Review: This Town at Contact Theatre is “beautifully told, hitting home in the best possible way”

Today, we are at Contact Theatre near Manchester University and it is my favourite place to go to watch shows.

This independent theatre allows young people and different artists to put on shows and I find that incredible.

The amount of voices that are heard here is fantastic.

The show is written by Rory Aaron and performed by him and Kate Ireland. Aaron says on the programme, “This is for those from the far-off towns that nobody’s heard of.

“Who sit on buses rolling backwards out of cities and watch everything fall into silence.”

It reminded me of where my boyfriend grew up and it reminded him of home too.

That’s what makes this show so great, it takes a lot of people home.

My favourite thing about this show is that it really does play out as a theatre production and the acting these two do is incredible!

It’s shows like these that remind me why The Contact theatre is so important to the people of Manchester and its culture. It shows the hidden talent that is usually overshadowed by big-budget shows. Which most people tend to imagine when they go and see shows and theatre productions.

The set is a mobile moving open cuboid. The inside of it looks like a pub with a tap and one little window bench.

They used this in multiple different locations as they unlocked the stage and moved it around to resemble the exterior of buildings. They used Space 2 which is a lot more intimate than Space 1 which is a lot bigger.

The choice of space speaks for itself really. It’s a lot more intimate which makes seeing the emotions of the actors rather close and it brings so much of what they’re feeling to everyone watching them.

If this was put on at The Lowry in The Lyric Theatre, it would have a very different effect. I loved the intimacy of the space and how they used that to their advantage.

I love poetry. I find it magical and a way of venting one’s feelings, whether it is happiness or sadness.

It is one of my favourite ways of writing out feelings. Rory Aaron and his creative team, (Director Cheryl Martin, Movement Director and AD Chris Brown) show how poetry doesn’t have to be someone reading out their poems in front of a microphone, but rather a story and a full production.

It was told beautifully with characters that pushed the story further. This Town proves that there are other ways to tell a story.

The show is sold out, but you can be added to the waiting list by following this link.

This Town is performed until the 30th of March.