Manchester

A five-week run of A Midsummer Night's Dream was cancelled following a row over pro-Palestine and pro-transgender rights at the Royal Exchange Theatre, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.

The theatre was due to stage a modern take on the William Shakespeare classic, set in contemporary Manchester with a drum 'n' bass soundtrack, from September 6 to October 12. But the first few performances were cancelled, with theatregoers told of a cast injury and 'technical issues'.

Ticketholders were then contacted on Saturday (September 14) and informed the production's entire run had been axed, with the theatre set to refund its audiences in full. The Royal Exchange Theatre said the decision followed a ' a number of issues with the production' and insisted that 'every effort was made to get the show on'.

Now, the M.E.N. can reveal some of the details from the turbulent week which contributed to the show being axed.

It is understood a row broke out following an internal preview of A Midsummer Night's Dream on September 6, after it emerged the production included a song which referred to trans rights and the phrase 'free Palestine'.

The song, which was to involve the audience, had been included as part of the show's modernisation led by director Stef O'Driscoll. It's understood theatre bosses called for the section to be removed, but the director insisted it should remain in the show, with the support of her cast.

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Acting union Equity confirmed that the cast and workforce have been paid for the run in full. It's understood that this will have cost the theatre tens of thousands of pounds.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17067684

"A mass grave containing more than 300 bodies, including babies and children, has been uncovered.

An unmarked burial site at Royton Cemetery in Oldham contained 145 stillborn children, 128 babies and young children and 29 adults, local councillors said..."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16945304

A 12-year-old boy cannot be sentenced for his role in August’s rioting because his mother has flown to Ibiza for a holiday.

The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded guilty to two counts of violent disorder during a protest held in the wake of the Southport attack. He faces a potential custodial sentence.

He was due to be sentenced at Manchester magistrates’ court on Monday morning, however, District Judge Joanne Hirst said she was “frankly astonished” to be told that the boy was not accompanied in the dock by his mother.

The judge was told that she had instead flown abroad to the Spanish island on Sunday for a five-day break. The court was told she is expected back in the country on Thursday.

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She thanked the boy’s uncle for accompanying his nephew to court in his mother’s absence, but added: “One day before the hearing we find out the mum has gone on holiday and is not with her son who played a greater part in the recent civil disorder than any adult or child I’ve seen coming through these courts.

“I’m frankly astonished.

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The youngster had earlier admitted being part of a mob that attacked a bus outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester on 31 July.

Days later on 3 August, in Manchester city centre, he was part of a group filmed kicking the windows of a vape shop and throwing a missile at a police van.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16775746

The clock is ticking down to one of the biggest events of the Saddleworth calendar – Rushcart.

But what is it? The sight of men dancing in the street while wearing flowery hats and bells on their feet has always been treated as the norm being part of area’s tradition.

In fact, the origins of morris dancing are bit more complicated, but it is morris men we have to thank – not only for the ancient way of giving thanks but also its revival in Saddleworth in the 1970s.

Back in the day, many churches had only rudimentary floors made of earth. So, to make them more comfortable and inviting for special occasions, it was common to cover them with hay, straw or rushes.

As towns and villages expanded, the rushes had to be carried from further afield, so they were often piled on sledges and dragged to the church.

Then at some point, someone obviously remembered the wheel had been invented and had the bright idea of stacking the rushes on a cart – the rushcart was born.

In areas like Saddleworth, every village would have its own and it soon became a bit of a contest to see who could make the biggest stack with the most elaborate decorations.

However, Saddleworth is now one of the only places in the country which has a traditional cart – many others around the UK are wooden structures.

But it does not just appear overnight. The whole process takes a month.

From cutting rushes to tying and building, it has to be done in stages, not because of work commitments for the morris men but because the rushes need time to settle before height can be added.

Once the saddle is placed on top, the estimated height is approximately 16ft with the cart weighing about three tonnes.

Archive

A police officer has been suspended after footage shared on social media showed a suspect being kicked in the head and stamped on at Manchester Airport.

The suspect has been named as Fahir in an Instagram video where he appears alongside his lawyer Akhmed Yakoob.

The lawyer is also representing a second man who was arrested in the incident at Manchester Airport and names him as Amaad.

Mr Yakoob, who is the only one who speaks in the video, does not confirm whether Fahir and Amaad are brothers but says they will be making a formal complaint accusing Rochdale Police of assaulting them and "their elderly mother".

