DRAMA PLAYS IN MANCHESTER
Most Popular Drama Plays in Manchester
Tue 25 Nov 2025 - Sat 3 Jan 2026
Bouncers
Friday 19 - Saturday 20 April 2024
Don't miss this classic comedy and northern favourite! Join Les, Ralph, Judd and Lucky Eric as they relive a night in a Yorkshire disco in the 80s. The original Bouncers is back in town. Everyone will be here: the DJ, the girls, boys and th...
National Theatre Connections Festival
Friday 19 - Sunday 21 April 2024
Connections is the National Theatre's annual, nationwide youth theatre festival. The programme is 29 years old and has a history of championing the talent of young people from across the UK. Every year, Connections commissions new plays for...
We're All Just Wasps in Glass Houses
Friday 19 - Saturday 20 April 2024
A devised piece of theatre by HOME's exciting Young Company. Since the beginning of October they have been working together alongside Kao Hove, and Rory Aaron, in building a world which tinkering on chaos. Come and join them on this thoug...
Vignettes
Friday 19 - Wednesday 24 April 2024
Presented by HER Productions, Vignettes is an evening of six short plays by established and emerging female-identifying Manchester-based playwrights, inspired by whatever they choose. ...
Lowry Workshops - Dance & Drama (Morning)
Friday 19 April 2024 - Friday 28 March 2025
The Lowry offers a diverse and inclusive creating learning offer. With a variety of workshops linked to curriculum areas, mental health and wellbeing and project work. All workshops and projects are tailor made to support your objectives an...
Is This Thing On?
Friday 19 - Saturday 20 April 2024
An electric new piece of devised theatre written by Megan Keaveny and Ellie Campbell (MissMatch), co-produced by So La Flair Theatre and MissMatch. What's better, sad songs or sh*tty poetry? Meet flatmates Mary and Liz, one a musician and t...
The Bell Curves
Friday 19 - Saturday 20 April 2024
In 2020, two female scientists won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was for the development of the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. Often referred to as "molecular scissors" it enables scientists to perform microsurgery on D...
The Bell Curves
Friday 19 - Saturday 20 April 2024
In 2020, two female scientists won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was for the development of the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. Often referred to as "molecular scissors" it enables scientists to perform microsurgery on D...
Murder Mystery Evening
Saturday 20 April - Friday 13 December 2024
Nothing works up an appetite like exercising those brain cells. So bring your best detective skills and join us for a night of mystery and murder on one of our stunning heritage steam trains. If you love Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes -...
The Bell Curves (Read-Through Perfromance)
Saturday 20 April 2024
In 2020, two female scientists won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was for the development of the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. Often referred to as "molecular scissors" it enables scientists to perform microsurgery on D...
Voices of Resilience - A Celebration of Gazan Writing
Monday 22 April 2024
An evening of Palestinian writing with Kamila Shamsie, Maxine Peake, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and special guests. In the face of wholesale genocide, the resilience of Palestinians has, over the last six months, been an inspiration to artists and ...
National Theatre Live - Nye (12A)
Tuesday 23 April - Saturday 22 June 2024
Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan in a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain's welfare state and created the NHS. Confronted with death, Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead h...
All The Little Lights
Tuesday 23 - Sunday 28 April 2024
Poignant, moving and darkly funny, Altrincham Garrick production All the Little Lights is the searing story of young girls slipping through the cracks in society, desperately searching for friendship, family and themselves. In a world whe...
Sweat
Friday 26 April - Saturday 25 May 2024
A sweeping state-of-the-nation play that embraces huge political and economic ideas in a magnificent gritty social drama. Nottage's stunning writing pits friend against friend as social and racial tensions, once buried by a sense of solidar...
Black is the Color of My Voice
Friday 26 - Saturday 27 April 2024
Inspired by the life of Nina Simone, Black Is The Color Of My Voice follows a successful jazz singer and civil rights activist seeking redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on the journey that took her from a yo...
The Haunting of Blaine Manor
Friday 26 April 2024
Renowned American parapsychologist Doctor Roy Earle, famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums, is invited to attend a seance in what is said to be the most haunted building in England, a building with a horrific history, ...
Jack's Ashes
Friday 26 April 2024
A new solo performance, made in development with The Australian Cricketers Association, written by Matt Banes and Tim Marriott, seeking to reduce stigma and open conversations about mental health in sport. Performed by Tim Marriott (BBC's T...
You're Bard!
