre.
The company performs a varied programme including classic theatre and revivals, contemporary drama and original new writing. Shakespeare
, Ibsen
and Chekhov
have been the mainstay of its repertoire but the theatre has also staged classics from other areas of the canon including the British premieres of La Ronde
and The Prince Of Homburg and revivals of The Lower Depths
, Don Carlos
and The Dybbuk
. American work has also been important - Tennessee Williams
, O'Neill
, Miller
, August Wilson
- as has new writing, with the world premieres of The Dresser
, Amongst Barbarians
, A Wholly Healthy Glasgow and Port to its name.
In addition to its own productions the Royal Exchange also presents visiting theatre companies in the Studio; folk
, jazz
and rock
concerts; and discussions, readings and literary events. The Royal Exchange Theatre engages children of all ages in drama activities and groups and regularly has performances including these children and teens. Performances include The Freedom Bird and The Boy Who Ran from the Sea.
Associate Artistic Directors include:-
Nicholas Hytner
(1985-1989), Ian McDiarmid
(1986–1988) and Phyllida Lloyd
(1990–1991).
Many other notable directors have worked at the Royal Exchange amongst them Lucy Bailey, Michael Buffong, Robert Delamere, Jacob Murray, Adrian Noble
, Steven Pimlott
and Richard Wilson
.
The company is also renowned for its innovative designers, composers and choreographers. These include Lez Brotherston, Johanna Bryant, Chris Monks, Alan Price
, Jeremy Sams
, Rae Smith and Mark Thomas
.
Lorraine Ashbourne
, Brenda Blethyn
, Tom Courtenay
, Amanda Donohoe
, Gabrielle Drake
, Lindsay Duncan
, Ray Fearon
, Michael Feast, Robert Glenister
, Derek Griffiths
, Dilys Hamlett
, Claire Higgins, Paterson Joseph
, Ben Keaton
, Robert Lindsay
, Ian McDiarmid
, Tim McInnerny
, Janet McTeer
, Patrick O’Kane, Trevor Peacock
, Pete Postlethwaite
, Linus Roache
, David Schofield
, Andy Serkis
, Michael Sheen
and David Threlfall
.
Other actors have appeared at the theatre and these include Brian Cox, Albert Finney
, Alex Jennings
, Ben Kingsley
, Leo McKern
, Helen Mirren
, David Morrissey
, Vanessa Redgrave
, John Thaw
, Harriet Walter
, Julie Walters
and Sam West
.
The company has had a reputation for spotting young actors before they became famous. Kate Winslet
, Hugh Grant
, David Tennant
and most recently Andrew Garfield
all appeared at the Royal Exchange before starring in film and television.
. It uses an anonymous selection process, which allows both first-time and experienced to compete alongside each other under pseudonyms.
Initially, the competition had its roots in two regional competitions called WRITE. Together, these two regional competitions attracted over 400 entries. The first two competitions resulted in three festivals of new writing which showcased eight new writers. One of these eight writers, Nick Leather subsequently became writer in residence. The theatre produced his Pearson Award winning script, All the Ordinary Angels, in October 2005.
In November 2005, the Theatre and Bruntwood, a Manchester-based property company, joined forces, enabling the competition to go nationwide.
In 2006, 1,800 scripts were submitted for consideration. The winning entry was Ben Musgrave’s Pretend You Have Big Buildings. Musgrave received a prize of £15,000 and his play was performed on the main stage as part of the Manchester International Festival
2007. A second prize of £10,000 was awarded to Duncan Macmillan’s “Monster”, which was also performed during the Manchester International Festival in The Studio. A third prize of £5000 was awarded to Phil Porter
’s The Cracks In My Skin, which was performed in The Studio in February 2008.
Other prizes awarded in 2006 were the Under 26 Prize - £5,000 - which went to Matt Hartley for his play Sixty Five Miles. Finally, The North West Prize went to Ian Kershaw
with Candy Land.
2008 saw the Exchange and Bruntwood run the second competition. Judges this year included Brenda Blethyn
, Michael Sheen
, Roger Michell
and actor/director Richard Wilson. The £40,000 prize fund was split equally between Vivienne Franzmann for Mogadishu (main house and Lyric Hammersmith 2011), Fiona Peek for Salt (The Studio 2010), Andrew Sheridan
for Winterlong (The Studio, 2011) and Naylah Ahmed for Butcher Boys.
In 2011, the award became the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and launched on 31st January, accepting entries until 6th June. Once again, the total prize fund on offer is £40,000.
. Another is that of a maternal Victorian lady, well dressed and with "a passion for drink".
In 2006, the building was the subject of a paranormal investigation by the Most Haunted
programme on Living TV.
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
building in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England. It is located in the city centre
Manchester City Centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...
on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square
St Ann's Church, Manchester
St Ann's Church, Manchester, was consecrated in 1712. Although named after St Anne, it also pays tribute to the patron of the church, Ann, Lady Bland. St Ann's Church is a Grade I listed building.-Architecture and setting:...
, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Exchange Theatre and the Royal Exchange shopping centre.
Sitting in the heart of Manchester, the Exchange Theatre has been heavily damaged twice since opening in 1921, first in the Manchester Blitz
Manchester Blitz
The Manchester Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the Nazi German Luftwaffe...
and secondly in the 1996 Manchester bombing
1996 Manchester bombing
The 1996 Manchester bombing was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 15 June 1996 in Manchester, England. The bomb, placed in a van on Corporation Street in city centre, targeted the city's infrastructure and economy and caused widespread damage, estimated by...
