It’s  satisfying  leaving my apartment in London at 8am and arriving perfectly on time in Manchester. At 12.30pm  I walk through Dark Matters at Whitworth  Art Gallery  to the launch of  Trade and Empire: Remembering Slavery for which I’ve written the afterword.   I catch up with  my friend Dave Haslam and afterwards  we eat at The Shere Khan in Rusholme.

Actors Jacqueline Boatswain and Jocelyn.

Onwards then to the new improved  Malmaison Hotel in Piccadilly. Love it.  I  Check in then I get out to Contact theatre to see theatre production  one monkey don’t stop no show .   It’s a brilliant piece of  ensemble theatre skillfully performed and directed by Dawn Walton written by Don Evans and designed by Libby Watson.

Roger Griffiths

After the show I meet the cast including the great  Roger Griffiths and Jocelyn Jee Elsen  and we wind down and laugh deep into the Mancunian night. The show is next in Leeds at West Yorkshire Playhouse. If you are lucky enough to get the chance then go see it.