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See the Stars by Eleanor Ray #Review

  See the Stars by Eleanor Ray will be  published on February 5th 2026 by Piatkus .  Do you ever feel that life isn't going to plan?   When Alice Thorington collapses in the street after a particularly hellish day at work, she must finally admit to herself that her outwardly happy life - steady relationship, well-paid job, beautiful flat in the city - isn't everything she'd hoped it would be. Burnt out by long hours and living a life that doesn't fulfil her dreams, Alice returns home to Yorkshire.  Her childhood home brings complicated family dynamics, a rediscovery of her passion for stargazing and two new friends: Berti, a boy who finds it easier to count the stars than interact with people, and Matt, her brother's best friend and Alice's teenage crush. With each of them facing their own struggles, can the stars that meant so much to Alice in her past help them to find their way in the present?  Filled with heart and warmth, this uplifting novel...
The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and directed by Caroline Steinbeis



The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester is my favourite Manchester building as it sums up for me, the city of Manchester. Housed inside a 19th century building in the Great Hall where cotton was traded, it is a theatre in the round; set in a sputnik like structure, a visitor from the future. The board from the last day of trading looks down. It is a perfect fusion of 21st century creativity and past glories.

The Crucible lived up to expectation and seemed oddly fitting in the cauldron of the theatre structure. Set in Salem, New England, it drew on the story of the Salem witches of the late seventeenth century. The play was first performed in 1953 amidst the McCarthy enquiries and the parallels between the situations must have resonated with those first audiences, and in the modern day, it asked questions about society today. 

As an examination of how an organisation or community exerts control through excluding disagreement or dissent, the performance succeeded. The set, a simple shining circle emphasised the boundaries around the society through its simplicity and starkness. It was only at the end when the entire area flooded as the witch hunt was becoming untenable that I felt that it was beginning to distract from the story. It interrupted my concentration and I found myself watching the actors wading about, aware that they were actors playing a part. However, the water itself seemed to show both the fabric of society unravelling and at the same time, echoed thoughts of cleansing and washing away of the past.

Fear and suspicion spread through the village as the investigation into the accusations of witchcraft took hold. As a member of the audience, I felt this tension and distrust to the end. 

In short: I found it a compelling play to watch.

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