. The current building is the last of several buildings on the site used for commodities exchange
Commodities exchange
A commodities exchange is an exchange where various commodities and derivatives products are traded. Most commodity markets across the world trade in agricultural products and other raw materials and contracts based on them...
, primarily but not exclusively of cotton and textiles.
History
The first exchange was built near the present site in 1792, replaced by a second, larger exchange constructed between 1806 and 1809, and enlarged between 1847 and 1849. The second exchange replaced, by a third exchange by Mills & Murgatroyd, constructed between 1867 and 1874. The building was extended and modified by Bradshaw Gass & HopeBradshaw Gass & Hope
Bradshaw Gass & Hope is an English firm of architects founded in 1862 by Jonas James Bradshaw . The style "Bradshaw Gass & Hope" was adopted after J. J...
between 1914 and 1931 to form the largest trading room
Trading room
A trading-room gathers traders operating on financial markets.The trading-room is also often called the front office.The terms dealing-room and trading-floor are also used, the latter being inspired from that of a open outcry stock exchange....
in England.
The Manchester Blitz
The building was seriously damaged during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when it took a direct hit from a bomb during a German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
air raid at Christmas, 1940
Manchester Blitz
The Manchester Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the Nazi German Luftwaffe...
. The interior was rebuilt with a smaller trading area. The top stages of the clock tower, which had been destroyed, were replaced in a simpler form. Trading ceased in 1968, and the building was threatened with demolition.
The theatre
The building remained empty until 1973 when it was used to temporarily house a theatre company. The Royal Exchange Theatre was founded in 1976 by artistic directorArtistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
s — Michael Elliott
Michael Elliott
Michael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director.-Early life:He was born in London the son of a clergyman, Canon Elliott and was educated at Radley College and Keble College, Oxford...
, Caspar Wrede
Caspar Wrede
Baron Caspar Wrede af Elimä was a Finnish film and theatre director.-Early life:...
, Richard Negri
Richard Negri
Richard Negri was a British theatre director and designer.-Early life:Richard Negri was born on 27 June 1927 in Stamford Hill, London to parents of Italian origin: Riccardo Negri and Teresa Manattini. The family moved to Chingford in Essex where he was educated...
, James Maxwell
James Maxwell (actor)
James Maxwell was an American actor, theatre director and writer, particularly associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.-Early life:...
and Braham Murray
Braham Murray
Braham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
— a group whose origins lay in the 59 and later 69 Theatre Companies whose work had an impact first in London and then Manchester. It was opened by Sir Laurence Olivier on 15 September 1976. In 1979, the artistic directorship was augmented by the appointment of Gregory Hersov. Of the original group, Hersov and Braham Murray remain active.
IRA bombing
The building was damaged on 15 June, 1996 when the 1996 IRA bomb exploded less than 50 yards away in Corporation Street. The blast caused the dome to move, although the main structure was undamaged. That the adjacent St Ann's ChurchSt Ann's Church, Manchester
St Ann's Church, Manchester, was consecrated in 1712. Although named after St Anne, it also pays tribute to the patron of the church, Ann, Lady Bland. St Ann's Church is a Grade I listed building.-Architecture and setting:...
survived almost unscathed is probably due to the sheltering effect of the stone-built Exchange.
Repairs took over two years and cost £32 million, a sum provided by the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
. Whilst its home was being rebuilt, the theatre company performed in a mobile theatre, which was set up in an indoor market building in Castlefield
Castlefield
Castlefield is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and the Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester...
.
As well as repairing the theatre the reconstruction programme added a second performance space, a bookshop, craft shop, restaurant, bars and rooms for corporate hospitality. The theatre's workshops, costume department and rehearsal rooms were moved to a second site on Swan Street.
The refurbished theatre was re-opened on 30 November 1998 by Prince Edward
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO is the third son and fourth child of Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh...
. The opening production was Stanley Houghton's Hindle Wakes, the play that would have been presented on the day the bomb went off.
In 1999, the Royal Exchange was awarded 'Theatre of the Year' in the Barclays Theatre Awards, in recognition of its successful refurbishment and ambitious re-opening season.
Main performance space
The theatre features a seven-sided steel and glass module that squats within the building's Great Hall. It is a pure theatre in the roundTheatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
in which the stage area is surrounded on all sides, and above, by seating.
The theatre's unique design was conceived by Richard Negri
Richard Negri
Richard Negri was a British theatre director and designer.-Early life:Richard Negri was born on 27 June 1927 in Stamford Hill, London to parents of Italian origin: Riccardo Negri and Teresa Manattini. The family moved to Chingford in Essex where he was educated...
of the Wimbledon School of Art, and was intended to create an unusually vivid and immediate relationship between actors and audiences. As the floor of the Exchange was unable to take the weight of the theatre and its audience, the module is suspended from the four columns that carry the hall's central dome. Only the stage area and ground-level seating rest on the floor of the hall.
The theatre can seat up to 700 people on three levels, making it the largest theatre in the round in Britain. There are 400 seats at ground level in a raked configuration, above which are two galleries, each with 150 seats set in two rows.
The Studio
The Studio is a 100 seat studio theatreStudio Theatre
A studio theatre is a 20th-century term that describes a small theatre space. Studio theatres often have a flexible auditorium whose stage and seating may be re-arranged to suit the specific requirements of a production...
with no fixed stage area and moveable seats, allowing for a variety of production styles (in the round, thrust
Thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its up stage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area...
etc.) It acts as host to a programme of visiting touring theatre companies, stand-up comedians and performances for young people.
Theatre programme
The Royal Exchange gives an average of 350 performances a year of nine professional theatre productions. Performances by the theatre company are occasionally given in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
or from a 400 seat mobile theatre.
