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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
Welcome back - I hope you all had a lovely long weekend. I must say I was surprised to read about the startling scenes that unfolded at The Palace Theatre on Good Friday.
A performance of The Bodyguard ended early when two unruly members of the audience were thrown out by security for tunelessly honking I Will Always Love You at the top of their lungs - despite producers asking the audience not to sing and installing signs around the venue.
Bosses at The Palace say the 'disruptive customers’ refused to stay seated and 'spoilt the performance for others'. And theatre etiquette has become the subject of much heated national debate since the incident, which led to police being called to the Oxford Road venue.
In fact, This Morning presenter Alison Hammond apologised after Friday’s incident because - during light-hearted segment about theatre rules - she suggested she’d be skipping the show if she couldn’t sing along.
Of course, the incident in Manchester isn’t the first time audiences have been chastised for bad behaviour in recent months. It’s been suggested that phones could be banned from theatres after nude pictures of James Norton were taken during a performance in London. And at the tail end of last year a heckler shouted ‘rubbish’ at a child actor, resulting in a lifetime ban from the Royal Opera House.
So what does this story mean for theatres and theatre audiences? And what’s the answer? We’ll be discussing that in today’s newsletter. But first, we’re going to take a look at how the longest doctors strike in the history of the NHS is unfolding here in Greater Manchester.
Such a waste of training
We’re just a few hours into the 96-hour strike action being held by junior doctors and feelings are high - but union members say it’s absolutely necessary.
A junior doctor at St Mary’s Hospital, who is striking today, told my colleague Helena Vesty that she could ‘double’ her salary if she worked in Australia.
She said: “I’ve got friends [there] whose starting salary as a doctor was the equivalent of £90k at a fairly junior level. I know at least five doctors who have quit medicine altogether to work in health consultancy and pharmaceutical companies. That is such a waste of training.
“I love the job of being a doctor but you do ask yourself: why not just get another job with better pay and working conditions? There is only so much time you can go against common sense.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, says the strikes will cause ‘unparalleled’ upheaval and will be the ‘most disruptive in NHS history’.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay says the timing is ‘regrettable’ and accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of putting patients at ‘greater risk’ by not agreeing any exemptions for some services, such as cancer care. The action began at 7am and will continue until Saturday morning.
The BMA says further industrial action could still be avoided if the Government makes a ‘credible offer’.
Consultant and GP cover is in place to maintain safe patient care but Greater Manchester health bosses are asking the public to support staff by ‘using services wisely’.
What both sides say as historic four-day junior doctors strike begins
The doctors so sick of it they're leaving for Australia
For registrar Mike Greenhalgh, the action by doctors this week is about more than just pay.
He says the NHS had 'been on its knees' for a long time and that pay stagnation meant junior doctors were being lost each day, leading to longer waiting lists for patients.
Mike - who specialises in trauma and orthopaedic surgery - is also co-deputy chair of the junior doctor's committee at the BMA. While supporting colleagues on the picket line outside Manchester Royal Infirmary this morning, he told my colleague Chris Slater: “We need to keep doctors in the NHS, and to do that we need a fair pay deal for them.”
He says: “If you've got a well-staffed NHS then it can provide better care and they can get waiting lists down and get people seen faster, which is what the public really wants. They want to be able to come and see a doctor and have their appointments and operations, and we want to be able to deliver that.
"But the simple truth is, there's not enough of us. There are 9,000 hospital doctor vacancies in England right now. You can go to any hospital up and down the country and they will tell you the same story. Patients are waiting far too long in A&E.
"In December, we had over 50,000 people waiting over 12 hours in A&E. That is just ridiculous. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said last week that patient safety has long been at risk due to chronic under-resourcing and underfunding and under-staffing of the health service. The way we sort all of this is by making sure there's a fair pay deal for junior doctors.”
Blurring the lines
Dianne Bourne admits that the signs at The Palace Theatre production of The Bodyguard initially took her by surprise. And though our Lifestyle Editor would never dream of breaking out into song in the middle of a performance, she felt the block capitals and bold typed notices instructing: ‘PLEASE REFRAIN FROM SINGING ALONG’ were a bit severe.
But she was as shocked as any of us when the Good Friday performance had to be stopped for two women to be escorted off the premises. That incident was not just about their loud singing but also, according to theatre bosses, the fact they refused to stay seated.
We all know that behaviour isn’t acceptable in the theatre, but the incident has raised a lot of questions about theatre etiquette. And as Dianne told me, the lines between a theatre show and a gig are becoming increasingly blurred. She says it may be confusing for audiences when a show like The Bodyguard begins with a pop concert and ends with a mass singalong during which they are encouraged to join in.
“It’s that jukebox musical thing where everyone knows the songs,” she says. “People might expect to be able to sing along. In The Bodyguard the main character is a pop star, they’re all Whitney Houston songs and there are elements of a pop concert. So it can be confusing because you would sing along at a gig. I suppose you could ask, why is it okay to sing along at a Take That gig but not at the Take That musical?
“I would say jukebox musicals attract people who don’t necessarily go to the theatre a lot. If you’ve never been to the theatre before, how would you even know?”
A survey released last month revealed that 79.9 per cent of theatre staff had experienced ‘acts of bullying, violence, intimidation, harassment, or abuse of staff’. The findings, by the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union, state ‘the scale of the problem is so much larger than any of us anticipated’.
Dianne - who has been reviewing shows in Manchester for 20 years - says she too was surprised at the scale of the problem nationally.
