CityLife

CityLife's student theatre guide

Comedy Store

WHEN it comes to theatre, Manchester has its own holy trinity of venues then consistently lay on the most commercial or critically-acclaimed shows or both – St Ann Square’s the Royal Exchange, Oxford Street’s Palace Theatre and Quay Street’s Opera House.

Wisely, each has its own distinct niche to cater for certain tastes from the traditional and contemporary dramas at the Exchange, to touring West End shows and one-night specials at the Palace and groundbreaking continental opera and dance productions at the Opera House.

Pete Postlethwaite, Will Young, Honor Blackman, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s Monkey The Opera and Peter Kay and just a few of the stars to have graced our stages.

As ever, the city also looks after the general public’s more alternative tastes at Oxford Road’s Contact Theatre, St Peter Square’s Library Theatre and Whitworth Street West’s The Green Room proffer and great mixture of contemporary dance, comedy and cutting edge theatre.

Complex

Further a field at Salford Quays, the award-winning Lowry complex has proved a fierce competitor for the city centre’s venues, thanks to its ‘jack of all trades’ approach, live music, comedy, theatre, dance and an annual panto - all serviced by the Metrolink to boot.

Possessing the only Comedy Store in the UK outside of London, Deangate Locks’ branch features a line-up of top names acts most nights of the week, with regular open mic slots for any of you out there who fancy you chances and good student rates too.

The Northern Quarter’s Frog & Bucket is a more homely prospect, which often offers just as an attractive line-up – in fact Johnny Vegas and Peter Kay used to be regulars.

Outside of the city limits, Chorlton’s Iguana Bar runs by local legend Des Sharples and Fallowfield’s Remedy (Toby Hadoke’s the main man here and is currently in charge of the CityLife.co.uk Comedian of the Year contest) are also great (and cheaper) places to drop by without having to trek into town.