Saturday 27 April 2024
This hilarious, unpredictable new show, featuring actors whose past experience includes the RSC, Bristol Old Vic, Cheltenham Everyman, Dubai and the West End promises an unforgettable evening of Shakespeare unlike anything you've ever seen ...
Hamlet (15)
Saturday 27 April 2024
Two-time Academy Award nominee and Shakespearian titan, Ian McKellen, stars in this thrilling and uniquely modern take on The Bard's classic tragedy. A tale of revenge that has stood the test of time, Shakespeare's classic tragedy is reimag...
Silence
Tuesday 30 April - Saturday 4 May 2024
"It was a great tragedy. We were friends one day and enemies the next. I will take these things to my grave." The 1947 partition of India into East Pakistan and West Pakistan - now Bangladesh - saw millions uprooted and resulted in unsp...
National Theatre Connections Festival
Tuesday 30 April - Thursday 2 May 2024
Connections is the National Theatre's annual, nationwide youth theatre festival. The programme is 29 years old and has a history of championing the talent of young people from across the UK. Every year, Connections commissions new plays for...
On Me
Thursday 2 May 2024
Written by Caroline Lamb and presented by Dangerous To Know Theatre Company, On Me follows Shona and Christian, two actors working on a "gritty" true crime docudrama. As the pair develop feelings for each other, they must navigate the chall...
Howerd's End
Friday 3 May 2024
Frankie Howerd was one of Britain's most loved comedians for half a century. But he had a secret. And the secret's name was Dennis. This hugely acclaimed play by Mark Farrelly (Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope, Jarman) takes you to the heart of F...
Altrincham Garrick Play Reading Club
Friday 3 May - Friday 5 July 2024
If you like theatre... no, if you love theatre, drama, comedy, musical theatre, play reading, poetry and much more and would relish the opportunity to meet new people, then the new 'Altrincham Garrick Play Reading Club' is for you. Here is ...
Playreading Sessions
Friday 3 May 2024
HOME's popular Playreading group meets on the first Friday of most months. The sessions, which are open to all, offer an opportunity to read and discuss plays that are linked to our theatre productions, or discover new plays from local tal...
Divorced, Beheaded Died: An Audience with King Henry VIII
Sunday 5 May 2024
'The year is 1544 and King Henry, the Eighth of that name, is engaged upon Royal Progress about his Realm; and has halted here to afford his Loyal Subjects the opportunity to have 'audience' with their Sovereign Lord and King'. This one-man...
Dickens Theatre Company - Macbeth
Monday 6 - Tuesday 7 May 2024
Dickens Theatre Company present the Bard's bloodiest tragedy as part of their Revision on Tour programme, which comprises of four unique stage adaptations of compulsory GCSE texts touring theatres nationwide. This unique adaptation of the '...
The Father
Monday 6 - Saturday 11 May 2024
he Father (Le Pere) is a play about a man called Andre. Now 80 years old, Andre was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter Anne and her husband Antoine. Or was he an engineer whose daughter Anne lives in London with her new l...
The Kite Runner
Tuesday 7 - Saturday 11 May 2024
Direct from Broadway, The Kite Runner, an outstanding and unforgettable theatrical tour de force is returning to the UK in 2024. Based on Khaled Hosseini's international bestselling novel, this haunting tale of friendship spans cultures and...
National Theatre Live - Nye (12A)
Tuesday 7 May 2024
Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan in a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain's welfare state and created the NHS. Confronted with death, Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead h...
Little Reads
Tuesday 7 May - Tuesday 2 July 2024
Little Reads with Manchester Literature Festival. Join Ged for an interactive Storytelling session in our new Children's Library. 10am session - Pre-school/Family session 11am- Inclusive session (If you require a BSL interpreter please do l...
Dickens Theatre Company - Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Wednesday 8 May 2024
Dickens Theatre Company present an exciting new stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Victorian gothic masterpiece as part of their Revision on Tour programme, which comprises of four unique stage adaptations of compulsory GCSE text...
Dickens Theatre Company - Romeo & Juliet
Thursday 9 May 2024
Dickens Theatre Company present an exciting adaptation of a classic GCSE English literature text as part of their Revision on Tour programme, which comprises of four unique stage adaptations of compulsory GCSE texts touring theatres nation...
Dante or Die - Kiss Marry Kill
Friday 10 - Sunday 12 May 2024
Dante or Die Theatre Company present an electrifying and intimate story of love and redemption. Jay and Paul are both serving life sentences for homophobic murders. Incredibly, they fall in love and seek permission to marry. Inspired by rea...
