Sunday shows at Royal Exchange

Published: 9 August 2015
Reporter: David Upton

With audiences at their highest point for more than a decade, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre is now planning to stage Sunday performances across the season.

At the heart of its programme is a commitment to promote new and rising talent. Caroline Steinbeis directs in the main space for the first time with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, having previously directed Brilliant Adventures in The Studio, and at Christmas associate artistic director Matthew Xia will make his Exchange main stage debut with a revival of Sondheim’s classic Into the Woods.

Julie Hesmondhalgh and director Raz Shaw also return to the theatre for the UK première of Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer prize-winning play Wit.

Alongside all this, the company continues its year-long collaborative adventure with audiences through You, The Audience and continues to expand its recently launched Open Exchange to support the work of local emerging artists. In the past year, this has contributed to an almost 10% increase in theatregoers under 26, and a 5% increase in first time bookings.

Artistic director Sarah Frankcom said: “this season presents a series of firsts—with Sunday performances, our first relaxed performance and the opening of our third performance space at Swan Street Studios, where Matthew Xia will oversee a programme which will support emerging talent.”

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