It is somewhat apt that Handbagged is currently playing at the Oldham Coliseum, a story that centres on the supposedly fractious relationship between Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II during the time of the former Tory leader’s tenure as Prime Minister. Apt because it is 40 years since the Iron Lady was swept into power and with it began one of the most influential and significant periods of British history.
So it’s goodbye to January, who departs with its usual lack of fanfare and it being the month that most people tend to go into some sort of self imposed hibernation, and hello to freezing February as we get set to batten down the hatches as the winter chill continues to rear its unwelcome ugly head. Never fear, dear readers, for we can warm ourselves by cosying up to the delights that wait in store for us in Manchester finest theatres and entertainment venues.
It is fair to say that to so many folk that grew up in the 1970s and 1980s that watched Indian Cinema, one film stood out from that era – Sholay. It is now considered to be one of India’s greatest ever films. Ramesh Sippy’s curry western kickstarted the era of the Bollywood superhero and in particular the crazy superstardom that Amitabh Bachchan now enjoys. Of course the Big B was not the only star from that hit film, with a stellar cast that included Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Sanjeev Kumar and the scene stealing Amjad Khan. So when Dishoom! – a coming of age drama that charts the tumultuous events of one summer in 1978 – set to the banging RD Burman soundtrack of Sholay, it was something that just had to be seen!
It never ceases to amaze me how events of the past can still have the capacity to strike a chord with us today. The subject matter of Oldham Coliseum’s current production of Bread & Roses should hardly resonate with the good folk in this part of the world. After all it concerns events surrounding the mill-workers strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA in 1912. Yet, despite the happenings occurring over a 100 years ago, the lessons from those times are as relevant today as they were back then.