Drama

Following the massive success of their play Angels with Manky Faces, Manchester's MaD Theatre Company come to The Met with their new show. Thai Brides and Teacakes is a satirical commentary on the changing ethnic composition of modern Britain and is the latest example of this award-winning theatre company's unique brand of 'off the wall' story telling.

It is four years to the day that bakery owners, Ma and Madeira were married in North Manchester's first same sex civil partnership, and they want a very special gift - a baby. After being unsuccessful in their attempt to adopt a Vietnamese orphan, their attentions have turned to the local men as potential sperm donors. Early candidates proved to be something of a let down until the drop-dead gorgeous, and highly charismatic politician, Richard "Dickie" Moseley sweeps into town. However, all is not how it appears - not just for the two prospective mums, but for the whole community, as Dickie's extreme right-wing policies spell disaster. The devastated Mancunians look for a saviour and it appears in the unlikely form of Fred the builder's part time lap dancing Thai bride.

Thai Brides and Teacakes isn't a conventional theatre production. As with all MaD productions, it is multi-media - aimed at a wide audience - for people who might like to go to the match: or watch bands: or simply people who generally appreciate modern culture.

This production will feature music, as well as cameo performances from some of Manchester's familiar faces, plus one or two surprise guests.

Set in the heat of Southern Europe, the visceral backdrop launches the audience into the lives and woes of well-known lovers Romeo and Juliet.

The fast-paced dramatic performance strips back Shakespeare's text to its essential poetic prose, incorporating flamenco, striking physicality, powerful singing and music, affecting the audience with a sensory blowout.

This is a fresh and exciting interpretation of a classic text, which will take the audience on a journey of love and fear.

Inspired by stories of the ancient Olympics - and the Greek comic satyrs of Euripides and Aristophanes - Spike Theatre will bring to life again the world of the Greek gods (and bizarre sporting events) in their own inimitable style.

This comic re-telling of all things Greek will incorporate sporting equipment with a thousand uses, an original musical score and a sense of the ridiculous.

But be prepared: The Games is war...minus the shooting.

Kelly, right, Kelly the bitch decides to have a party on the very same night as my sleep over - the very same night! And I know she's done it on purpose. And she invites everybody - absolutely everybody...except me of course...I want to die! I'm such a minger!

Welcome to the world of 14-year old Katie as she battles her way through the bitches, the chavs, the misery of school discos and the desperate search for a worthy boyfriend.

A turbulent and triumphant tale of a totally troubled teen. I haven't got time to tell you everything, just come and see this show, but get this, they've got this actor to play everyone, including me! What's that about? He's a bloke! Ohmigod, what a MINGER!

"Alex Jones writes with fury, passion and compassion about those whose voices are seldom heard"Financial Times

Escapologist, magician, secret agent, lover, husband, devoted son, enemy of the establishment, Harry Houdini was all and none of these things. His life remains a mystery, and his greatest trick remains his ability to escape interpretation, until now...

Harry Houdini was an enigma in his own time, and the mysterious circumstances of his premature death have launched a thousand conspiracy theories ever since. The man who believed he could return from the dead spent the latter part of his career exposing fake mediums and those seeking to exploit the grief of others, despite his widow's constant attempts to contact him after his death using an intricate code...

Using Proteus' distinctive style of fusing physical performance, circus, film and music Harry Houdini will be resurrected to tell his remarkable story of a truly self-made man and the myths that have made him a legend.

Liverpool, 1960. A two-week strike by both dockworkers and seafarers has paralysed the port, and against a backdrop of picketing, marches and gaolings one local family plays out the changing times.

They're the McDermott's - Dad Jerry's on the docks, son Jack's on the ferries and Mum Joan and her sister Denise are in the council offices. While local Union leader Paddy Neary is carted off to Brixton Jail, the McDermott's fight, laugh, sing and lie their way in and out of a time when post-war austerity was giving way to a decade of change.

The play looks and laughs at this changing world through the microcosm of one terraced house where the TV does battle with the upright piano. Jack croons the classics, Jerry sings skiffle and beat and Mum belts out the old bawdy sailor's songs. "Keep the noise down, love, Z-Cars is on."

Sex & Docks & Rock 'n' Roll carries on where last winter's highly-successful show Riot, Rebellion and Bloody Insurrection left off - with Red Ladder reconnecting noisily with a great tradition of radical, political and entertaining theatre.