The Royal Exchange is two buildings in one. The outer shell is the former Cotton Exchange — a massive Victorian hall where Manchester once controlled the global cotton trade. Inside that, bolted to the columns like something from another century, sits a glass-and-steel module. That’s the theatre. Seven hundred seats wrapped around a thrust stage, no one more than nine metres from the action. It’s theatre-in-the-round and it’s intense.
The programming runs from Shakespeare to new commissions, musical theatre to radical adaptations. Quality is consistently high — this is a producing house, not just a receiving venue, so much of the work is made here. The studio space, a smaller black box theatre, takes bigger risks with newer writers and experimental work.
Even if you’ve no interest in theatre, walk in and look up. The Great Hall is free to enter and the architecture is staggering — ornate columns, tiled floors, the sheer scale of the place. The craft shop inside is one of the best in the city for locally made gifts. There’s a bar and cafe on the main floor.
Tickets range from about £10 to £45 depending on the production. Under-26 discounts are generous. The location on St Ann’s Square puts you in the dead centre of town.