The company performs a varied programme including classic theatre and revivals, contemporary drama and original new writing. Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
and Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
have been the mainstay of its repertoire but the theatre has also staged classics from other areas of the canon including the British premieres of La Ronde
La Ronde (play)
La Ronde is a 1900 play by Arthur Schnitzler. It scrutinizes the sexual morals and class ideology of its day through a series of encounters between pairs of characters . By choosing characters across all levels of society, the play offers social commentary on how sexual contact transgresses...
and The Prince Of Homburg and revivals of The Lower Depths
The Lower Depths
The Lower Depths is perhaps Maxim Gorky's best-known play. It was written during the winter of 1901 and the spring of 1902. Subtitled "Scenes from Russian Life," it depicted a group of impoverished Russians living in a shelter near the Volga. Produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18,...
, Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
and The Dybbuk
The Dybbuk (play)
The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds is a 1914 play by S. Ansky, relating the story of a young bride possessed by a dybbuk —a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person— on the eve of her wedding...
. American work has also been important - Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
, Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
- as has new writing, with the world premieres of The Dresser
The Dresser
The Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. It is based on a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, in turn based on his successful 1980 West End and Broadway play of the same name.The film was directed by Peter...
, Amongst Barbarians
Amongst Barbarians
Amongst Barbarians is* a play by British playwright Michael Wall first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester prior to a transfer to the Hampstead Theatre in London ; and...
, A Wholly Healthy Glasgow and Port to its name.
In addition to its own productions the Royal Exchange also presents visiting theatre companies in the Studio; folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
concerts; and discussions, readings and literary events. The Royal Exchange Theatre engages children of all ages in drama activities and groups and regularly has performances including these children and teens. Performances include The Freedom Bird and The Boy Who Ran from the Sea.
Directors
The company has been run by a group of Artistic Directors since its inception. According to Braham Murray: -”Although the names have changed we have remained a team of like-minded individuals sharing a common vision of the purpose and potency of theatre.” The Royal Exchange Theatre Company Words & Pictures 1976 – 1998, p 62 These individuals include- Michael ElliottMichael ElliottMichael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director.-Early life:He was born in London the son of a clergyman, Canon Elliott and was educated at Radley College and Keble College, Oxford...
(1976–1984) - James MaxwellJames MaxwellJames Maxwell may refer to:*James Clerk Maxwell , physicist*James Laidlaw Maxwell , missionary to Formosa*James Laidlaw Maxwell, Junior , his son, English Presbyterian medical missionary to Taiwan and China...
(1976–1995) - Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
(1976- ) - Richard NegriRichard NegriRichard Negri was a British theatre director and designer.-Early life:Richard Negri was born on 27 June 1927 in Stamford Hill, London to parents of Italian origin: Riccardo Negri and Teresa Manattini. The family moved to Chingford in Essex where he was educated...
(1976–1986) - Caspar WredeCaspar WredeBaron Caspar Wrede af Elimä was a Finnish film and theatre director.-Early life:...
(1976–1990) - Greg HersovGreg HersovGregory A. Hersov is a British theatre director.Greg Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford.-Overview:...
(1987- ) - Marianne ElliottMarianne Elliott (director)Marianne Elliott is a British theatre director.-Early life:Marianne Elliott was born in 1966 in London, the daughter of Michael Elliott, the theatre director and co-founder of the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester and the actress Rosalind Knight. The family moved to Manchester when she was 8...
(1998–2002) - Matthew Lloyd (1998–2001)
- Sarah FrankcomSarah FrankcomSarah Frankcom has been joint artistic director of the Manchester Royal Exchange since 2008.-Royal Exchange:Her credits include:* Snapshots by Fiona Padfield. World premiere directed by Braham Murray and Sarah Frankcom with Terence Wilton * The Ghost Train Tattoo by Simon Robson...
(2008- )
Associate Artistic Directors include:-
Nicholas Hytner
Nicholas Hytner
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.-Biography:...
(1985-1989), Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
(1986–1988) and Phyllida Lloyd
Phyllida Lloyd
Phyllida Lloyd CBE is an English director, best known for her work in theatre and as the director of the most financially successful British film ever released, Mamma Mia!.-Career:...
(1990–1991).
Many other notable directors have worked at the Royal Exchange amongst them Lucy Bailey, Michael Buffong, Robert Delamere, Jacob Murray, Adrian Noble
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
, Steven Pimlott
Steven Pimlott
Steven Charles Pimlott OBE was an English opera and theatre director and actor. An obituary in The Times hailed him as "one of the most versatile and inventive theatre directors of his generation"...
and Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson
Ian Colquhoun Wilson OBE better known as Richard Wilson, is a Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster, best known for playing Victor Meldrew in the popular BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave. He currently appears in the BBC drama Merlin.- Life and career :Wilson was born in Greenock, Scotland...
.
The company is also renowned for its innovative designers, composers and choreographers. These include Lez Brotherston, Johanna Bryant, Chris Monks, Alan Price
Alan Price
Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....
, Jeremy Sams
Jeremy Sams
Jeremy Sams is a British film director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist....
, Rae Smith and Mark Thomas
Mark Thomas
Mark Clifford Thomas is a left-wing English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark...
.
Actors
Throughout its history the theatre has attracted actors who have taken on many roles over the years. Actors particularly associated with the Exchange and who have appeared in several different productions include : -Lorraine Ashbourne
Lorraine Ashbourne
Lorraine Ashbourne is an English stage, film and television actress.-Career:She has appeared on British television series and television movies, including: The Street,True Dare Kiss, Thin Ice, In a Land of Plenty,...
, Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Tom Courtenay
Tom Courtenay
Sir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
, Amanda Donohoe
Amanda Donohoe
Amanda Donohoe is an English film and television actress. She is known for her 1980s relationship with popstar Adam Ant and her later work on television — including L.A. Law and Emmerdale — and her roles in successful movies including Liar, Liar.-Early life:Donohoe was born in London, the daughter...
, Gabrielle Drake
Gabrielle Drake
Gabrielle Drake is a British actress who was born in Lahore, British India and lived in several Far Eastern countries .-Career:...
, Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
, Ray Fearon
Ray Fearon
Fitzroy Raymond "Ray" Fearon is a British actor who has worked extensively in theatre, and is known for playing garage mechanic Nathan Harding on ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life:...
, Michael Feast, Robert Glenister
Robert Glenister
Robert Lewis Glenister is a British actor known for his roles as con man Ash "Three Socks" Morgan in the British TV series Hustle, and Nicholas Blake in the BBC spy drama Spooks.-Career:...
, Derek Griffiths
Derek Griffiths
Derek Griffiths is a British actor who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to 1980s and more recently has played parts in TV drama.- Career :...
, Dilys Hamlett
Dilys Hamlett
Dilys Hamlett was a British actress.-Early life:Dilys Hamlett was born on 31 March 1928 in Tidworth, Hampshire and developed an early interest in literature and theatre...
, Claire Higgins, Paterson Joseph
Paterson Joseph
-Career:Born in London. Attended Cardinal Hinsley R.C High School in North West London. Joseph first trained at the Studio '68 of Theatre Arts, London – 1983–85 with Robert Henderson, then at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . In recent years he has had a high number of roles in...
, Ben Keaton
Ben Keaton
Ben Keaton is an Irish actor who appeared as Jeff Brannigan in ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He appeared in BBC's Casualty playing the part of Spencer between 1999-2002. He also appeared in the Channel 4's Irish comedy Father Ted, "Think Fast, Father Ted"...
, Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay may refer to:*Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie , Scottish chronicler*Robert Lindsay , English actor*Robert Lindsay , British Olympic track and field athlete...
, Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
, Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
, Janet McTeer
Janet McTeer
Janet McTeer, OBE is a British actress.-Life and career:McTeer was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom, the daughter of Jean and Alan McTeer...
, Patrick O’Kane, Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock is an English stage and television character actor. He was born in Tottenham, London, the son of Alexandria and Victor Edward Peacock.-Television and Film Career:...
, Pete Postlethwaite
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
, Linus Roache
Linus Roache
Linus William Roache is an English actor.-Early life:Roache was born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa Church of England School in Chichester, West Sussex and at the independent Rydal School in Colwyn Bay,...
, David Schofield
David Schofield
David Schofield may refer to:*David Schofield , English actor*David Schofield , English football player...
, Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
, Michael Sheen
Michael Sheen
Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
and David Threlfall
David Threlfall
David Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
.
Other actors have appeared at the theatre and these include Brian Cox, Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
, Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings is an English actor whose roles have included Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen .-Early years:...
, Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
, Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
, Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
, John Thaw
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
, Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
, Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
and Sam West
Sam West
Samuel Filmore West was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between and . Listed at 5' 11", 165 lb., West batted and threw left handed. He was born in Longview, Texas....
.
The company has had a reputation for spotting young actors before they became famous. Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
, Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
, David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
and most recently Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Russell Garfield is an American-English actor who has appeared in radio, theatre, film, and television. His early roles include the films Lions for Lambs, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Boy A, which garnered him the 2007 BAFTA Television Award for "Best Actor".Garfield achieved...
all appeared at the Royal Exchange before starring in film and television.
Key productions
The company has produced a very wide range of plays from 31 Shakespeare revivals to over 100 premieres; from neglected European classics to adaptations of famous novels. The many critically acclaimed and award winning productions include.- The RivalsThe RivalsThe Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
by SheridanRichard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
.One of the two opening productions, directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Tom CourtenayTom CourtenaySir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
, Christopher GableChristopher GableChristopher Gable, CBE was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor.Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957...
and Patricia RoutledgePatricia RoutledgeKatherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
(1976) - The Prince of HomburgThe Prince of HomburgThe Prince of Homburg, or in German Der Prinz von Homburg or Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, can refer to the following:-People:*Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg , also known as Prince Friedrich of Homburg -Artistic works:*The Prince of Homburg , a play written 1809/10 by Heinrich von Kleist...
by Heinrich von KleistHeinrich von KleistBernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
. The other opening production, directed by Casper Wrede with Tom CourtenayTom CourtenaySir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
and Christopher GableChristopher GableChristopher Gable, CBE was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor.Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957...
(1976) - The Lady from the SeaThe Lady from the SeaThe Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.Kvinnan från havet is a ballet by choreographer Birgit Cullberg, and based on Ibsen's play...
by IbsenHenrik IbsenHenrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
. Directed by Michael ElliottMichael ElliottMichael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director.-Early life:He was born in London the son of a clergyman, Canon Elliott and was educated at Radley College and Keble College, Oxford...
with Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
(1978) - The DresserThe DresserThe Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. It is based on a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, in turn based on his successful 1980 West End and Broadway play of the same name.The film was directed by Peter...
by Ronald HarwoodRonald HarwoodSir Ronald Harwood CBE is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay...
