What's On at 53two
At 53two we try to offer as diverse and exciting range of events as possible. These range from theatre productions, live music and quizzes, to corporate events, live podcasts, weddings, parties and more. We hold events both in the Bar area and Theatre area.
Below you will see a list of our upcoming events. Click on an image for more detail around them and a link to booking. Alternatively, check out the calendar opposite and search for a specific date.
If you have any questions about the events, please feel free to drop us a line. All events are fully accessible. Look out for specific listings for BSL interpreted events and events that also have Unwaged Tickets for sale.
DR Q - QUIZ NIGHT!
25th March7:30pm
£2 per head (CASH ONLY!)
He defeated The Governess on 'The Chase', made the 'Fifteen to One' grand final, came last on 'Supermarket Sweep'...
Now he writes questions for 'Mastermind'!
So, get revising & join the Doctor for an evening of quizzing brilliance!!
Join Dr Q for a good time in the arches!
PIANOKE!
24th April
8:30pm - 12:00pm
FREE ENTRY
It's like karaoke, but with a piano!
Pop along and give us your best rendition of 'Gold', 'Lady Gaga' or 'Madame Thénardier' and make yourself the master of our house.
Don't sing? Sit back and sample some of Manchester's finest singers.
DIDDY DISCO
FAMILY FRIENDLY!
BOOKING SOON
12:00 - 14:00
FREE - Booking Essential
A time for our younger patrons (Under 5's) and their carers to come, have a boogie, maybe play some games and meet some other 53two Didi's whilst the older folk can kick back, grab a coffee (or something stronger!) and put the world to rights with like minded people. (Older folk are allowed to dance too!).
The event is completely free, but, please do reserve a ticket as numbers are limited!
TESTING TESTING
With Toby Hadoke
LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH
Tickets £10 INCLUDING A £5 drinks voucher
PWYC Tickets Available
DOORS 7pm - SHOW 7:30pm
Presented by Toby Hadoke, top circuit comedians try out their new material in the arches of 53two. Who turns up, you never know but an evening of sheer quality is guaranteed.
Comedy at it's finest beneath the iconic brick arches of 53two.
Grab a pie and a pint before the show for just £10!
Testing, Testing is not quite like other gigs. We do things differently here. The acts have come for a safe, fun space to try their new stuff. They don’t need your “help” - so, thank goodness, you can leave your heckles at home. Also, the gig’s really good - so you don’t need your phone, and we ask you to respect your fellow audience members and the acts by taking any conversation you may wish to engage in outside. Toby’s an affable chap but he has zero tolerance for bad manners : comics like to do this show because he’s made it nice. Don’t be the one to make it not nice. Thank you!
XS MALARKEY
Every Tuesday*
(Check dates to confirm)
Doors: 7:00pm - Show: 8:00pm
Tickets £6
(£3 for members - become a member!)
XS Malarkey is a not-for-profit comedy club, hosted every week by Toby Hadoke, and eagerly maintained by a group of minions who do his bidding on a regular basis.
Despite our low door price, we put on shows with professional comedians and rising stars of the comedy circuit, also giving newcomers a chance to practise their material in front of a supportive and quite frankly fantastic audience, many of whom are just as obsessed with comedy as we are. We feed our audience’s comedy obsession by running a membership scheme charging a ludicrously cheap £3 per ticket. We don’t do group discounts, because to be honest – we’re cheap enough already!
The Umbrella Tour
22nd September
7:30pm
£11 (£8)
The Umbrella Tour 2024 showcases a selection of new writing from the North-West, all highlighting contemporary issues. if you like theatre to make you think and feel as well as laugh, you will love our plays.
OVERLOOKED Written by Jane Martin, Directed by Quina Chapman
Jack is a homeless Manc lad, Audrey is a posh southerner in a wheelchair. The only thing they have in common is a love of crime fiction. And being overlooked. But is it enough?
THE COLD WITHIN Written by Tony Tibbenham and Michelle Lockwood, Directed/Performed by Michelle Lockwood
Their date didn’t go quite as expected, but he’s messed with the wrong woman this time.
