Events in September–October 2019
- City 125 - The Club With No History
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City 125 - The Club With No History
Dreamshed Theatre is delighted to return to the The Kings Arms with Bill Cronshaw’s new show which takes a romp through City’s history in this, City’s 125th anniversary year.
‘It’s like a fairy tale!’ says the life-long Blue as he introduces us to characters including a young lad, an elderly fan, a daydreaming manager of an amateur lads’ team and a long-suffering wife, girlfriend and mum. This revue-style show takes liberties with dry historical facts to track City’s journey to the Etihad. Suitable for all ages, this show is entertaining City diehards and general theatre-goers alike as it tours the UK.
- City 125 - The Club With No History
–
City 125 - The Club With No History
Dreamshed Theatre is delighted to return to the The Kings Arms with Bill Cronshaw’s new show which takes a romp through City’s history in this, City’s 125th anniversary year.
‘It’s like a fairy tale!’ says the life-long Blue as he introduces us to characters including a young lad, an elderly fan, a daydreaming manager of an amateur lads’ team and a long-suffering wife, girlfriend and mum. This revue-style show takes liberties with dry historical facts to track City’s journey to the Etihad. Suitable for all ages, this show is entertaining City diehards and general theatre-goers alike as it tours the UK.
- Pramkicker
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Pramkicker
After an award winning performance at this year's Greater Manchester Fringe, Postcard Theatre's revival of Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker returns!
Jude has always known she doesn't want kids. Her sister Susie isn't sure if her ovaries are twingeing or if she just needs a wee. One day, in a café full of 'yummy mummies', Jude loses the plot and kicks a pram. Then gets arrested. Then gets sent to anger management. Susie goes along for the ride and uses the opportunity to confess a secret. Pramkicker takes an unflinching look at what it means to be a modern woman.
- Pramkicker
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Pramkicker
After an award winning performance at this year's Greater Manchester Fringe, Postcard Theatre's revival of Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker returns!
Jude has always known she doesn't want kids. Her sister Susie isn't sure if her ovaries are twingeing or if she just needs a wee. One day, in a café full of 'yummy mummies', Jude loses the plot and kicks a pram. Then gets arrested. Then gets sent to anger management. Susie goes along for the ride and uses the opportunity to confess a secret. Pramkicker takes an unflinching look at what it means to be a modern woman.
- Drain by Lana O'Kell
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Drain by Lana O'Kell
In a working class town in the UK, five creatives struggle to make a living out of their chosen careers as poverty, exclusivity and lack of opportunity continues to hold them back. Forced to sign on at Universal Credit, the group find it difficult to stay hopeful that things will change as the system that is meant to help them only pushes them further down the drain.
Throughout the summer of 2018, against a backdrop of scorching heat and the World Cup, the five friends battle societal and financial hurdles as they try to find ways to get the same opportunities as everyone else.
- Drain by Lana O'Kell
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Drain by Lana O'Kell
In a working class town in the UK, five creatives struggle to make a living out of their chosen careers as poverty, exclusivity and lack of opportunity continues to hold them back. Forced to sign on at Universal Credit, the group find it difficult to stay hopeful that things will change as the system that is meant to help them only pushes them further down the drain.
Throughout the summer of 2018, against a backdrop of scorching heat and the World Cup, the five friends battle societal and financial hurdles as they try to find ways to get the same opportunities as everyone else.
- Drain by Lana O'Kell
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Drain by Lana O'Kell
In a working class town in the UK, five creatives struggle to make a living out of their chosen careers as poverty, exclusivity and lack of opportunity continues to hold them back. Forced to sign on at Universal Credit, the group find it difficult to stay hopeful that things will change as the system that is meant to help them only pushes them further down the drain.
Throughout the summer of 2018, against a backdrop of scorching heat and the World Cup, the five friends battle societal and financial hurdles as they try to find ways to get the same opportunities as everyone else.
- A Quick Guide to Ruining your Life
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A Quick Guide to Ruining your Life
An Award Winning Play by Laura HarperFrom the outside, Dawn has it all; nice house, fast car, great friends and family, and a new job out in sunny Dubai. So why has she been hiding in her own attic for the last three months? She’s about to confess all to the world, but not before she confronts some painful home truths, uncovers a heart-breaking infidelity and learns to poop in a bucket!
Awards
Winner of the 'Write for the Stage' New Writing Award, July 2019
Nominated for Best Comedy, Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, 2019
Nominated for Best Drama, Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, 2019
Nominated for Audience Choice Award, Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, 2019
Nominated for Oldham Coliseum's Pick of the Fringe Award, Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, 2019
- You Bet
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You Bet
Bet Lynch. Barmaid. Iconic blonde rocket and Femme Formidadble. Sexy, strong northerner, sensitive survivor and queen of the one liners.