. World premiere directed by Michael ElliottMichael ElliottMichael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director.-Early life:He was born in London the son of a clergyman, Canon Elliott and was educated at Radley College and Keble College, Oxford...
with Tom CourtenayTom CourtenaySir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
and Freddie JonesFreddie JonesFrederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
(1980) - The Duchess of MalfiThe Duchess of MalfiThe Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
by John WebsterJohn WebsterJohn Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
. Directed by Adrian NobleAdrian NobleAdrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
with Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, Bob HoskinsBob HoskinsRobert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
and Pete PostlethwaitePete PostlethwaitePeter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
(1980) - Waiting for GodotWaiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
by Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Max WallMax WallMax Wall , was an English comedian and actor, whose performing career covered music hall, theatre, films and television.-Early years:...
and Trevor PeacockTrevor PeacockTrevor Peacock is an English stage and television character actor. He was born in Tottenham, London, the son of Alexandria and Victor Edward Peacock.-Television and Film Career:...
(1980) - HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Robert LindsayRobert LindsayRobert Lindsay may refer to:*Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie , Scottish chronicler*Robert Lindsay , English actor*Robert Lindsay , British Olympic track and field athlete...
(1983) - Moby Dick. World premiere adapted and directed by Michael ElliottMichael ElliottMichael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director.-Early life:He was born in London the son of a clergyman, Canon Elliott and was educated at Radley College and Keble College, Oxford...
with Brian Cox (1984) - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
. Directed by Nicholas HytnerNicholas HytnerSir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.-Biography:...
with Janet McTeerJanet McTeerJanet McTeer, OBE is a British actress.-Life and career:McTeer was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom, the daughter of Jean and Alan McTeer...
(1986) - Riddley WalkerRiddley WalkerRiddley Walker is a science fiction novel by Russell Hoban, first published in 1980. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel in 1982, as well as an Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award in 1983...
by Russell HobanRussell HobanRussell Conwell Hoban is an American writer, now living in England, of fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magic realism, poetry, and children's books-Biography:...
. World Premiere directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with David ThrelfallDavid ThrelfallDavid Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
(1986) - Edward II by Christopher MarloweChristopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
. Directed by Nicholas HytnerNicholas HytnerSir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.-Biography:...
with Ian McDiarmidIan McDiarmidIan McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
and Michael GrandageMichael GrandageMichael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
(1986) - Don CarlosDon CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
by SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
. Directed by Nicholas HytnerNicholas HytnerSir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.-Biography:...
with Ian McDiarmidIan McDiarmidIan McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
and Michael GrandageMichael GrandageMichael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
(1987) - All My SonsAll My SonsAll My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...
by Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
. Directed by Greg HersovGreg HersovGregory A. Hersov is a British theatre director.Greg Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford.-Overview:...
with John ThawJohn ThawJohn Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
and Michael MaloneyMichael MaloneyMichael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
(1988) - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with David ThrelfallDavid ThrelfallDavid Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
and Francis BarberFrancis BarberFrancis Barber was the Jamaican manservant of Samuel Johnson in London from 1752 until Johnson's death in 1784. Johnson made him his residual heir, with £70 a year to be given him by Trustees, expressing the wish that he move from London to Lichfield in Staffordshire, Johnson's native city...
(1988) - Arms and the ManArms and the ManArms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
by Bernard ShawBernard ShawBernard Shaw may refer to:* George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright* Bernard Shaw , English footballer of the 1960-70s* Bernard Shaw , journalist and longtime CNN anchorman* Bernie Shaw, singer for the band Uriah Heep...
with Catherine RussellCatherine RussellCatherine Russell is a British stage, television and screen actress.-Personal:Catherine Russell is the daughter of actor Nicholas Smith and his wife Mary. She is married to film producer Richard Holmes and they have two children, Sam and Poppy...
and Adrian LukisAdrian LukisAdrian Lukis, born in 1958 in Birmingham, is an actor who has appeared regularly in British television drama since the late 1980s. He trained at Drama Studio London...
(1988/89) - Donny Boy by Robert Glendinning (TMA AwardTMA AwardsThe TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
for best new play).World premiere directed by Casper Wrede (1990) - Death and the King's HorsemanDeath and the King's HorsemanDeath and The King's Horseman is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during British colonial rule: the ritual suicide of the horseman of an important chief was prevented by the intervention of the colonial authorities...
by Wole SoyinkaWole SoyinkaAkinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
. World premiere directed by Phyllida LloydPhyllida LloydPhyllida Lloyd CBE is an English director, best known for her work in theatre and as the director of the most financially successful British film ever released, Mamma Mia!.-Career:...
with George HarrisGeorge HarrisGeorge Harris may refer to:*George Harris, 1st Baron Harris , British general*George Prideaux Robert Harris , Australian naturalist*George Harris , English Unitarian minister in Scotland...
and Claire Benedict (1990) - Your Home in the West by Rod Wooden. World premiere directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with David ThrelfallDavid ThrelfallDavid Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
, Lorraine AshbourneLorraine AshbourneLorraine Ashbourne is an English stage, film and television actress.-Career:She has appeared on British television series and television movies, including: The Street,True Dare Kiss, Thin Ice, In a Land of Plenty,...
and Andy SerkisAndy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
(1991) - Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
. Directed by Greg HersovGreg HersovGregory A. Hersov is a British theatre director.Greg Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford.-Overview:...
(TMA AwardTMA AwardsThe TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
) with Michael SheenMichael SheenMichael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
and Kate Byers (1992) - Look Back in AngerLook Back in AngerLook Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
by John OsborneJohn OsborneJohn James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
. Directed by Greg HersovGreg HersovGregory A. Hersov is a British theatre director.Greg Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford.-Overview:...
with Michael SheenMichael SheenMichael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
and Claire SkinnerClaire SkinnerClaire L. Skinner is an English actress, who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television career.-Biography:Born and brought up in Hemel Hempstead, Skinner, the youngest daughter of a shopkeeper and an Irish-born secretary, was immensely shy as a child...