23:17 Written by J A Lomas, Directed by Sam Borowiak
When time is running out, what choice would you make? Awakening in a strange place to a strange face, Marcus is taken on a journey into darkness and desperation. Will he fall into shadow, or will he rise to meet the light?
Ginger Hunter - Girl Uninterrupted
25th September
7:30pm
Tickets £15
International drag sensation (she once worked in Wales) Ginger Hunter is celebrating 10 years of Drag with her very first (and possibly last) 1 woman show full of jokes and stories about how she got here and where it all began. Get ready for serious laughs, dirty laundry and the inside scoop on THAT tory news report.
Not For anyone under the age of 18… or those of a sensitive nature.
UNDERMINED
with Danny Mellor
26th - 28th September
7:30pm
Tickets £11 (PWYC TIX AVAILABLE)
★★★★ ‘Other actors could do with taking a leaf out of Danny Mellor’s book. The book would be called How to do a One Man Show Properly’
Edfringe Review, Chloe St George
Inspired by the accounts of miners who lived through the 1984 Miners’ Strike, Undermined takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions in a year of political turmoil.
Meet young miner Dale, his best mate Billy, cheery Tony and the comic relief Jonny.
Fuelled by energetic and engaging storytelling, audiences are invited into the action and taken on the journey that Dale and his friends experienced in this divisive year. Whether you lived through the 80’s or not the piece delivers a powerful and compelling narrative that anyone can relate to.
2024 will be the 40th anniversary of the strike. Undermined will have you laughing, crying and shaking with anger."
JB SHORTS
Weds 9th - Sat 19th October
7:30pm
Matinees: Sat 12th/19th @ 3pm
Sunday 13th @6pm
Tickets £13 (£11 Conc)
Unwaged £2
After twenty-four sell-out seasons and 144 world premieres, REAL LIFE THEATRE CO. return with…JB SHORTS 25
'Shorts and snappy . It works every time... a ‘must-see’ on the Manchester cultural calendar.'
Manchester Theatre Awards
PLATFORM
NYMT
20th October
6pm - 7:30pm
Tickets £15 & £25 (Not Inc Booking Fee))
PLATFORM is the National Youth Music Theatre’s innovative new 2024 project, designed to provide young actors with opportunities to both showcase their talents and express their unique artistic identities.
Platform will spotlight a company of dynamic and inspiring young artists whose instincts and knowledge have been supported and nurtured in creating a performance alongside a world-class creative team.
Featuring the Heart and Music of William Finn’s catalogue, this evening promises to bring the future of nationally discovered young talent to the heart of the West End.
HOW A JELLYFISH SAVED THE WORLD
21st October
12pm & 3pm
£10 (£35 Family Ticket)
When we were young, sticks were swords, chocolate was currency and we all had the power to change the world.
Clyde the jellyfish is on a quest to find a forever friend, in a home being polluted by the world above. When he mistakes a plastic bag named Bubbles for a total jellybabe, will they discover that a life in plastic is not so fantastic?
Jam Jar Theatre Company presents a tentacle-tapping puppetry musical, for children and adults, friends and anemones, for our world and the generation inheriting
its issues.
You'll be ten-tickled pink!
THE ULTIMATE BUBBLE SHOW
With Ray Bubbles
22nd October
11:30am
£10
HE'S BACK!!!
Experience the best in soap bubble entertainment.
Join Ray, International Bubbleologist and Guinness World Record Holder, and help him in his quest to complete the bubble game and make the ultimate bubble.
This is a fast paced show full of high energy and surprises as Ray uses various different gases to create incredible bubble sculptures, effects and magical displays.
Watch in amazement as Ray creates a volcano bubble, a soap bubble carrousel, a bubble ghost and even a tornado inside a bubble!!!!!
Join Ray and see if he can make THE ULTIMATE SQUARE BUBBLE!!!!!
CAN'T WAIT TO LEAVE
Written and Directed by Stephen Leach
23rd - 25th October
7:30pm
Tickets £12 (£9 Conc)
Meet Ryan.
19 (but young for his age).
School drop-out (but smart).
Turkey sandwich enthusiast (365 days a year).
Absolute stunner (no addendum).
He's new in town, and all he wants to do is check out. The hard part is coming up with an exit plan.
