Friday 10 September 2021

COMMUNITY THEATRE REVIEW: Salford Mad Pride Community Showcase - Paine's Plough Roundabout, Victoria Park, Swinton, Salford.


Paines Plough Theatre have been bringing their touring roundabout theatre to Salford in association with The Lowry Theatre for a good number of years now, and each year they pitch their tent in a different location somewhere in Salford. Once there, they collaborate with local groups and truly bring a real community feel to the area, allowing amateur, semi-pro, and professionals alike join together to unite their local communities, often involving local charities too.

This afternoon, The Salford Mad Pride charity, one which looks at ways of reducing and caring for the homeless and those with mental health issues, produced a cabaret of spoken word, song and folk music.

Matt Concannon The Thirsty Poet started the evening and acted as a kind of compere reading his poems between the other acts. He writes and performs his spoken word poetry, it's punchy, contemporary, relevant, clever, and enjoyable. Three local singers sang songs from the pop and Musical Theatre repertoires. All three were very enjoyable, easy to listen to, and all had a lovely individual style to their chosen genre and approach to the songs. Finally, three origianl songs from a local folk band, The Mather Robinson Band. Upbeat, traditional style folk songs with a modern twist. 

The concert overran somewhat, but none of us minded in the slightest. It was actually a most enjoyable 70 minutes in their company. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 9.9.21

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