Big boss of The Rovers Return and national treasure.Kathy Diamond plays the lead in this one woman performance of monologues and music celebrating the wonderful and iconic television characer that is Bet Lynch.
An uplifting and sometimes heartbreaking story that made Bet the way she was. From factory girl to landlady of The Rovers Return, Bet was the star and the bar was her stage.
You Bet is a tribute to this unmistakeable female character lovingly created and played by actress Julie Goodyear MBE.
Giving us tears, laughter and heart-stopping drama, she graced the screens of British TV for over 25 years on the worlds longest running soap opera, Coronation Street. - The Incident Pit
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The Incident Pit
There have been so many deaths at this massive, old, flooded quarry over the years they’ve nick-named it ‘The Incident Pit’. The bottom of it has never been reached and so there’s an obsession by divers to be the first to get there. And as the authorities threaten to close the dive site for good; this obsession is intensified as the chance to be the conqueror of the Pit is gone forever.
In the wake of the death of its latest victim, Rob, views are polarised in the club. Fiona now plans to give up diving altogether but Martin is more determined than ever to be that conqueror. But as everyone refuses to go with him he is forced the consider breaking the hallowed diving rule; never dive alone.
Fiona and Martin argue furiously about what counts as bravery and what as recklessness. When does ambition turn into suicide? But undeterred, Martin carries on. After all, he argues; what’s the point of living if we don’t take risks? And so he plans his dive - but what really lies at the bottom of the Incident Pit?
Starring Carl Wharton and Miranda Benjamin, this is Chris Leicester’s 8th new, original play since 1998. After premiering at Tristan Bates Theatre the Incident Pit goes on to tour the North West.
- Side By Side, Year By Year 10
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Side By Side, Year By Year 10
Do you like musicals? Do you like quirky comedy? Then this is the concert for you! For ten years, Side By Side Productions have prided themselves on bringing off-Broadway musical theatre to Manchester.With a concert jampacked full of laughs and anecdotes, there will be songs from “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, “Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens”, “The Great American Trailer Park musical” and many more. Come and have some sweets and sing along to your favourite Side By Side songs! - Side By Side, Year By Year 10
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Side By Side, Year By Year 10
Do you like musicals? Do you like quirky comedy? Then this is the concert for you! For ten years, Side By Side Productions have prided themselves on bringing off-Broadway musical theatre to Manchester.With a concert jampacked full of laughs and anecdotes, there will be songs from “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, “Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens”, “The Great American Trailer Park musical” and many more. Come and have some sweets and sing along to your favourite Side By Side songs! - Side By Side, Year By Year 10
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Side By Side, Year By Year 10
Do you like musicals? Do you like quirky comedy? Then this is the concert for you! For ten years, Side By Side Productions have prided themselves on bringing off-Broadway musical theatre to Manchester.With a concert jampacked full of laughs and anecdotes, there will be songs from “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, “Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens”, “The Great American Trailer Park musical” and many more. Come and have some sweets and sing along to your favourite Side By Side songs! - Janet
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Janet
Come and see Janet!
Emmerdale meets Monty Python in "Janet", a deliciously surreal show which follows the life of Janet from conception to tragic-comic end. Janet is 1.5kg of uncooked bread dough who refuses to go in the oven, the other characters are played by kitchen paraphernalia and various shaped loaves.
Performed by Helen Ainsworth
Directed by John Mowat
★★★★★ Broadway Baby https://broadwaybaby.com/shows/janet/744310★★★★ "Make sure you see this one" FringeGuru
★★★★ "Janet is truly bizarre" Northwest End
"The play was a giggle and a joy from start to finish" Buxton Fringe Review
"absolutely hilarious-yet-very dark" audience member
- Our Kid
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Our Kid
Northern Knights Productions presents: Our Kid
This hard hitting drama set in Salford & Manchester focuses
on the relationship of two brothers, but is told exclusively
from the perspective of one. Exploring the theme of revenge,
it poses the question; can you forgive and forget?
Framed by a signature Manchester soundtrack with visual and written references to both cities, ‘Our
Kid’ is a one-man show grounded in the gritty working class culture which is still alive and kicking in
Salford & Manchester. Our Kid explores domestic abuse, toxic masculinity and what leads youths to
gang life. Lead performer Taran Knight brings his own firsthand experience of gang culture and life to
the role, and wrote the show based on his own experiences. Our Kid’s goal is to raise awareness, and
to attract a new audience into the theatre. Working class stories, for Working Class people.
