Skip to main content
Light Falls, Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester
Missed opportunity to shed light on complex northern realities
In meltdown: David Moorst as Steven in Light Falls [Manuel Harlan]

SIMON STEPHENS’S new play marks the last production from the Royal Exchange’s artistic director Sarah Frankcom before she takes over the reins at LAMDA drama school.

One of the country’s finest directors, she has reshaped the Exchange into a theatre with international renown and over the past decade her innovative work, especially wonderful collaborations with Maxine Peake, have thrilled audiences.

That’s not necessarily the case with Light Falls, inspired by a road trip she took in 2016 with Stephens across the north of England, visiting Warrington, Blackpool, Ulverston, Doncaster and Durham.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
KV
Cinema / 18 July 2025
18 July 2025

RITA DI SANTO gives us a first look at some extraordinary new films that examine outsiders, migrants, belonging and social abuse

4.48
Theatre review / 18 July 2025
18 July 2025

GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today

constant
Theatre review / 4 July 2025
4 July 2025

GORDON PARSONS is disappointed by an unsubtle production of this comedy of upper middle class infidelity

liberation
Theatre review / 4 July 2025
4 July 2025

PAUL FOLEY welcomes a dramatic account of the men and women involved in the pivotal moment of the 5th Pan African Congress