Peter Kay – between the acts

Theatre: Shakespeare

1. Romeo and Juliet (RSC).

2. King Lear (RSC).

3. As You Like It (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

4. Measure for Measure (Almeida).

5. The Winter’s Tale (RSC/Roundhouse).

6. Henry IV part 2 (Globe).

7. Macbeth (Globe).

8. Antony and Cleopatra (RSC).

9. Antony and Cleopatra (Liverpool Playhouse).

10. Hamlet (The Crucible, Sheffield).

11. King Lear (Donmar).

12. Henry VIII (The Globe).

13. The Tempest (Old Vic).

14. As You Like It (Old Vic)

15. Macbeth (Belt Up/York Theatre Royal).

Theatre: Not Shakespeare

1. Jerusalem (Apollo).

2. After the Dance (National).

3. An Enemy of the People (Sheffield Crucible).

4. Women Beware Women (National).

5. London Assurance (National).

6. Enron (Theatre Royal, Newcastle)

7. The Habit of Art (National Theatre).

8. Corrie! (Lowry, Salford)

9. The Real Thing (Old Vic).

10. Canterbury Tales (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Northern Broadsides).

11. La Bete (Comedy Theatre).

12. Death of a Salesman (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

13. Three Sisters (Lyric, Hammersmith).

14. The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre)

15. Beating Berlusconi. (York Theatre Royal).

Exhibitions

1. Gauguin (Tate Modern).

2. Van Gogh (Royal Academy).

3. Renaissance drawings (The British Museum).

4. The Book of the Dead (British Museum).

5. Venice. Canaletto and his rivals. (The National Gallery).

6. Sargent and the Sea (Royal Academy).

7. Rude Britannia (Tate Britain).

8. Summer Show (Royal Academy).

9. Beatles to Bowie (National Portrait Gallery).

10. Chris Ofili (Tate Britain).

Books

1. Andrea Levy The Long Song.

2. Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall.

3. AS Byatt – The Children’s Book.

4. Rose Tremain – Trespass.

5. Colm Toibin Brooklyn.

6. Ian McEwan Solar.

7. Paul Magrs Diary of a Doctor Who Addict.

8. Tony Blair The Journey.

9. Kate Atkinson Started Early, Took My Dog.

10. Alexander McCall Smith The Double Comfort Safari Club.

1. Coronation Street – especially for Jack’s Death and the Live episode (ITV).

3. Ashes to Ashes (BBC1).

4. Doctor Who – The End of Time part 2 (BBC1).

5. Doctor Who – especially for the eleventh hour (BBC1).

6. Downton Abbey (ITV1)

7. I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (ITV1).

8. Macbeth (BBC 4).

9. Luther (BBC1).

10. Silent Witness (BBC 1).

and my guilty pleasure of the year

Peter Kay at the Studio, Lowry (and again at the Manchester Evening News Arena).

I’ll just say that this is the review that doesn’t review – review. The reason is that as we queue for unreserved seating for the Peter Kay warm up gig at The Lowry, we are faced with notices making it clear we shouldn’t record anything. We would be monitored to make sure that we don’t take photographs or video the show, the notices declared. It seemed to me that pen and paper and human memory are just as useful recording devices, but not mentioned in the list of forbidden actions. However, I got the message, it would not be a good idea to include spoilers in my blog before Kay’s big stadium tour, or as it is called ‘The Tour That doesn’t Tour- Tour’.

The Lowry studio space is for about 130 people and I managed to get a seat on the front row. This meant I was very close and it all felt very intimate. It was odd listening to Kay through his microphone, when I was close enough to hear him if he’d whispered to me. Though the space was much smaller than the Manchester Evening News Arena where most of the ‘tour’ takes place, the atmosphere was still fantastic and there was lots of laughter. I’m sure the tour won’t disappoint those with tickets for the arena. Kay has an eye and ear for the everyday. He picks up conversations, the way members of families react interact. It felt at time, that he must have lived in my house and observed the things we did and said. At times I was taken back to my childhood and I can realised many of my memories were shared by Kay and it seemed the rest of the audience. I suppose Kay’s style draws specifically on a Northern humour, and his Bolton roots are extremely important. In his routine there are some of the familiar characters, such as Uncle Knob Head, but this is a new routine, beautifully timed and brilliantly delivered.

Category: Peter Kay

Best of 2010

Peter Kay (The Lowry, 9th April 2010)