After a successful run at the Greater Manchester Fringe, and being nominated for ‘Best Drama’, ‘Best
New Writing’ & ‘Best Actor’ for lead performer Taran Knight, Our Kid returns for a UK tour running
until 2020 and leading towards the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. - Our Kid
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Our Kid
Northern Knights Productions presents: Our Kid
This hard hitting drama set in Salford & Manchester focuses
on the relationship of two brothers, but is told exclusively
from the perspective of one. Exploring the theme of revenge,
it poses the question; can you forgive and forget?
Framed by a signature Manchester soundtrack with visual and written references to both cities, ‘Our
Kid’ is a one-man show grounded in the gritty working class culture which is still alive and kicking in
Salford & Manchester. Our Kid explores domestic abuse, toxic masculinity and what leads youths to
gang life. Lead performer Taran Knight brings his own firsthand experience of gang culture and life to
the role, and wrote the show based on his own experiences. Our Kid’s goal is to raise awareness, and
to attract a new audience into the theatre. Working class stories, for Working Class people.
After a successful run at the Greater Manchester Fringe, and being nominated for ‘Best Drama’, ‘Best
New Writing’ & ‘Best Actor’ for lead performer Taran Knight, Our Kid returns for a UK tour running
until 2020 and leading towards the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. - Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked
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Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked
"Unashamedly provocative and unquestionably memorable" – The Stage
After sell out shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a five star run at the King's Head Theatre in London Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked is going on tour this autumn.
Awkward Productions present this critically-acclaimed, darkly comic production about love, acceptance and boundaries.
One-night stands are awkward. One-night stands with animals are more awkward. And when you're as desperate to please as Bobby, things get awkward as fuck. He's just a guy with too much love to give, and a burning desire to give it to consensual adult mammals. Reuniting the creative team from the previous runs - Linus Karp returns to the role directed by Katharine Armitage.
A one-man tragi-comedy, Rob Hayes’ play is a disturbing psychological examination of loneliness. The production tackles mental health, focusing on how toxic masculinity can undermine loving and healthy social connections, while also illustrating the absurdity of society’s treatment of animals. While castrating, killing and eating animals is part of our everyday lives and docking tails, breeding and caging animals is acceptable, there is a definitive ethical line drawn at sex.
"Funny and unsettling" - Mark Gatiss
"Really enjoyed. Linus Karp is Great" - Edgar Wright
"A Fringe hit" - Time Out
"A sensitive and nuanced performance" - The Stage
"Hilarious" - Gay Times
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ - London Theatre 1
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ - Everything Theatre
And 14 other ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reviews
Approx running time: 1 hour
- Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked
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Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked
"Unashamedly provocative and unquestionably memorable" – The Stage
After sell out shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a five star run at the King's Head Theatre in London Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked is going on tour this autumn.
Awkward Productions present this critically-acclaimed, darkly comic production about love, acceptance and boundaries.
One-night stands are awkward. One-night stands with animals are more awkward. And when you're as desperate to please as Bobby, things get awkward as fuck. He's just a guy with too much love to give, and a burning desire to give it to consensual adult mammals. Reuniting the creative team from the previous runs - Linus Karp returns to the role directed by Katharine Armitage.
A one-man tragi-comedy, Rob Hayes’ play is a disturbing psychological examination of loneliness. The production tackles mental health, focusing on how toxic masculinity can undermine loving and healthy social connections, while also illustrating the absurdity of society’s treatment of animals. While castrating, killing and eating animals is part of our everyday lives and docking tails, breeding and caging animals is acceptable, there is a definitive ethical line drawn at sex.
"Funny and unsettling" - Mark Gatiss
"Really enjoyed. Linus Karp is Great" - Edgar Wright
"A Fringe hit" - Time Out
"A sensitive and nuanced performance" - The Stage
"Hilarious" - Gay Times
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ - London Theatre 1
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ - Everything Theatre
And 14 other ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reviews
Approx running time: 1 hour
- Mistress To The Midnight
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Mistress To The Midnight
From long lost Anvil Studios comes a live screening of this 1959 horror masterpiece.
A respectable young lawyer is invited to a foreign land, drawn to a house of promises unkept and
bodies disinterred. His new client is a rich old spinster who has been waiting for him for a very long
time. The clocks are ticking, the family are missing and the baby’s been crying in the cellar fordecades...
