August - 2022

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Review: I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical at Liverpool Theatre Festival *****

Liverpool Theatre Festival started life back in 2020 to support the city’s live performance and creative arts sector which – like so much else – had been decimated by the pandemic. Three years, several lockdowns and numerous Covid strains later, the third (now award-winning) annual festival is underway, opening coincidentally on the same day the Covid alert was downgraded to its lowest level yet. While the physical threat from the virus may have receded, theatre and other ven

Liverpool Theatre Festival stages Hillsborough play in busy 2022 line up

Liverpool Theatre Festival opens this week with 17 shows coming to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church between now and September 11. The festival, now in its third year, was started in 2020 by Liverpool producer Bill Elms to help theatre companies and performers continue to play to live audiences during the Covid pandemic. Last year, Little LTF which showcases new writing, was also introduced and now takes place annually in May. One show which was premiered at Little LTF this spring

Knowsley heritage and myths celebrated in outdoor spectacular

A spectacular open-air immersive theatre event will take place in Whiston in October – and Knowsley residents are being urged to get involved. Periplum, which staged The Witching Hour which brought thousands of spectators to Birkenhead Park in 2019, is returning to the city region to create the new piece from October 7-9. A Thousand Feet Deep is part of Knowsley’s Borough of Culture programme and will explore and celebrate the history, myths and folklore of the area in one 50

Review: Little Shop of Horrors at Liverpool Empire ****

The Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre is never less than ambitious when it comes to its big summer productions. In recent years it’s impressed with Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, Jonathan Larson’s gritty, La Boheme-inspired Rent, and last year its young actors took on the (now unexpectedly topical) Cold War allegory Chess. Like In The Heights and Rent, Little Shop of Horrors puts a struggling inner city community centre stage, although in this case they find themselves sha

Brian Epstein statue unveiling in Liverpool city centre

A new statue honouring Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein has been unveiled in Liverpool. The late legendary Liverpool music manager, who died 55 years ago, is depicted striding along Whitechapel towards Mathew Street to see the Beatles with a management contract in his right hand, and stands just across the road from the site of the Epstein family’s famous NEMS store. It was from NEMS on November 9, 1961 that the 27-year-old Epstein set out to watch a band play a lunchtime sessi

Epstein Theatre date for Clement Attlee play

The post-war government of Labour PM Clement Attlee is explored in a new comedy drama coming to Liverpool this autumn. Clement Attlee, written by author, journalist, playwright and contemporary historian Francis Beckett, is being staged at the Epstein Theatre on September 26-27. And the dates coincide with the Labour Party Conference which is being held in the city. Beckett’s play, which was originally staged in London under the title A Modest Little Man, opens in 1945. Brita

Time Traveller's Wife cast revealed for world premiere at Storyhouse

The cast has been revealed for the world premiere of a new musical version of best-seller The Time Traveller’s Wife opening at Chester Storyhouse next month. David Hunter is set to play Henry and Joanna Woodward will appear as Clare in the show which runs from September 30 to October 15. The new musical, written by Lauren Gunderson from the much-loved novel by Audrey Niffenegger and the 2009 screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, has an original score by Grammy Award-winners Dave St

Up Next at the Unity - a celebration of new work

The Up Next Weekender returns to the Unity Theatre showcasing new work from Merseyside creatives. This year the ‘weekender’- which is part of Unity’s Open Call programme - is actually spread across two different dates; the first on September 16-17 and the next from October 13-15. Festivalgoers can book tickets for individual performances, costing £8, or buy a festival pass for £25 allowing access to all the shows taking place over one weekend. Five performances take place dur

Little Shop of Horrors comes to the Liverpool Empire stage

Liverpool Empire’s Youth Theatre is staging Little Shop of Horrors at the Lime Street venue this month. The cult musical comedy will be presented on August 26 and 27 by a talented cast of young people from across Liverpool and beyond, working with a team of professional creatives. Meek flower shop assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a strange new plant which he names ‘Audrey’ after the girl he has a crush on. But as Audrey the plant grows and grows, she reveals a foul-

PurpleDoor brings the Bard to West Kirby

Liverpool’s PurpleDoor is bringing two Shakespeare plays to Wirral this month. The theatre company will present Two Gentlemen of Verona and the rarely-seen King John at West Kirby Arts Centre on August 19 and 20. The plays mark the first time PurpleDoor has performed since the start of the Covid pandemic. Director Karl Falconer says: “King John and Two Gentlemen are some of Shakespeare’s earliest work and they’ve got all the ingredients that you come to know and love from his