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Review: The Mousetrap at the Floral Pavilion ****
Generations of theatre audiences have the doughty Queen Mary to thank for The Mousetrap – although one suspects she would never have imagined the life the classic whodunit would go on to have. She was apparently a huge Agatha Christie fan, so for her 80th birthday in 1947, the BBC commissioned the Queen of Crime to create a special radio play for the dowager queen. The result was a short story called Three Blind Mice – as in the sinister, insidious musical motif which lurks i
Liverpool Irish Festival 2026 says I Am Here
Liverpool Irish Festival is taking place this month with the theme for 2026 being I Am Here. The annual festival, now in its 24th year, runs until next Sunday, October 25. The celebration is the UK’s largest arts and culture-led festival and the 2026 programme covers almost 40 events and exhibits - some free, some ticketed - including music, theatre and performance, talks and tours, visual arts, film, literary voices and family activities. I Am Here ‘explores what it means to
Christmas Shows and Pantos in Liverpool and beyond in 2026
Christmas is on the horizon – oh yes, it is – and that means just one thing. It’s panto time again. A century ago, pantomimes opened on Christmas Eve and ran through well into the New Year. Over the intervening years, however, the start of the festive season has got earlier and earlier with the first shows in 2026 opening in early November. As usual the Royal Court and the Everyman are the vanguard of the festive frivolity, but there are also a host of other seasonal shows cl
Review: Scaleno at Studio Beyond ****
What if surviving is not the same as living? What if escape becomes a form of identity? These are just two of the questions posed in Antonella Fittipaldi’s intriguing and at times bleakly comic one-woman, tri-lingual show playing at Studio Beyond as part of this year’s Liverpool Fringe Festival. Described as ‘part autobiographical confession, part psychological battleground’, Scaleno considers themes like heritage, class, expectations and judgement, emotional and psychologica
Review: 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche at the Hope Street Theatre ***1/2
Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood’s atomic satire 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche has become something of a fringe favourite since it was premiered 15 years ago. It picked up two awards at the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival, including best overall production, and this summer made its way across the pond to delight festivalgoers north of the border in Scotland. Meanwhile this coming week another production is due to be staged as part of London’s Lambeth Fringe. Now it can also
Liverpool Empire welcomes ENB's Romeo and Juliet
English National Ballet returns to the Liverpool Empire next week with its lavish new production of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. The ballet will be performed at the Lime Street landmark from October 15-17, with the dancers accompanied by live music played by the English National Ballet Philharmonic. Verona in Renaissance Italy. Tensions run high between the Montagues and the Capulets as the families stand on the brink of violence. Against the backdrop of simmering hatred, fa
Fallen Angels brings Holding Light to the Liverpool Everyman
An inspiring production involving eight community dancers and which celebrates and shines a light on human resilience and the power of hope over adversity will be staged at the Liverpool Everyman this weekend. Fallen Angels Dance Theatre's Holding Light comes to the venue in aptly-named Hope Street on October 17 following a sold-out premiere at the Royal Opera House. Community dancers from Liverpool, Wirral and Chester, all in recovery from addiction or mental health issues,
Review: Lord of the Dance 30th Anniversary at the Liverpool Empire ****
When Michael Flatley dramatically parted ways with the wildly popular Riverdance in the mid-90s he had two options – go away and lick his wounds or bounce back with something even bigger and better. He chose the latter, and lo, Lord of the Dance was born, with the ambitious Irish-American dancer and choreographer taking the titular role. Since its premiere in Dublin in 1996, Lord of the Dance has traversed the globe, playing to more than 60 million people in 70 countries and
Creative Corner 2027 seeks emerging theatre talent
Liverpool’s Creative Corner Festival has launched its 2027 search for the best of the next generation of theatre talent. Creative Corner, now in its second year, is a joint initiative between the Epstein Theatre and the city’s award-winning Naughty Corner Productions. Applications for the 2027 scheme were officially opened at the Hanover Street theatre this week with a performance by Hannah Rose Curtis of My Beautiful Brain, winner of the inaugural award. Described as a ‘hear
Review: Unsinkable at the Hope Street Theatre ****
An excerpt of Unsinkable reached the final of Tip Tray Theatre’s 2025 What Happens Next? new writing competition. What happened next was a sold-out staged reading of the Titanic-themed drama, and now finally, this week, a much-anticipated, full-length, five performance run at the Hope Street Theatre. There have been several maritime disasters with much greater loss of life – both in war and in peace. And yet more than a century after it had its fateful meeting with an iceberg
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