Curtain’s up for first rep theatre in half a century
LAUNCH PERFORMANCE PROMISES ‘SHAKESPEARE FOR NOW’
THE Observer Food Monthly has listed one Manchester restaurant in its top 50 list – a compilation of the foodie supplement’s favourite things in 2017.
Now in its fifth annual edition, the list includes Michael O’Hare’s ‘space-age Asian’ restaurant The Rabbit In The Moon, praising the chef for his ‘imaginative’ cooking.
But it’s O’Hare’s protégé Luke Cockerill who is heading up the kitchen, which serves a 17-course tasting menu priced at £75 per person.
Visitors can expect eclectic dishes such as wagyu nigiri, edible plum stone, crispy rabbit ears and a Chinese bacon butty.
Speaking about the launch at the time, O’Hare said: “We’ve been extremely precise in making sure every detail is executed to the highest level and myself, Luke and the rest of the team have had great fun in designing it.
“We’ve done away with tradition and used familiar flavours to help us create a space age Asian theme Manchester hasn’t seen before.”
O’Hare is working with ex-United footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, who snapped up the Michelin-starred chef as creative director for GG Hospitality.
The Observer article, which lists restaurants alongside cookery books and food destinations, also mentions O’Hare’s The Man Who Fell To Earth and Are Friends Electric, both of which are due to open in The Stock Exchange on Norfolk Street.
The Man Who Fell To Earth will be a more formal affair, with an a la carte menu set in a grand Parisian ballroom-style restaurant. A NEW theatre space is set to open at Manchester’s Great Northern Warehouse this spring, housing the city’s first dedicated repertory company in more than 50 years.
Northern Rep will take over the
The more relaxed of the two is Are Friends Electric, a rooftop restaurant which will feature a space formerly occupied by Junkyard Golf Club at the Peter Street entertainment complex – just a stone’s throw from where the city’s last rep theatre, The Gaiety, stood before being demolished in 1959.
“That’s the last time there was a dedicated rep company in Manchester,“said Northern Rep director and playwright Thomas Moore, who also directed the Manchester Open Air Theatre pop-up play series at Chorlton Park last summer.
“It’s started to make a resurgence across the country and with Manchester being, I believe, the best city for theatre at the moment we thought there was a huge gap for it here.
“We want to unite all the undiscovered talent in Manchester and give that a voice – to find the stars of tomorrow, today.”
The theatre will launch as a pop-up next month with an immersive clubland reimagining of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream before opening permanently in May.
“All I will say is don’t expect a traditional theatre-going experience,” said Thomas. kitchen-style service, where diners can sit at the pass and watch chefs plate up. “Expect somewhere where you can go with your friends, get a drink and not feel like you don’t understand the words. This is Shakespeare for now, Shakespeare in a way that everyone is going to get and have fun, not only watching it but being part of it.” Northern Rep plans to create two theatre spaces in the venue: a flexible main house seating up to 300 people and a smaller studio space with capacity for an audience of 100. Great Northern Warehouse centre director Mark Schofield said: “We are delighted to welcome Northern Rep to the Great Northern Warehouse. The team has a track record of delivering unforgettable performances and I know that our visitors will be wowed by what they put on. It’s the first time we’ve utilised the Great Northern Warehouse as a theatre venue, and the space is shaping up really well for Northern Rep.” Former Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh has also spoken out in support of the venture. “I am thrilled that Manchester might have its own dedicated rep company,” she said. “There is such an appetite for theatre in this fantastic city, and so much talent. It’s just wonderful.” Julie Hesmondhalgh