October - 2022

Archive

Liverpool Santa Dash 2022 countdown is on

Thousands of runners are preparing to transform Liverpool city centre into a sea of Santas when they take part in this year’s fundraising Santa Dash. The BTR Liverpool event on Sunday, December 4, is now in its 19th year. Its 2022 official event charity is Alder Hey Children’s Hospital with fundraising Father Christmases supporting its ongoing Surgical Neonatal Appeal. And Arriva North West is offering competitors free travel on its network on the day – as long as they are we

Christmas shows spreading cheer in Liverpool City Region this season

Tis the season to be jolly and Liverpool City Region’s theatres are promising big laughs this Christmas – oh yes they are! From traditional pantos to Christmas-themed shows to a selection box of seasonal fun – and a musical about half-a-dozen feisty women – the stage is set for a magical and mayhem-filled festive season. The Royal Court is first out of the starting blocks with its (adult) Scouse take on Jack and the Beanstalk, one of three theatrical trips into the clouds tha

Sweet Mother takes tale of Toxteth resilience on national tour

A verbatim play celebrating the resilience of women in the heart of the Toxteth community is being toured to venues across Liverpool City Region and beyond this autumn. Nwoko Arts’ Sweet Mother was originally staged at the Royal Court Studio in March 2020 just before the first Covid lockdown. It is based on verbatim interviews with dozens of women from Toxteth who shared their experiences of raising families in the area from the 1950s to the 1980s, highlighting the previously

Imaginarium tells a Strange Tale at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Prescot’s Imaginarium Theatre is taking over the Cockpit at Shakespeare North Playhouse next week with a Strange Tale. Rob Brannen’s new play invents exciting new myths for the town and its connections with Shakespeare, using factual historical research and ‘lashings of artistic license’. The comic time-travelling adventure – inspired by Prescot’s watch and clockmaking heritage - promises an unforgettable night of music, mystery and mayhem. Will Shakespeare is in Prescot, but

Review: Blood Brothers at Liverpool Empire *****

There are very few shows that can boast a natural ‘home’ – and a prodigal homecoming to boot. But Blood Brothers, Willy Russell’s tragic tale of the Johnstone twins, is one. And 39 years (and 10 months) since the much-loved, moving musical melodrama received its professional premiere on the Playhouse stage, it remains as phenomenally popular as ever here in the city of its birt. Bill Kenwright has been at the helm of the show for 35 of those nearly-40 years, and like a proud

Katumba Halloween Carnival returns to Liverpool City Centre

Spectacular sights and sounds are promised on the streets of Liverpool city centre this weekend as Katumba holds its Halloween Carnival. The event on Saturday evening will involve dozens of drummers, dancers, fire artists, stunning costumes and an illuminated peleton of bicycles, and has the theme ‘the perils we and our planet face’. The parade starts on Bold Street at 7pm and will make its way through the city centre along Church Street and Paradise Street, with a finale out

Brilliant Boodles jewels at Lady Lever Art Gallery

Dazzling artistry in precious stones and metals is on show in an exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery which celebrates Liverpool jewellers Boodles. Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story reveals the firm’s 224-year history and how Liverpool has shaped the brand which has gone from being a family jewellers to purveyors of some of the most stunning jewels in the world. The company’s foundations lie in the opening of a jewellers’ shop in Liverpool in 1798 by the Kirk family unde

Review: Beethoven's Emperor at Philharmonic Hall ****1/2

He’s a superstar at home in Japan and since he first appeared in Liverpool the best part of a decade ago, Nobuyuki Tsujii has become a firm favourite at the Philharmonic Hall too. DaDaFest, celebrating the best local, national and international disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent art and artists, returns to the city later this week. And what better appetiser (albeit completely unrelated) than a stellar performance by a blind pianist of a master work from someone who was in the

Review: Deep Blue at Liverpool Everyman ****

It’s a strange and confusing contradiction that in this modern world, despite ‘connection’ being just a tapped screen away, more and more of us are feeling adrift and alone. The impulses that underpin the human condition – the need for connection, belonging, and the feeling of dislocation - are all explored in this funny, thoughtful and at times piercingly painful piece of compelling and energetic gig theatre from the inventive people at Paperwork. In an unnamed ‘once upon a

River of Light installations and where to see them

Liverpool’s River of Light festival is illuminating the city’s world-famous waterfront with a host of interactive and immersive installations. The event opens tonight and runs until November 6, with the artwork lit up for four hours each evening. Ten works from local, national and international artists and collectives – a mixture of world premieres and existing pieces which have never been seen in Liverpool before - are spread over a 1.2 mile (2km) route which includes Exchan

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