North West Theatre

Corrie!

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Jonathan Harvey
Phil McIntyre Entertainments and ITV
12 Aug 10 to 25 Aug 10
The Lowry

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Britain’s longest-running and most-watched soap opera, see the highlights of five decades of Coronation Street.

Covering over 7,000 episodes and more than 2,000 storylines including 115 deaths, 37 births and 86 marriages, The Rovers Return suffers one lorry crash, two births, one condemnation, one fire and only two changes of wallpaper.

See characters including Ena Sharples, Hilda Ogden, Percy Sugden, Alf Roberts, Ken and Deirdre Barlow, Curly Watts, Richard Hillman, Karen McDonald, Jack Duckworth, Bet Lynch and many more.

See the viaduct collapse, the coach crash and the tram run over Alan. See Frank capture Valerie, Tracy kill Charlie, Todd kiss Nick, and Gail marry Brian, Martin, Richard and Joe in just two hours.

Lawson stars in Corrie

Corrie!, the stage show version of Coronation Street, Britain's longest-running soap opera, will star familiar face from 'the street' Charles Lawson as narrator.
What's On Stage

TV Corrie stars in Corrie! at Lowry

The stage version of Coronation Street, created by playwright Jonathan Harvey to celebrate the popular soap's fiftieth anniversary, will feature former Street star Charles Lawson, who played Jim McDonald for eleven years, as the narrator.
British Theatre Guide

Main event: Corrie!

Coronation Street, the nation’s favourite and longest-running soap, is trading its famous cobbles for the boards next week with a new comedy written by Jonathan Harvey, having its world premiere – appropriately enough – at The Lowry, Salford.
City Life

Street play heads south

Coronation Street's hit play Corrie! is moving to London's West End. Bosses have been blown away by the show's success after it launched in Salford, Greater Manchester on Monday.
The Sun

...no plot and barely any emotional impact. Instead, writer Jonathan Harvey amplifies the humour... of a soap format obsessed with marriages, affairs and the odd mass murderer... has the feel of a sketch show-cum-pantomime... while sometimes Corrie! does creak under the weight of its concept, Harvey’s not afraid to laugh at that, either... not all the characterisations are as impressive as Katherine Dow Blyton’s Deirdre or Simon Chadwick’s Ken... completely relies on its audience knowing and loving Coronation Street.
The Stage
...an absolute riot... an ill-judged dance piece which is amusing to begin with but soon runs out of steam... for the most part it succeeds... Some of the vignettes are too short... Katherine Dow Blyton is a scream as Deidre Barlow - complete with scrunched neck and oversized specs... one truly gobsmacking moment featuring the iconic Elsie Tanner stood in silhouette... knowing winks and nods to the fans... Leanne Best has a field day playing [Tracey Barlow's] descent into darkness. Simon Chadwick plays her bookish dad Ken with ease and switches to Roy Cropper just as effectively. Matthew Wait's Steve McDonald is ingenious... the use of a narrator... Charles Lawson... seems under-rehearsed... thanks to Jonathan Harvey's faithful, respectful, affectionate and very funny script, five fantastic performers, Liz Ashcroft's functional set... and Fiona Buffini's solid direction, if you are a fan of the cobbles - this is right up your street
What's On Stage (Rating: 4/5)
...captures the essence of Coronation Street... I particularly like Katherine Dow Blyton’s Hilda Ogden, Josie Walker’s Hayley Cropper and the way the Connor family tale is told through dance... hilarious, tongue in cheek trip down memory lane...
Sale and Altrincham Messenger (Rating: 3/5)
Jonathan Harvey’s sometimes shambolic but often blissfully funny stage celebration... Hilda Ogden’s beloved “murial” was revealed in all its kitsch glory to sighs of pleasure from the stalls... What’s fascinating – and admirable – about the show is that ITV has allowed Harvey mercilessly to take the mickey out of Corrie’s melodramatic absurdities and to rejoice in the programme’s very English brand of camp humour... A cast of five work heroically... a bit rough round the edges, but this show is absolutely bursting with heart and humour.
Daily Telegraph (Rating: 4/5)
...not a standalone play but a celebration of a British television institution for people... witty little additions and asides that play with the fact that the audience knows the actual outcome of the scene but the characters do not... The weakest part of the evening is the role of the narrator... The strongest part by far is the performances of the other five members of the cast... who, between them, create almost faultless impressions of more than fifty characters, many of which are greeted with a laugh of recognition from the audience before even opening their mouths... certainly a must-see for any long-term Coronation Fans, but even for those of us who aren't fans but have grown up with it always there in the background it is still extremely entertaining and at times hilariously funny...
British Theatre Guide