The new play by Joe O'Byrne, the Manchester actor and playwright well known for his Tales From Paradise Heights series of books, plays and films, is an intriguing ghost story, The Haunting of Blaine Manor. First performed to sell-out audiences and critical acclaim ("top notch" said North West End) at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre earlier this year, it is about to begin a five-night run at Salford's The King's Arms from Tuesday 16th to Saturday 20th August. The cast features Together in Electric Dreams' Daniel Thackeray and The Ballad of Halo Jones/The Year of the Sex Olympics/An Unearthly Child's Phil Dennison, plus a voice cameo from Carly (Halo Jones/V for Vendetta) Tarett. More information about the show can be found at the Tales From Paradise Heights website and a trailer for the show is here.
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| Cast and crew at the second day of recording for Radion Media's The Uncanny Valley. Photo by Raiye Bersford |
Meanwhile last month studio recording was completed at Bolton FM Studios on The Uncanny Valley, a brand new radio fantasy anthology series from Radion Media Limited. Comprising five different 15-minute strange tales from different writers, the episodes will be broadcast on different days across Halloween week 2016 on Bolton FM and other local radio stations. Scytheplays' Daniel Thackeray wrote one of the episodes, All in the Head, and directed two of the others, which featured a cast including Halo Jones alumni Morag Peacock, Zoe Iqbal, Adam Beresford and Phil Dennison as well as Sex Olympics/Count Magnus' Howard Whittock and Together in Electric Dreams' Steve Cain. Also directing for the series is Nova Star Hunters' Richard O'Neill, who previously contributed to the sound design of Halo Jones. The Radion Media Ltd. Facebook page is here.
One-time 'sci-fi fringe siren', being superb as Evey in Scytheplays' V for Vendetta and Rodice in the second production of The Ballad of Halo Jones, Sinead Parker is once again appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year with her comedy partner Katie Norris (pictured above) in the acclaimed hit show Norris and Parker: See You At The Gallows. Presenting a deluge of surreal and inspired character sketches, the show runs throughout the month of August at the Pleasance Courtyard and booking in advance is well advised as it is repeatedly selling out. For more information go to the Norris and Parker website.
Finally, the aformentioned Howard and Dan have, again in conjunction with Richard O'Neill through his hosting website Noisy Bark, just launched a new podcast. The Lee/Cushing Podcast is devoted to the history of British horror cinema and in particular to the many films of screen legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, celebrating them in an informed yet light-hearted style. New episodes will be available one a month from Noisy Bark (a website which supports new content of all kinds and is open to new submission), and the show can also be listened to on YouTube:
