The Lady Vanishes is appearing at the Floral Pavilion this month – and Maxwell Caulfield is trying hard to explain the plot without giving away any of the twists. “A lot of people haven’t seen the film,” the actor points out, “and I was blurting it out, proudly announcing ‘oh my wife is playing the title role’. “And then I thought, wait a minute, don’t let that cat out of the bag either!” Given that there’s more than one female character in the Bill Kenwright-produced show, p

YEP makes its main stage debut at the Liverpool Playhouse this month with a new devised show. Crowd will see the Young Everyman Playhouse performers tackle issues of everyday society and specifically the mentality of ‘the crowd’, in a piece devised entirely by the company. It follows previous thought-provoking pieces - The Environmentalists, The Establishment and The City and Value of Things – which have been produced over the past three years. Crowd takes the young theatre-m

Fatoş Üstek has been appointed as the new Director of Liverpool Biennial. The 38-year-old will take up her position in May, replacing current director Sally Tallant who is leaving Liverpool for a new role in the US. Turkish-born Üstek comes to the city from the David Roberts Art Foundation in London where she is director and chief curator. Described as a rising star in the international art world, the curator and art writer was associate curator for the 10th Gwangju Biennale

LightNight Liverpool is set to celebrate its 10th birthday this May with a programme of more than 100 free special events. Fifty of the city’s best cultural venues will open their doors on Friday, May 17 for the annual night-time culture crawl which sees thousands of people take to the streets. LightNight, produced by Open Culture, allows audiences to pick and choose from a wide range of exciting happenings and new commissions across the city centre, from the Royal Albert Doc

Laughterhouse Live has a stellar line-up of comedy talent set to keep audiences entertained next week – and it’s all in an excellent cause. The show at the Philharmonic Hall on February 20 will raise funds for Alder Hey, Claire House Children’s Hospice, and Pete Fitzmaurice. It will feature headliners superstar Liverpool comedian John Bishop and TV favourite Paddy McGuinness, along with a special set from The Farm. The massive comedy bill also includes Neil Fitzmaurice, Chris

Work by contemporary artists Ericka Beckman and Marianna Simnett has opened FACT’s 2019 programme of new exhibitions. The women both use technology combined with classic elements of fairytales to explore an image of the female body in today’s society. The Wood Street venue’s wider 2019 season is set to focus on identity, representation and gender – complementing RISE, Liverpool’s year of cultural events and happenings that celebrate inspirational women. FACT exhibitions manag

Gilbert Varga takes up a new post in 2019 as chief conductor of the historic Pannon Philharmonic, based at the Kodaly Centre in Pecs. So who could be more apt to have leading the baton charge through the glorious, irreverent romp that is Kodaly’s iridescent Háry János Suite than the dapper Hungarian (albeit London-born) showman? Even the modest-sized Thursday night audience couldn’t dampen Varga’s infectious, animated enthusiasm on the box in what was an evening of musical va

Relationships and the enduring power of love are at the core of Gerry Linford’s heart-warming new comedy receiving its premiere at the Royal Court. Linford is a late starter as a playwright – but the 56-year-old is making up for lost time with Yellow Breck Road coming hot on the heels of his debut play, The Miracle of Great Homer Street, which was staged at the Court last summer. The creative team behind Miracle also returns for this latest tale of family dynamics. They inclu

It will be three cheers for cheese and a fanfare for fromage when CheeseFest rolls in to Liverpool this spring. The UK’s only travelling cheese festival is celebrating 30 ‘cracking’ years of Aardman Animations’ Wallace & Gromit and is promising a grand day out. All things cheese will be on offer when it comes to Exhibition Centre Liverpool on Saturday, March 23. Experience some of the greatest cheeses in the world at the artisan cheese market, with melted raclette, gooey mozz

Madagascar the movie was a bright and colourful animated romp that took its audience from the clinical confines of Central Park Zoo to the crazily chaotic wild kingdom of the lemurs. This slight but charming stage musical version of the 2005 Dreamworks film treads much the same path, in energetic fashion - and with a familiar quartet of diminutive monochrome Houdinis at the helm. Marty the zebra (Antoine Murray-Straughan) yearns to broaden his horizons beyond the bars of his