(1995) - Hindle Wakes by Stanley Houghton.Directed by Helena Kaut-HowsonHelena Kaut-HowsonHelena Kaut-Howson is a British theatre and opera director.-Biography:Internationally acclaimed theatre and opera director Helena Kaut-Howson was born in Poland, and trained at the Polish Academy of Theatre in Warsaw and RADA in London. She has worked extensively in the UK and Poland, as well as...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) with Ewan HooperEwan HooperEwan Hooper is a Scottish actor who is a graduate from, and now an Associate Member of, RADA. Hooper was the motivating force in the foundation of the Greenwich Theatre, which opened in 1969. Hooper was the founder director of the Scottish Theatre Company formed in Glasgow in the 1980s...
and Sue JohnstonSue JohnstonSusan "Sue" Johnston, OBE is a BAFTA nominated English actress best known for playing Sheila Grant in the long-running soap opera Brookside , Grace Foley in Waking the Dead from 2000 to 2011 and Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy The Royle Family between 1998 and 2000, and again in 2006, 2008, 2009,...
. See IRA bombing above. (1996) and (1998) - Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
. Directed by Helena Kaut-HowsonHelena Kaut-HowsonHelena Kaut-Howson is a British theatre and opera director.-Biography:Internationally acclaimed theatre and opera director Helena Kaut-Howson was born in Poland, and trained at the Polish Academy of Theatre in Warsaw and RADA in London. She has worked extensively in the UK and Poland, as well as...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) with Josie LawrenceJosie LawrenceJosie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
), Michael MullerMichael MüllerFr. Michael Müller C.Ss.R. was a prolific Catholic writer of the 19th century in the United States. Father Müller always submitted his works to two Redemptorist theologians and to his religious superiors before publication.-Life:Müller was born on December 18, 1825, in the village Brück in...
and Ewan HooperEwan HooperEwan Hooper is a Scottish actor who is a graduate from, and now an Associate Member of, RADA. Hooper was the motivating force in the foundation of the Greenwich Theatre, which opened in 1969. Hooper was the founder director of the Scottish Theatre Company formed in Glasgow in the 1980s...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (1997) - Poor Superman by Brad FraserBrad FraserBrad Fraser is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator. He is one of the most widely produced Canadian playwrights both in Canada and internationally. Fraser's plays typically feature a harsh yet comical view of contemporary life in Canada, including frank depictions of...
.British premiere directed by Marianne ElliottMarianne Elliott (director)Marianne Elliott is a British theatre director.-Early life:Marianne Elliott was born in 1966 in London, the daughter of Michael Elliott, the theatre director and co-founder of the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester and the actress Rosalind Knight. The family moved to Manchester when she was 8...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) with Sam Graham (MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) and Luke Williams (MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (1997) - Peer GyntPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
by Henrik IbsenHenrik IbsenHenrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
. Directed by Braham Murray with David ThrelfallDavid ThrelfallDavid Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
(1999) - Snake in Fridge by Brad FraserBrad FraserBrad Fraser is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator. He is one of the most widely produced Canadian playwrights both in Canada and internationally. Fraser's plays typically feature a harsh yet comical view of contemporary life in Canada, including frank depictions of...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
). World premiere directed by Braham Murray (MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) with Adam Sims (MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
)and Kellie BrightKellie BrightKellie Bright is an actress who is known for her roles as a child actress on British television in the late 1980s and the 1990s, and later in Bad Girls and The Archers.-Early career:...
(2000) - Hedda GablerHedda GablerHedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
by Henrik IbsenHenrik IbsenHenrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Amanda DonohoeAmanda DonohoeAmanda Donohoe is an English film and television actress. She is known for her 1980s relationship with popstar Adam Ant and her later work on television — including L.A. Law and Emmerdale — and her roles in successful movies including Liar, Liar.-Early life:Donohoe was born in London, the daughter...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
), Terence Wilton and Simon RobsonSimon RobsonSimon Robson is a British actor, director and writer.As an actor he has appeared in Doctors, Tom & Viv, Bodywork, Trial and Retribution and EastEnders, playing Graham Stone....
(2001) - The HomecomingThe HomecomingThe Homecoming is a two-act play written in 1964 by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and first published in 1965. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play and its 40th-anniversary Broadway production at the Cort Theatre was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for "Best Revival...
by Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
. Directed by Greg HersovGreg HersovGregory A. Hersov is a British theatre director.Greg Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford.-Overview:...
with Pete PostlethwaitePete PostlethwaitePeter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (2002) - OthelloOthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Paterson JosephPaterson Joseph-Career:Born in London. Attended Cardinal Hinsley R.C High School in North West London. Joseph first trained at the Studio '68 of Theatre Arts, London – 1983–85 with Robert Henderson, then at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . In recent years he has had a high number of roles in...
and Andy SerkisAndy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
(2002) - Port by Simon StephensSimon StephensSimon Stephens is an English playwright.Hailing originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester, he is now an increasingly significant voice in English theatre. His plays are often humane explorations of family life...
(Pearson AwardPearson Playwrights' SchemeIn 1973, Howard Thomas, then managing director of Thames Television, launched the Thames Television Theatre Writers Scheme to support and celebrate new writing in the theatre. He believed that television owed much to the theatre for its supply of creative talent...
). World premiere directed by Marianne ElliottMarianne Elliott (director)Marianne Elliott is a British theatre director.-Early life:Marianne Elliott was born in 1966 in London, the daughter of Michael Elliott, the theatre director and co-founder of the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester and the actress Rosalind Knight. The family moved to Manchester when she was 8...
with Emma LowndesEmma LowndesEmma Lowndes is an English actress, known for portraying Bella Gregson in Cranford and Mary Rivers in Jane Eyre.-Background:Raised in Irlam, Salford, Lowndes attended Irlam Primary School and Urmston Grammar, where she was Head Girl. She studied English at the University of York before training at...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) and Andrew SheridanAndrew SheridanAndrew Sheridan is an English rugby union player and musician, who plays loosehead prop for Sale Sharks.Sheridan is tall, which is unusually tall for a prop, and weighs...