Written by Jack Robertson, Chazz Redhead (Dirty White Boys) and Jacob Lovick (LoveHard),
this spooky motion picture is brought to life on stage by a trio of hilarious idiots (Robertson,
Lovick, and Joel Heritage). An evening guaranteed to be thrilling, chilling and funny as hell.Winner of Best Comedy Play at GM Fringe 2019
Praise for Mistress:-
“exceptional... a laugh in nearly every line... a fabulous hour” ★★★★★- North West End
“Riotously funny” ★★★★★ - Horror Hothouse
“Devilishly fun and creepy as hell” ★★★★ - London Pub Theatres
“Excellent and formidable” – Broadway Baby
“A genuine feeling of spookiness” – The Reviews Hub
Praise for Dirty White Boys:-
Winners - Best New Act (London Sketch Fest 2016)
"A slick operation with punchlines to match... Pitch perfect!" - ★★★★ Mumble Comedy
“Clever, witty, and brilliantly acted" ★★★★ - LondonTheatre1
“This is macabre, grim sketch comedy done right” ★★★★ – Shortcom - Burnout by Selina Helliwell
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Burnout by Selina Helliwell
Midnight. A 24-hour gym. A missing person. A missing piece.Raf - charming, charismatic, the life of the party - has disappeared.Everybody at the gym tonight has been affected by him in some way.But is Raf the only thing missing? Or is everyone missing something?A play about living life in your own way, the struggles of mental illness and the light at the end of the dark. - Burnout by Selina Helliwell
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Burnout by Selina Helliwell
Midnight. A 24-hour gym. A missing person. A missing piece.Raf - charming, charismatic, the life of the party - has disappeared.Everybody at the gym tonight has been affected by him in some way.But is Raf the only thing missing? Or is everyone missing something?A play about living life in your own way, the struggles of mental illness and the light at the end of the dark. - Trollope
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Trollope
Percy Trollope: born a fully grown man! Sent to Mrs Scrunts Home for Unwanted and Difficult Waifs. Reads loads of Books. Learns loads of stuff. Escapes. Meets HG Wells. Gets a time travelling wheelchair. Hurtles through time. Meets up with loads of historical characters. That’s it, in a nutshell; a really nutty nutshell! Watch it, eh?
Winner of FRINGE Production of the Year 2018 (Northern Soul) and Best Comedy Play (GM Fringe).
- Ground Zero
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Ground Zero
OfftheCuff Theatre Company are proud to present:
Ground Zero.
Written by Nathan Birkinshaw
Directed by George BukhariWe can be quite apathetic at times, it’s not hard as you stick on the TV and see the world in flames. Ground Zero follows five characters while they navigate the absurdity of their own existence, working zero hour contracts and low income jobs to try and carve out something of a life for themselves. It's a post dramatic farce of sorts that seeks to dismantle form in order to build something new - but never quite gets it right.
Cast: Marcella Hazel, Macauley Cooper, Natasha Burgess, Gemma Whiteley & Frederica Davies.
16+ adult humour and strong language
- Ground Zero
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Ground Zero
OfftheCuff Theatre Company are proud to present:
Ground Zero.
Written by Nathan Birkinshaw
Directed by George BukhariWe can be quite apathetic at times, it’s not hard as you stick on the TV and see the world in flames. Ground Zero follows five characters while they navigate the absurdity of their own existence, working zero hour contracts and low income jobs to try and carve out something of a life for themselves. It's a post dramatic farce of sorts that seeks to dismantle form in order to build something new - but never quite gets it right.
Cast: Marcella Hazel, Macauley Cooper, Natasha Burgess, Gemma Whiteley & Frederica Davies.
16+ adult humour and strong language
- Car Park King
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Car Park King
Described by The British Theatre Guide as ‘Horrible Histories for grown-ups’, during its phenomenal sell-out shows in 2017, ‘Car Park King’ is an original comedy play about one of the most controversial Kings of England, Richard III.
Add a drop of Monty Python, a dash of Blackadder and a sprinkle of Spike Milligan and you have a side- splitting, bizarre, unmissable comedy that is ‘Car Park King.’
Awoken from his Car park tomb go back in time and follow Richard as he tries to stop a curse and protect his two nephews from danger. Sound simple enough? Think again. From witches, human birds, flamboyant French kings, no nonsense policemen, murderers, salesmen, lizards, messengers and magical mushrooms. Richard’s journey won’t be easy...but it will be entertaining!
Car Park King is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
- Car Park King
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Car Park King
Described by The British Theatre Guide as ‘Horrible Histories for grown-ups’, during its phenomenal sell-out shows in 2017, ‘Car Park King’ is an original comedy play about one of the most controversial Kings of England, Richard III.
Add a drop of Monty Python, a dash of Blackadder and a sprinkle of Spike Milligan and you have a side- splitting, bizarre, unmissable comedy that is ‘Car Park King.’
