Bury’s very own performance space is filled with music and theatre throughout the year, staging productions in the main auditorium, the elegant Derby Hall and hosting regular workshops and events in the community spaces. The Met ended last year with a fabulous finale in the shape of their hugely successful pantomime and tickets for next year’s production Aladdin are already on sale.
Highlights of the array of concerts, comedy and community activities this Spring include:
THEATRE & COMEDY
A line up of some of the greatest comedians from the region and beyond: Dave Spikey (Fri 10 Feb), the hugely popular local lad brings his sell-out tour to The Met; Justin Moorhouse: Stretch and Think (Fri 24 Mar), Justin Moorhouse returns to one of his favourite haunts – still funny, yet middle aged!; Henry Normal(Tue 4 Apr), the legendary writer, poet, TV and film producer Henry Normal returns to The Met; Eshaan Akbar: The Pretender
(Thu 16 March), comedian Eshaan Akbar brings his debut tour to The Met; and, last but not least, the ever popular First Thursday Comedycontinues (Thurs 2 Feb) with Angelos Epithemiou, Raymond Mearns, and Mick Ferry. Line ups for 2 March and 6 April will be announced later in the year.
Manchester-based theatre company Box of Tricks, champions of new writing, perform Too Much World at Once (Wed 5 Apr), an urgent coming-of-age story for our times.
FAMILY SHOWS
The Met runs a year-long programme of family shows, the Spring season includes: The Smartest Giant in Town (Sun 22 Jan), a musical adaptation of the bestselling book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler; Shark in the Park(Sat 1 Apr), all three of Nick Sharratt’s ‘Shark in the Park’ books live on Stage; and Alfie’s First Fight (Sat 8 Apr), a family theatre show from Z-Arts, inspired by children’s author Oliver Sykes.
MUSIC
Throughout the year The Met stages a world class programme of music, with international headline bands, rock, blues, jazz and stars and rising stars of the folk scene. An Evening with Roachford (Thurs 2 Mar), Andrew Roachford MBE who took the music scene by storm with the smash hit Cuddly Toy, appears at The Met as part of national tour.
The music-filled Spring line-up also features: Nashville-based bluegrass duo Sierra Hull and Justin Moses (Thu 26 Jan); The Sharon Shannon Trio (Thu 9 Feb) with the prolific composer whose music continues to defy all genres; Robert Jon and The Wreck (Sun 12 Feb), Blues and country-infused rock ‘n’ roll quintet from Orange County, California; Keith James – The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Thu 23 Feb), James performs sensitive interpretations from Cohen’s extensive and haunting songbook; Rheingans Sisters (Sat 4 March), Derbyshire- born Rowan and Anna Rheingans with their own brand of playful, powerful and richly connecting music, wholly contemporary while deeply anchored in folk traditions; Eleanor McEvoy(Thurs 9 Mar), one of Irish music’s biggest stars returns to The Met; Gigspanner (Sat 11 March), one of the most ground-breaking forces on the British folk scene featuring former Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight; Heidi Talbot (Sun 19 March), Heidi visits with new album Sing It For A Lifetime, her most raw and open-hearted work to date; Salt House (Thu 30 March), Scottish folk duo play carefully honed songs from both the past and present; Hue and Cry (Fri 21 April) made a huge impact in the ’80s with massive hit singles like Labour of Love, and remain popular today; Lunatraktors (Sat 25 Feb), award-winning duo Clair Le Couteur and Carli Jefferson fuse body percussion, harmonic singing, tap-dance and live looping to create dark, playful re-workings of the folk music archive; and Georgie Buchanan (Sat 29 April), a unique new voice on the folk scene, singer – story spinner, harpist and balladeer.
As always, The Met’s programme presents a wide range of music from some of the very best tribute bands around including: Nearly Dan: The Spirit and Sound of Steely Dan (Sat 28 Jan);PINK by Vicky Jackson (Sat 11 Feb); The Smiths Ltd + Clint Boon (DJ)
(Fri 24 Feb); and Pinked Floyd (Sat 25 March).
The Met is a vibrant community hub hosting regular workshops and activities throughout the year. These include: Bury Youth Theatre; Met Express, the theatre’s own disability theatre company; Aiming High, a specialist youth theatre for autistic and learning- disabled children; Meet Me at The Met; and Movers and Shakers, a movement-based workshop for children aged 0 – 5 and their parents.
The Met is also home to Metro Jazz, Bury’s community jazz orchestra, led by well-known band leader and saxophonist Munch Manship, open to anyone aged 18 and over.
As well as promoting an all-year-round programme of events. The Met also runs theEdwin St Recording Studio, a professional recording facility with quality recording equipment and a superb-sounding live room. The studio provides a full recording service, including music, voice-over, and voice to picture, along with an on-line mixing service and a full mastering service.
Support The Met. The ongoing support of The Met’s audiences has enabled The Met to continue adapting our work to the changing situation, and deliver brilliant projects designed to uplift, entertain and inspire our audiences. As a charity, The Met relies on donations to ensure the delivery of brilliant projects designed to uplift, entertain and inspire audiences, and it is only through this continued support that The Met will be able to continue delivering world class entertainment, right in the heart of Bury. To find out more about supporting the work of The Met by donating as little as £5 per month visit themet.org.uk/support or call us on 0161 761 2216.
The Met is home to an independent restaurant Automatic, the perfect place for pre-show meals and post-gig drinks, recovery breakfasts and quick lunches for more information visit: automaticcafe.com
Full programme: https://themet.org.uk
To book:
