Ahead of its first ever UK tour, Life of Pi held a showcase at The Lowry, where it plays over the holiday season – with special guests Lolita Chakrabarti OBE and Finn Caldwell

The Mancunion sat down to speak with Lily and Katie, part of the team behind the show Be Home Soon, to talk about student theatre, the difficulties in taking a show up to the Fringe, and their new play

Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie trial is a brilliant verbatim dramatisation (albeit with hilarious football commentators) that takes us behind the courtroom’s closed doors

HER Productions’ gender-swapped adaptation of King Lear is brilliantly subversive and phenomenally acted – but it could be better structured

The Commitments, a jukebox musical based on the film of the same name, is filled with great music, energetic acting, talented musicians, and great laughs

Elvis in Concert is back, with the King live on screen with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and special guest Jerry Schilling

Shubbak Festival, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary Arab arts and cultures, expands beyond London with two touring shows visiting The Lowry

The Commitments, a jukebox musical based on the novel of the same name, is heading to Opera House Manchester – starring local legend Nigel Pivaro

The Bridge Theatre’s Guys & Dolls is an immersive, in-the-round, roaring revival of a Broadway classic

Once on This Island is an interesting and intelligent racial reimagining of The Little Mermaid – with gorgeous costumes and majestic lighting but a disappointing set (or lack thereof)

The Mancunion attended La Clique’s exclusive launch party to celebrate its Northern premiere – and we were absolutely blown away

Daniel Fish’s radical reimagining of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! is ambitious, intelligent, and (intentionally) unenjoyable

Musical theatre icon Samantha Barks performed a superb solo concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane – where she usually plays Elsa in Frozen

Carrie Hope Fletcher, the biggest West End star right now, dropped by The Lowry as part of her first ever UK tour

Dirty Dancing is a timeless classic revived

The Mancunion sits down with high-heeled aerialist Lj Marles, ahead of the Northern premiere of La Clique

Ahead of La Clique’s Northern premiere at Depot Mayfield, The Mancunion attended an exclusive media preview to catch a glimpse of the acts

The Mancunion sits down with Nathan McMullen, ahead of the UK tour of Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial

The Way Old Friends Do, which follows the establishment of the first drag ABBA tribute band, is a celebration of friendship, queerness and, yes, ABBA

Out of the four adaptations of Peter James’ books that I have seen, Wish You Were Dead, starring George Rainsford and Katie McGlynn, translated the worse onto the stage