"I didn't like the signs at The Bodyguard, but I now understand why staff need to let audiences know what's acceptable behaviour and what isn't. I didn't understand why it needed to be said because the worst behaviour I've previously encountered in Manchester is people rustling sweets. I can imagine how annoying it would be if someone is singing really loud right next to you and how awful it is for staff having to try and deal with this behaviour."
So what’s the answer? Should there be special shows where people can sing along? Or should audiences be given a polite Tannoy announcement reminding them of the rules before the curtain goes up? We know that can sometimes work in a gig setting - as it did during Björk’s performance at Bluedot last summer where you could hear a pin drop.
And can we really ignore the fact that alcohol may have played a big part in some of the incidents mentioned in the survey of theatre staff? “Most problems are just down to a few idiots. But how do you police a few idiots?” Dianne says.
‘Absolutely disgusting'
A tenant claims she has found mould and fungus growing in her New Islington apartment block. Lyanne Moore has lived at Albion Works for just under a year and says the issue began in January and has persisted. She has shared this image of the fungus growing on the wall and reaching under her front door.
Residential Management Group - which manages the building - were quick to sort the initial problem but Lyanne says the fungus has returned. She says the situation is 'absolutely disgusting.'
RMG say the problems relate to a historic leak and there are currently no damp patches in the communal area, which is inspected every day.
A true taste of home
Food critic Jay Rayner has described the food at one of Salford’s best-loved restaurants as ‘rich and profoundly comforting’.
Hong Kong style cafe Sakura, on St Stephen Street, is described by Rayner as a ‘true taste of home’ for Manchester's Chinese students, serving up comforting dishes for little more than a tenner. In his latest review for The Guardian, Rayner he heaps praise on the 'tiny' cafe, where he finds diners 'finding familiar comfort in rice bowls or steaming tureens of soup noodles’.
Ready to vote?
Hundreds of would-be councillors will be battling it out for your votes ahead of elections in Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs next month.
Several boroughs could see radical change with all-out elections in Oldham, Wigan, Tameside, Stockport, Trafford and Bolton. You can see every candidate standing in every one of Greater Manchester's ten boroughs at the 2023 local elections here.
Voters will head to the polls on Thursday, May 4 - but don’t forget you’ll need photo ID in order to cast your vote.
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Weather etc
Wednesday: Cloudy changing to heavy rain by late morning. 8C.
Road closures: A579 Bolton Road Eastbound, Atherton, closed due to roadworks between Water Street and York Street. Until April 17.
A662 Pollard Street Westbound, New Islington, closed due to roadworks from Pollard Street to A665 Great Ancoats Street. Until April 13.
Trivia question: Which soft drink was invented in Manchester in 1908?
Manchester headlines
- Low bridge: The roof of a double-decker bus was ripped off when the vehicle hit a bridge off Barton Lane, in Eccles, on Monday evening. Police sealed off the section of road beneath the bridge under the Bridgewater Canal. One witness said there were no passengers on board at the time. They added: "It was a low bridge that the bus tried to go under - but the bridge was too low and cut off the roof of the bus.
Three billboards: An Oldham grass company forced to take down an 'inappropriate' billboard by the advertising watchdog has returned with a new poster showcasing a shirtless man. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told Oldham-based Great Grass MCR Ltd to take down a billboard in November last year after ruling it 'objectified and stereotyped women as sexual objects'. The poster, situated on a busy junction in Hollinwood, featured a headline stating the company were 'Artificial Grarse Experts'. Underneath the text was an image of a woman wearing a bikini with text which states: "Perfect 365 days a year...Get laid by the best." The ASA’s investigation, which was sparked by complaints, found the poster to be ‘irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence'. Having taken the billboard down, the Oldham company replaced it with a new billboard ‘apologising’ to ‘the offended 4’. Great Grass’ latest billboard reads: ‘Great Abs, Great Grass’ underneath a male model with his shirt off. They say they’ve received no complaints.
Housing: The coalition government's public spending squeeze contributed to the neglect faced by social housing tenants, Communities Secretary Michael Gove has suggested. Mr Gove admitted the mistakes of successive governments had led to tragedies such as the death of toddler Awaab Ishak in 2020, caused by mould in his family's flat in Rochdale, and the Grenfell Tower fire. His comments follow the publication of a damming report by the Housing Ombudsman arising from a special investigation into landlord Rochdale Boroughwide Housing commissioned after the inquest into Awaab's death. Mr Gove also claimed the Government had taken more action to support people in social housing than any previous administration for ‘decades’, after facing questions about the death of Sheila Seleoane - the medical secretary whose body was not found for two years after she died alone at her housing association flat in Peckham.
Gigs: New Order have announced they’ll be heading out on the road later this year… but they won’t be playing a date in Manchester. The nearest show will be in Leeds in October. The iconic Manchester band haven’t played here since their headline show at Heaton Park in 2021, and prior to that a performance at the Bluedot festival, in Macclesfield, in 2019. Tickets for the European dates go on sale at 9.30am on April 14.
Worth a read
“Today, Chapel Street is a feast for the senses,” writes city centre reporter Ethan Davies. “Sunlight reflects off luxury apartment blocks. A cacophony of horns - each more angry than the last - is an exercise in self-policing egregious traffic offences.
"There’s a metallic taste in the air from the fumes emanating from the junction with Trinity Way. And you can always smell something good cooking at one of the city’s new eateries and coffee houses.”
But as Ethan reports, it wasn’t always this way. He’s been looking at the slew of development on the stretch and how it has transformed over the years.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Vimto