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had been responding to reports of an assault at Terminal 2 at 8.25pm on Tuesday before the footage of the police officer stamping on Fahir was filmed.

The force has said three officers were injured in a subsequent altercation and there was a "clear risk" of firearms being snatched from officers who were carrying weapons.

A conspiracy theorist being sued by two survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing is "perfectly entitled" to believe the deadly attack was an "elaborate hoax", his lawyer has told a court.

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve, then 14, were among the hundreds of people injured when 22-year-old Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.

Mr Hibbert was paralysed from the waist down, while his daughter suffered a severe brain injury in the attack, which killed 22 people.

They are suing self-styled journalist Richard Hall for alleged harassment and breaches of data protection laws in a civil trial at the High Court in London.

Mr Hall has claimed that the attack was faked by government agencies using "crisis actors" and has published a book and videos claiming the bombing was a "hoax" - as well as "secretly filming" Miss Hibbert and her mother outside their house.

A multimillion-pound luxury penthouse flat named after the revolutionary socialist thinker Friedrich Engels is the latest example of Manchester repurposing its radical history for profit, local people have said.

The apartment is in the east tower in Deansgate Square, where the developer Renaker says its vision for the “New Jackson” skyscraper district “is to create a sustainable and attractive neighbourhood where people feel proud to call home”.

The tower stands just off Deansgate, in what was once a slum area of Manchester, where families lived in squalid and cramped homes, and grinding poverty. It is also just a few hundred metres from a statue of Engels, which stands outside the Home arts centre.

The German philosopher spent more than two decades in Manchester in the mid-19th century, from where he researched his seminal work The Condition of the Working Class in England.

The book is a study on the Victorian industrial working class, which highlighted the issue of overcrowded housing, as well as high mortality rates and poor working conditions.

Today, there is incredibly high demand for affordable housing in Manchester, with more than 15,000 applications on the waiting list for social housing.

According to the property website Rightmove, the average price for a property in Manchester is £300,521, with the average selling price for flats at £200,652.

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The 290 sq metre (3,126 sq ft) flat is listed on the developer’s website as a showhome, but in promotional material it was advertised with a price tag of £2.5m.

A second penthouse apartment, “The Turing” – presumably named after the University of Manchester computer scientist Alan Turing – is also on the market for £2.5m.

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“It’s just another iteration of that thing that Manchester’s been very good at doing, which is reabsorbing radical elements of its history into a brand,” said Isaac Rose, from Greater Manchester Tenants Union.

“[Engels] deliberately fled the life of the bourgeoisie to live and be among the working class, but maybe he’d have found it ultimately amusing that things have got this mad that they were naming penthouses after him.”

The images capture a woman in a hauntingly familiar pose. On one of Manchester's grandest streets, outside a department store, she is bent as if she's trying to pick something up.

Almost touching her toes, she remains motionless for minutes. Before long, she collapses to the ground, and bystanders are calling police for help.

The disturbing scene is eerily reminiscent of another time. The time when the Manchester Evening News first reported on a scourge that was leaving vulnerable people frozen in 'zombie-like' states across the city centre.

The sight of people wasted on synthetic cannabinoids would become so familiar, seven years ago, that national headlines would go on to dub the city 'Spicechester', home of the 'living dead'.

Survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing have instigated legal action against MI5, it has been confirmed. Lawyers representing more than 250 people caught up in the atrocity at the Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017 say they have submitted a claim.

In a joint statement, Hudgell Solicitors, Slater & Gordon and Broudie Jackson Canter, the three lead firms representing the group said: "Legal teams representing injured survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 can confirm that they have collectively submitted a group claim on behalf of more than 250 clients to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

"As it is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable or provide any further details, or comment further, at this stage."

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal is an independent judicial body which provides right of redress to anyone who believes they have been the victim of unlawful action by a public authority using covert investigative techniques.

Manchester has been named the best city in the UK for beer - despite charging higher prices for pints than the likes of Birmingham and Glasgow.

As part of a study of Europe’s best cities for beer lovers, Manchester was the highest-ranking city in the UK and the only one to make it into the top 20 list. The list, from travel expert and ferry operator DFDS, ranked each European city based on beer quality, its highest-rated bar and pubs, their prominence on social media, and the average cost of a pint.