24:7 Theatre Festival

So, hot on the heels of MIF11 (blog to follow - so much fun for this volunteer, but no time to blog!) comes Manchester's very own theatre festival the 24:7 Theatre Festival. I only got wind of this festival last year, despite the fact that my employers are one of the main sponsors and also a venue!

This years festival consists of 13 plays, performed a number of times at 3 venues in the city centre over 8 days. There are also other activities like rehearsed readings, acting skills workshops, music, comedy etc. As I understand it, the festival started 8 years ago and was inspired by the Edinburgh fringe, coupled with a desire to have a platform for new writing nearer to home.

Most of the shows have some lunchtime performances which is brilliant for me, especially the ones based near where I work. I can pop out at lunchtime, see a play, and be back at my desk in just over an hour. Great way to spend a lunch hour for a theatre obsessive like me. There are also early evening performances, and if you are really dedicated you could see three plays in one evening.

As it is I have booked for 7 shows so far and I will try to blog about them as I go. I might add a couple more as the week goes on. The first show I saw was tonight, and it had the added bonus of finally meeting my fellow Hard Times blogger / tweeter Laura, who amazingly has already booked for 12 of the 13 shows!