Awoken from his Car park tomb go back in time and follow Richard as he tries to stop a curse and protect his two nephews from danger. Sound simple enough? Think again. From witches, human birds, flamboyant French kings, no nonsense policemen, murderers, salesmen, lizards, messengers and magical mushrooms. Richard’s journey won’t be easy...but it will be entertaining!
Car Park King is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
- Ghost Tales
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Ghost Tales
The year is 1984. Wham are telling you to Choose Life, the miners have just gone on strike and Liverpool have sealed their 3rd Championship in a row.
Local historians Christopher & Jennifer Kelly have hired the Kings Arms Vaults for a night of mystery and suspense, as they take you on a journey through local history with spooky ghost tales within the recesses of the Public House.
But is there more to the story than meets the eye? And will you be able to uncover the sinister, dark, hidden secret, threatening to tear apart our cast?
Pull the needle off the LP and tear yourself away from the Atari; throw on your high tops and relax t-shirt and join us, for this 1 hour immersive theatre show.
Car Park King–
Car Park King
Described by The British Theatre Guide as ‘Horrible Histories for grown-ups’, during its phenomenal sell-out shows in 2017, ‘Car Park King’ is an original comedy play about one of the most controversial Kings of England, Richard III.
Add a drop of Monty Python, a dash of Blackadder and a sprinkle of Spike Milligan and you have a side- splitting, bizarre, unmissable comedy that is ‘Car Park King.’
Awoken from his Car park tomb go back in time and follow Richard as he tries to stop a curse and protect his two nephews from danger. Sound simple enough? Think again. From witches, human birds, flamboyant French kings, no nonsense policemen, murderers, salesmen, lizards, messengers and magical mushrooms. Richard’s journey won’t be easy...but it will be entertaining!
Car Park King is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
Ghost Tales–
Ghost Tales
The year is 1984. Wham are telling you to Choose Life, the miners have just gone on strike and Liverpool have sealed their 3rd Championship in a row.
Local historians Christopher & Jennifer Kelly have hired the Kings Arms Vaults for a night of mystery and suspense, as they take you on a journey through local history with spooky ghost tales within the recesses of the Public House.
But is there more to the story than meets the eye? And will you be able to uncover the sinister, dark, hidden secret, threatening to tear apart our cast?
Pull the needle off the LP and tear yourself away from the Atari; throw on your high tops and relax t-shirt and join us, for this 1 hour immersive theatre show.
- EXAM
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EXAM
Multi award winning Vertigo Theatre Productions are proud to present their World Premiere stage adaptation of the BAFTA nominated movie EXAM. Manchester will get the play first before London.8 talented candidates have reached the final stages of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, the invigilator fives them 80 minutes to answer one simple question.He also provides them with a specific set of rules, violation of any of these means automatic expulsion from the examination, and the room. He starts the clock and leaves.The candidates turn over their papers, only to find them blank, they soon realise this is no normal job interview.Tensions rise as the clock steadily descends towards zero, each candidate must decide how far the are willing to go to secure the ultimate job."A fantastic tension filled play you would be crazy to miss"Remote Goat"If you thought The Apprentice was tough, this will knock spots of it"British Theatre Guide - EXAM
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EXAM
Multi award winning Vertigo Theatre Productions are proud to present their World Premiere stage adaptation of the BAFTA nominated movie EXAM. Manchester will get the play first before London.8 talented candidates have reached the final stages of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, the invigilator fives them 80 minutes to answer one simple question.He also provides them with a specific set of rules, violation of any of these means automatic expulsion from the examination, and the room. He starts the clock and leaves.The candidates turn over their papers, only to find them blank, they soon realise this is no normal job interview.Tensions rise as the clock steadily descends towards zero, each candidate must decide how far the are willing to go to secure the ultimate job."A fantastic tension filled play you would be crazy to miss"Remote Goat"If you thought The Apprentice was tough, this will knock spots of it"British Theatre Guide - EXAM
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EXAM
Multi award winning Vertigo Theatre Productions are proud to present their World Premiere stage adaptation of the BAFTA nominated movie EXAM. Manchester will get the play first before London.8 talented candidates have reached the final stages of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, the invigilator fives them 80 minutes to answer one simple question.He also provides them with a specific set of rules, violation of any of these means automatic expulsion from the examination, and the room. He starts the clock and leaves.The candidates turn over their papers, only to find them blank, they soon realise this is no normal job interview.Tensions rise as the clock steadily descends towards zero, each candidate must decide how far the are willing to go to secure the ultimate job."A fantastic tension filled play you would be crazy to miss"Remote Goat"If you thought The Apprentice was tough, this will knock spots of it"British Theatre Guide