(2002) - Hobson’s Choice by Harold BrighouseHarold BrighouseHarold Brighouse was an English playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.-Early life:Harold Brighouse was born in Eccles, Salford, the...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Trevor PeacockTrevor PeacockTrevor Peacock is an English stage and television character actor. He was born in Tottenham, London, the son of Alexandria and Victor Edward Peacock.-Television and Film Career:...
, John ThomsonJohn ThomsonJohn Thomson may refer to:*John Arthur Thomson , Scottish naturalist*John Charles Thomson , New Zealand politician*John Edgar Thomson , American civil engineer, railroad executive and industrialist...
and Joanna RidingJoanna RidingJoanna Riding, is an English actress. For her work in West End musicals, she has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for two others.-Biography:...
(2003) - Antony and CleopatraAntony and CleopatraAntony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Josette Bushell-MingoJosette Bushell-MingoJosette Bushell-Mingo is a Swedish-based British theatre actor and director of African descent. She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2000 for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Rafiki in the London production of The Lion King . In 2001, she founded a black-led arts festival...
, Tom MannionTom MannionTom Mannion is a British actor.His television credits include Brookside, Up the Garden Path, The Bill, Boon, Cadfael, Doctor Finlay, Doctors, Eleventh Hour, Holby City, Hustle, Life on Mars, Midsomer Murders, New Tricks, Red Cap, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Spatz, Taggart, The Agatha Christie...
and Terence Wilton (2005) - On the Shore of the Wide WorldOn the Shore of the Wide WorldOn the Shore of the Wide World is a play by English playwright Simon Stephens. It opened 18 April 2005, at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, under the direction of Sarah Frankcom...
by Simon StephensSimon StephensSimon Stephens is an English playwright.Hailing originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester, he is now an increasingly significant voice in English theatre. His plays are often humane explorations of family life...
(Olivier Award). World premiere directed by Sarah FrankcomSarah FrankcomSarah Frankcom has been joint artistic director of the Manchester Royal Exchange since 2008.-Royal Exchange:Her credits include:* Snapshots by Fiona Padfield. World premiere directed by Braham Murray and Sarah Frankcom with Terence Wilton * The Ghost Train Tattoo by Simon Robson...
with Nicholas GleavesNicholas GleavesNicholas Gleaves is an English actor best known for his role as Rick Powell in the television drama series Playing the Field. He also appeared as Tom Bedford in The Chase, from 2006-2007....
, Siobhan FinneranSiobhan FinneranSiobhan Finneran is an English television and film actress from Oldham in Lancashire, England.-Career:Siobhan's first major role was as Rita in the 1986 film, Rita, Sue and Bob Too. Since 2007 she has played Janice in ITV's popular comedy drama Benidorm, appearing in all 4 series and both specials...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) and Eileen O’Brien (2005) - Henry VHenry V (play)Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
. Directed by Jonathon Munby with Elliot CowanElliot CowanElliot Cowan is an English actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in Ultimate Force, Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen and Ptolemy in the 2004 film Alexander.-Background:...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (2007) - RootsRoots (play)Roots is the second play by Arnold Wesker in The Wesker Trilogy. The first part is Chicken Soup with Barley and the final play I'm Talking about Jerusalem. Roots focuses on Beatie Bryant as she makes the transition from being an uneducated working-class woman obsessed with Ronnie, her unseen...
by Arnold Wesker. Directed by Jo Combes with Claire Brown and Denise BlackDenise BlackDenise Black is an English actress, best known for playing Denise Osbourne in the ITV1 soap Coronation Street and Hazel Tyler in Channel 4 TV's Queer As Folk in 1999 and 2000, written by Russell T Davies. After attending Portsmouth's Girls Public Day School, she studied Psychology at London...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (2008) - The Children's HourThe Children's HourThe Children's Hour may refer to:* The Children's Hour , a game box containing three games for children released by Parker Bros in 1961....
by Lillian HellmanLillian HellmanLillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
. Directed by Sarah FrankcomSarah FrankcomSarah Frankcom has been joint artistic director of the Manchester Royal Exchange since 2008.-Royal Exchange:Her credits include:* Snapshots by Fiona Padfield. World premiere directed by Braham Murray and Sarah Frankcom with Terence Wilton * The Ghost Train Tattoo by Simon Robson...
