This Is Lancashire, UK
July 28, 2006

A tale of love and struggle

By Kat Dibbits

The Last Tango, August 17-18 at The Library Theatre in Manchester.

The Last Tango is a rare chance to experience a musical in creation.

This production, by Manchester Library Theatre, is created as
work-in-progress by people from Young Music Theatre UK.

The stars of the production have been selected from national
auditions and are among the country’s most promising young
performers, both as actors and musicians.

The tale is one of love and struggle, told at a time and in a culture
that is different from that in Manchester today, making it a very
interesting and enlightening piece of theatre.

The story follows Ali, a Muslim boy living in Baku, the capital of
Azerbaijan, in 1919.

He meets and falls in love with a Christian girl, Nino, the daughter
of a rich trader from Armenia.

As the Bolsheviks approach and the Turkish Ottoman Empire retreats,
so Ali and Nino are forced to flee their homelands and seek refuge
from war-torn Europe.

For a short time they find happiness in the desert, but finally
return to the devastated Baku where tragedy overcomes them.

The Last Tango is a fantastically performed musical that shoves
youthful talent into the limelight.

The Last Tango, August 17-18 at The Library Theatre in Manchester.

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