When the one person he thought he could rely on ups and leaves, Ryan finds himself adrift in a city he still hasn’t learned to like, looking for direction. Six months to kill, no money, no rules… surely this is the worst possible time to be alone?
That's when he meets Richard, who seems to have all the answers...
"A great debut [and] a fabulous narrative... Can't Wait To Leave is tender, enthralling, energetic, shocking" - Bookmarks and Stages ★★★★★
A solo performance exploring social isolation in young people and adolescent bisexual identity, Can’t Wait To Leave is set entirely in an A&E waiting room and told by a young man named Ryan. Finding the incident report provided inadequate to explain the reason for his visit, Ryan begins to reflect on the course his life has taken over the past six months following the unexpected departure of his older brother.
THE MYSTERY OF DRACULA
26th Oct
7:30pm
Tickets £12
(PWYC TIX AVAILABLE)
Occult Illusionist David Alnwick investigates the supernatural folklore of Bram Stoker's acclaimed novel. Expect a fast paced, twist-filled narrative told using magic.
“Like seemingly everything that Alnwick produces, the magic itself is flawless, and the storytelling aspect is equally perfectly performed” ★★★★★ WORLD MAGIC REVIEW
“Really well done... thoroughly enjoyed it... Really impressive work” ANDY NYMAN (Derren Brown’s director and writer of West-End hit ‘Ghost Stories’)
“Alnwick skilfully cranks up the suspense and intrigue as he delves deeper into the darker side of magic” NOW THEN MAGAZINE
★★★★★ THREEWEEKS | ★★★★★ THE SPHINX | ★★★★ BROADWAY BABY | ★★★★ FRINGE GURU
Run time: 70 minutes
Audience Testimonials: Mystery of Dracula Testimonials (youtube.com)
TEDx Talk: Why magic should frighten you | David Alnwick | TEDxNewcastle (youtube.com)
Frank 4 Sophie 4 Eva
30th Oct - 8th Nov
7:30pm
Tickets £12
(PWYC TIX AVAILABLE)
In their 40's - meet Frank and Sophie. Their marriage is in trouble, no sex, no communication. Every little thing bugs them and they squabble like children, so Sophie has arranged for a relationship therapist to talk things through. But are they past the point of no return? Has Frank been too much of a di*k? Can Sophie relax a little? Is this just the final straw of a car crash relationship?
Fast, furious and ridiculously funny. 90's sit-com comedy meets kitchen-sink drama in this brand new, ludicrous & vicious two-hander.
COCK
13th - 17th November
7:00pm
Tickets £14 (£10 Conc) - Not Including Booking Fee
COCK?!
No, you don’t see one, and no, it isn’t really about that. Mike Bartlett’s witty, provoking 2009 drama, Cock, focuses on a gay man who falls for a woman. It asks whether it’s who or what we’re attracted to that matters.
A provocatively titled play about an unlikely love triangle that was a huge hit in London and New York.
John has been with his boyfriend for seven years, so it’s a surprise to them both when John meets and falls in love with a woman. But is it love or is it infatuation? Or maybe it’s just the allure of something different or a kind of normalcy that society has convinced him he really wants?
A playful, candid look at one man’s sexuality and the difficulties that arise when you realize you have a choice.
The Evening Standard called it ‘a smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion’ while to the Guardian it was ‘a sharp, witty study of a man helplessly torn.’
DIRECTED BY Rupert Hill
PRODUCED BY HER Productions & UP 'ERE Productions
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Paris Rogers
THE FAMILY MAGIC SHOW
15th April
2:00pm
Tickets £10 (£7.50 Conc)
The legendary magician the Great Baldini tells the story of his, and Baldwin the magical dog’s, life from their first tricks to the height of their careers – attempting Houdini’s greatest escape. The show is packed with magic, sweets, puppetry, sweets, water, sweets, eggs, sweets, and escapology. It’s hilariously silly…with sweets.
Come and see two true magical superstars (Baldini and Baldwin) at the very pinnacle of their powers.
The Great Baldini is an award-winning member of the Magic Circle and the Bristol Stage Magic Champion.
“Incredible” Front Row, BBC Radio 4
“Charming, engaging, and charismatic. A pleasure.” FringeReview