with Maxine PeakeMaxine PeakeMaxine Peake is an English stage, film and television actress known for playing Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies, and, most recently, barrister Martha Costello in BBC legal drama Silk.-Early life:Peake is the second of...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
), Charlotte Emmerson and Kate O’Flynn (TMA AwardTMA AwardsThe TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
) (2008) - The Glass MenagerieThe Glass MenagerieThe Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
by Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsThomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
. Directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with Brenda BlethynBrenda BlethynBrenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
(TMA AwardTMA AwardsThe TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
) (2008) - Punk RockPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
by Simon StephensSimon StephensSimon Stephens is an English playwright.Hailing originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester, he is now an increasingly significant voice in English theatre. His plays are often humane explorations of family life...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
). World premiere directed by Sarah FrankcomSarah FrankcomSarah Frankcom has been joint artistic director of the Manchester Royal Exchange since 2008.-Royal Exchange:Her credits include:* Snapshots by Fiona Padfield. World premiere directed by Braham Murray and Sarah Frankcom with Terence Wilton * The Ghost Train Tattoo by Simon Robson...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) with Jessica Raine (MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) and Tom SturridgeTom SturridgeThomas Sidney Jerome "Tom" Sturridge is an English actor best known for his work in Being Julia, Like Minds, and The Boat That Rocked. As of September 2010, he was filming a role in Walter Salles's highly anticipated film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road.-Personal life:Sturridge was born...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
and Critics’ Circle Award)( 2009) - A Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
by Lorraine HansberryLorraine HansberryLorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
. Directed by Michael Buffong (MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) with Ray FearonRay FearonFitzroy Raymond "Ray" Fearon is a British actor who has worked extensively in theatre, and is known for playing garage mechanic Nathan Harding on ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life:...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
), Starletta DuPois(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) and Jenny JulesJenny JulesJenny Jules is an award-winning English actress of stage and screen. She started her acting career as a member of the youth theatre program at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, London...
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (2010). - PygmalionPygmalion (play)Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
by George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
. Directed by Greg HersovGreg HersovGregory A. Hersov is a British theatre director.Greg Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford.-Overview:...
with Cush JumboCush JumboCush Jumbo is an English actress, known for playing Lois Habiba in the third series of British science fiction drama Torchwood, Children of Earth....
, Simon RobsonSimon RobsonSimon Robson is a British actor, director and writer.As an actor he has appeared in Doctors, Tom & Viv, Bodywork, Trial and Retribution and EastEnders, playing Graham Stone....
, Terence Wilton and Ian BartholomewIan BartholomewIan Bartholomew is an English actor who has worked widely in both theatre and television.In television Bartholomew's work has ranged from The Darling Buds of May, Rumpole of the Bailey, Minder, and more recently, Making Waves and Spooks....
(MEN AwardManchester Evening News Theatre AwardsThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
) (2010))
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting
In 2005, the Royal Exchange Theatre launched the Bruntwood Playwriting Competition, with the aim of encouraging a new generation of playwrights. The competition is open to writers of all experience aged 16 and over from throughout the UK and IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It uses an anonymous selection process, which allows both first-time and experienced to compete alongside each other under pseudonyms.
Initially, the competition had its roots in two regional competitions called WRITE. Together, these two regional competitions attracted over 400 entries. The first two competitions resulted in three festivals of new writing which showcased eight new writers. One of these eight writers, Nick Leather subsequently became writer in residence. The theatre produced his Pearson Award winning script, All the Ordinary Angels, in October 2005.
In November 2005, the Theatre and Bruntwood, a Manchester-based property company, joined forces, enabling the competition to go nationwide.
In 2006, 1,800 scripts were submitted for consideration. The winning entry was Ben Musgrave’s Pretend You Have Big Buildings. Musgrave received a prize of £15,000 and his play was performed on the main stage as part of the Manchester International Festival
Manchester International Festival
The Manchester International Festival is an international cultural festival of original new work, held in the English city of Manchester. It is a biennial event, first taking place in June–July 2007, and subsequently recurring in the summers of 2009 and 2011...
2007. A second prize of £10,000 was awarded to Duncan Macmillan’s “Monster”, which was also performed during the Manchester International Festival in The Studio. A third prize of £5000 was awarded to Phil Porter
Phil Porter
Phil Porter is an English playwright, librettist and television writer, particularly known for his plays for young people. He is a graduate of the University of Birmingham.-Plays and libretti:Plays and libretti include:...
’s The Cracks In My Skin, which was performed in The Studio in February 2008.
Other prizes awarded in 2006 were the Under 26 Prize - £5,000 - which went to Matt Hartley for his play Sixty Five Miles. Finally, The North West Prize went to Ian Kershaw
Ian Kershaw
Sir Ian Kershaw is a British historian of 20th-century Germany whose work has chiefly focused on the period of the Third Reich...
with Candy Land.
2008 saw the Exchange and Bruntwood run the second competition. Judges this year included Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Michael Sheen
Michael Sheen
Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
, Roger Michell
Roger Michell
Roger Michell is an English theatre, television and film director.-Personal life:He was born in Pretoria, South Africa but spent significant parts of his childhood in Beirut, Damascus and Prague as his father was a diplomat. He was educated at Clifton College where he became a member of Brown's...
and actor/director Richard Wilson. The £40,000 prize fund was split equally between Vivienne Franzmann for Mogadishu (main house and Lyric Hammersmith 2011), Fiona Peek for Salt (The Studio 2010), Andrew Sheridan
Andrew Sheridan
Andrew Sheridan is an English rugby union player and musician, who plays loosehead prop for Sale Sharks.Sheridan is tall, which is unusually tall for a prop, and weighs...
for Winterlong (The Studio, 2011) and Naylah Ahmed for Butcher Boys.
In 2011, the award became the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and launched on 31st January, accepting entries until 6th June. Once again, the total prize fund on offer is £40,000.
Ghosts
The Royal Exchange building and the theatre itself are reputed to be haunted. One of the ghosts is reputed to be that of the actor and founding artistic director, James MaxwellJames Maxwell (actor)
James Maxwell was an American actor, theatre director and writer, particularly associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.-Early life:...
. Another is that of a maternal Victorian lady, well dressed and with "a passion for drink".
In 2006, the building was the subject of a paranormal investigation by the Most Haunted
Most Haunted
Most Haunted is a British paranormal documentary reality television series. The series was first shown on 25 May 2002 and ended on 21 July 2010. It was broadcast on Living and presented by Yvette Fielding. The programme was based on investigating purported paranormal activity...
programme on Living TV.