top of page
Recent News
Archive
Jackie Clune talks Rocky Horror ahead of Empire date for cult classic
When Jackie Clune was first approached to play the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show it’s perhaps fair to say she wasn’t really aware of what she had signed up for. Although she had watched the film at some point, she reveals she had never actually seen Richard O’Brien’s cult smash hit stage show. At least not until the day before she went on for the first time. “It was a bit of an eye opener,” she admits. “I didn’t really know what’s going on. “If you don’t know the plot, it
Four Letter Words at Liverpool Playhouse Studio
A new play set in ‘the world of queer online kink’ gets its premiere at the Liverpool Playhouse Studio next week. Four Letter Words comes to the Williamson Square venue from April 16-18. During lockdown, university student Gemma is swept up in a whirlwind online relationship with the mysterious M, a connection that begins in a BDSM chatroom but quickly becomes something far deeper. As their digital bond intensifies, Gemma’s real-world relationships start to unravel, pulling h
Review: Liverpool String Academy at the Tung Auditorium ****
It was the Liverpool String Academy’s inaugural concert at the city’s Tung Auditorium – but if there were any nerves among its youthful members, they certainly weren’t visible in what proved to be an accomplished and hugely impressive performance. Run by Early Music as Education (EMAE), a charity which basically does what it says on the tin by providing specialist music education for young people – irrespective of background or training – across Merseyside, Liverpool String A
Review: The Shawshank Redemption at the Liverpool Playhouse ****
Those of us of a certain vintage will remember going to see The Shawshank Redemption on the big screen back in 1994. Frank Darabont’s cinematic retelling of Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was a real gut-punch of a watch, and it was its misfortune that when it came to Oscar time – where it was nominated for seven awards – it found itself up against the twin juggernauts of Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. Three decades on, much of that gut-punch is
National Museums Liverpool marks 40th anniversary with a new exhibition
National Museums Liverpool is marking its 40th anniversary with an exhibition which showcases some of its most loved and important treasures from across its many venues. NML at 40 runs at the World Museum until February 2027 and is free. Visitors are able to ‘dig, dive and delve’ into some of the vast and nationally important collections which are held by the network of venues, the only national museums group in England outside London. The 40 objects in the exhibition include
Review: Talking Head Twice at the Unity Theatre ***1/2
Liverpool Improvisation Festival returns to the Unity this May with a programme of shows from some of the genre's brightest talent. Ahead of that, LiF organiser Wing it Impro took the chance to present a new idea currently in development in what was a well-received scratch performance which brought the Unity’s 2026 Up Next Festival to a close. Boasting the tagline 'Inspired by Bennett. Shaped by you', Talking Head Twice offers a huge nod to the nonagenarian playwright and all
Review: Knickerbocker Glory at the Unity Theatre ****
When you call yourself Choc-a-block Comedy, it inevitably creates a certain level of expectation. But Trading Standards can stand down, because Laura Robinson and Aidan Rivers’ droll double act happily lives up to its name in this chock-a-block comedy confection whipped up and staged as part of the Unity Theatre’s Up Next Festival. In Knickerbocker Glory, the recent LIPA acting graduates (Robinson appeared at the Unity several times during training, while you might recognise
Grenfell film coming to the Bluecoat in collaboration with Tate Liverpool
Artist Steve McQueen's film installation Grenfell is set to be screened at the Bluecoat this spring as part of a national tour of selected cities. The moving artwork is being brought to the School Lane venue in collaboration with Tate Liverpool from May 16 to June 21. The residency includes the ninth anniversary of the fire which swept through the London tower block and claimed the lives of 72 people on June 14, 2017. Following the tragedy, a Government Inquiry was launched t
Review: Spinster at the Unity Theatre ***1/2
One of the key elements of the Unity’s annual Up Next Festival is the disparate range of work on show over one busy four-day period. That packed programme reached its zenith with a trio of double bills on Friday evening, mixing and matching six short pieces, from ‘architects of the absurd’ to a dark comedy exploring the background of the pandemic to a cabaret in the middle of a compost heap. First out of the starting blocks in the initial double bill of the night was Martha J
Review: Mark Simpson's The Immortal at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall ****
Mark Simpson has revealed what he calls his ‘big and wild’ ambitions were ignited by the performances he watched and music he experienced as a youngster listening to concerts at the Philharmonic Hall. But while he may have dreamed a dream, one wonders if the Liverpool schoolboy really imagined he’d one day be feted as the orchestra that so influenced his youth premiered his own compositions in the same concert hall. Over the two decades and counting of his professional career
bottom of page