National Theatre Live - Nye (12A)
Sunday 12 May 2024
Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan in a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain's welfare state and created the NHS. Confronted with death, Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead h...
Mind Mangler - Member of the Tragic Circle
Wednesday 15 - Saturday 18 May 2024
Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer, the multi award-winning team behind the sold-out global smash hit The Play That Goes Wrong and the BBC TV series The Goes Wrong Show, star in this hilarious new comedy by Mischief. Join the "Mind Mangler" as...
Kay Mellor's The Syndicate
Friday 17 - Sunday 19 May 2024
Based on her hit BBC TV show that entertained millions of viewers over four series, The Syndicate is a new stage play by the legendary Kay Mellor, that follows five supermarket employees whose lottery syndicate numbers come in, just as thei...
The Audience
Monday 20 - Saturday 25 May 2024
Altrincham Garrick Playhouse present this multi-award winning play by the acclaimed writer Peter Morgan ("The Queen" and Netflix's "The Crown"). Spanning sixty years from the 1950s through to the 21st century, Peter Morgan's The Audience ...
National Theatre Live - Nye (12A)
Tuesday 21 May 2024
Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan in a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain's welfare state and created the NHS. Confronted with death, Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead h...
Testmatch
Thursday 23 May - Saturday 1 June 2024
Cricket's past & present collide in this compelling new play It makes the whole of western history make sense, this weather. If I had to live in this, I'd get off this island as fast as I possibly could, And take over whatever land I came a...
Macbeth (15)
Thursday 23 May 2024
Tony and BAFTA Award winner Ralph Fiennes (Antony & Cleopatra, Schindler's List, Coriolanus) and Olivier Award winner Indira Varma (Present Laughter, Game of Thrones, Luther) star in a brand-new "full-voltage visceral" (Daily Telegraph) pr...
The Silent Stream (Wisdom Of A Brighton Whore - Part 1)
Friday 24 May 2024
Something Underground Theatre Company presents the first part of their multi-award winning Well Trilogy, a tale of the murky, sordid and dangerous depths of Brighton's Underworld. George is a king in waiting. Kept to the wings and given no ...
Danny Echo
Friday 24 May 2024
A Black Mirror-style exploration of bereavement and the future of AI. Root & Branch's exciting new production uses video and texting alongside live action. Young widow Rachael is torn apart by what happened on the final day of her husband D...
Betsy (Wisdom Of A Brighton Whore - Part 2)
Saturday 25 May 2024
Something Underground Theatre Company presents the second part of their Well Trilogy, a tale of sex, seduction and survival: journey into the murky, sordid and dangerous depths of Brighton's Underworld, an evocation of memories and past liv...
Birthmarked
Wednesday 29 - Friday 31 May 2024
A young Jehovah's Witness comes to terms with his sexuality and finds his feet (and high heels...) in a world he once believed would be destroyed at Armageddon. Birthmarked is a a semi-improvised-autobiographical-piece-of-musical-gig-theatr...
2:22 A Ghost Story
Tuesday 4 - Saturday 15 June 2024
Winner of BEST NEW PLAY at the Whatsonstage Awards, this edge-of-your-seat, supernatural thriller stars Jay McGuiness (The Wanted, BIG! The Musical, Rip It Up), Fiona Wade (Emmerdale, Silent Witness), George Rainsford (Call the Midwife, Cas...
What's Next
Friday 7 - Saturday 8 June 2024
Returning from an award-nominated 2023 UK tour, Middle-Weight Theatre present their latest original comedy / drama, recounting the incredible life of Harriet Quimby, the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel, and uncovering the...
Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England
Saturday 8 June 2024
Joshua Beaumont and Matthew Emeny present the Roxy Dog production of Why I Stuck A Flare Up My A**e For England Written and performed by Alex Hill It's the EURO 2020 Final at Wembley and Billy's gone viral for sticking a flare up his a**e! ...
Dracula: The Bloody Truth
Tuesday 11 - Saturday 29 June 2024
A hilarious and madcap comedy retelling of the iconic gothic classic It's 1900. Dracula, the best-selling novel by Bram Stoker was released three years ago and Professor Abraham Van Helsing is not happy. He was there. He knows The Truth. Th...
Mohand and Peter
Thursday 13 - Friday 14 June 2024
PSYCHEdelight Theatre Company's Mohand & Peter is a devised show addressing the trauma of long term exile and celebrating friendships across cultures. A backflip in time, a quick hop back home, with humour and visual poetry, Mohand & Pete...