Entertaining Mr Sloane is a three-act play written in 1963 by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was first produced in London at the New Arts Theatre on 6 May 1964 and transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre on 29 June 1964.
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Exchange Theatre and the Royal Exchange Shopping Centre.
Steve McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Simon Gregson. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 6 December 1989. He arrived as part of the McDonald family introduced by producer Mervyn Watson along with his twin brother Andy and parents Liz and Jim McDonald. For the first year on the Street, the character was credited by the actor's real surname Gregory, before changing to Gregson from early 1991 onwards. Steve is Coronation Street's most married character, having been married seven times to five women. In September 2015, Gregson announced a break due to personal reasons and Steve was off-screen from November 2015 to 22 April 2016.
Tracy McDonald is a fictional character and a main antagonist from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was born on-screen during the episode broadcast on 24 January 1977. She was played by Christabel Finch until 21 November 1983. Holly Chamarette played the role from 8 July 1985 until 23 March 1988. Dawn Acton played the role from 12 December 1988 to 10 July 1995. Acton reprised the role for two short stints in November 1996 and December 1997. She reprised the role once again on 14 March 1999 and made her final appearance as Tracy on 10 October 1999. Kate Ford took over the role from 25 December 2002 to 8 April 2007. Ford reprised the role for a brief stint from late May to early June 2010, before returning full-time from 24 December 2010.
Jason Grimshaw is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Ryan Thomas, the character first appeared on screen on 25 December 2000. It was announced in October 2015 that Thomas had quit the role of Jason, and the character departed on 29 June 2016.
Neil Vivian Bartlett, OBE, is a British director, performer, translator and writer. He was one of the founding members of Gloria, a production company established in 1988 to produce his work along with that of Nicolas Bloomfield, Leah Hausman and Simon Mellor.
Tanika Gupta is a British playwright. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television, film and radio plays.
Ian Bartholomew is a British actor and musician from Portsmouth, England who has worked widely in both theatre and television. In March 2018, Bartholomew joined the cast of ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, as Geoff Metcalfe. He also played Chitterlow in the revival cast of Half A Sixpence alongside Charlie Stemp, who played Arthur Kipps, and the Baker in the original West End production of Into the Woods opposite Imelda Staunton as his wife.
Avril Elgar Williams was an English stage, radio and television actress.
Vivienne Franzman is a British playwright from Walthamstow, whose first play, Mogadishu, was critically acclaimed on its première at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and on its transference to the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 2011. Dominic Cavendish of The Telegraph called it "the play of the year". The play, based on her own experiences as a school teacher, starred Julia Ford as a teacher victimised by a student's lies after she tries to protect him.
Robbie Roscoe is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Charlie Wernham. He made his first screen appearance on 2 April 2013. Robbie is part of the Roscoe family and the first member to be introduced. On 19 March 2013, a Channel 4 press release revealed that Robbie "leads the way for a family of boys to descend on Hollyoaks, headed by Gillian Taylforth as mother, Sandy." Wernham's casting was confirmed on 27 March 2013. Wernham auditioned for the show the previous year, attending his second audition on 24 October 2012. Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy later revealed Robbie is a "troublesome new student" and he would befriend established character Callum Kane. The writer added that Robbie's headteacher Patrick Blake thinks he can control his behaviour. But Robbie soon begins to cause trouble.
Wonder.land is a musical with music by Damon Albarn and lyrics and book by Moira Buffini. Inspired by Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871), the musical made its world premiere at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, in July 2015 as part of the Manchester International Festival. The musical transferred to London's Royal National Theatre from November 2015, before opening at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, in 2016.
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is a British competition for playwriting, the largest of its kind in Europe—in 2019 it received 2561 entries. Since its inception in 2005, more than 15,000 scripts have been entered, £304,000 has been awarded to 34 prize-winning writers, and 24 winning productions have been staged in 38 UK-wide venues. In 2015 the prize celebrated its 10th anniversary and is now recognised as a launch-pad for some of the country's most respected and produced playwrights. The Prize is awarded to scripts that are original and unperformed. The award is a joint venture between the property company Bruntwood and the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester the Prize is an opportunity for writers of any background and experience to enter unperformed plays to be judged by a panel of industry experts for a chance to win part of a prize fund totalling £40,000.
