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Review: Taking the Piste at Liverpool's Royal Court ***1/2
On paper, the story of the Kirkby Ski Slope seems wildly improbable – so wild indeed that even those folk at the Royal Court, where no plotline is too outlandish, reportedly thought playwright Kieran Lynn had jumped the shark. But this is no fictional tale of council corruption and ineptitude, it actually happened. Perhaps it’s only really surprising that it’s taken half-a-century for someone to turn it into a piece of entertainment. Taking the Piste (not to be confused with


Letter to Brezhnev cast announced by Liverpool's Royal Court
Angela Simms and Ellie Clayton are set to play friends Teresa and Elaine when Letter to Brezhnev is staged at Liverpool’s Royal Court this autumn. Cinema's much-loved 1980s Liverpool-set love story is coming to the stage in an adaptation by its original screenwriter Frank Clarke. It will be premiered at the Roe Street theatre from September 11 to October 17. The cast also includes Liam Powell-Berry as Sergei, Thomas Cotran as Peter, with Michelle Butterly, Dominic Carter, Reg


Liverpool dates for Sam Ryder in Jesus Christ Superstar
Eurovision star Sam Ryder is set to return to the stage in 2027 reprising his acclaimed performance in Jesus Christ Superstar on tour - with dates confirmed in Liverpool. The UK tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit sung-through rock opera is set to visit the Liverpool Empire from September 21 to October 2, 2027. Tickets go on general sale this Wednesday, June 24 at 10am. Originally released as an album, Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway in 1971, where


Review: Nell Gwynn at Shakespeare North Playhouse ****
Teenage orange hawker, feisty and droll star of the stage and finally the much-loved, long-term romantic partner of a king. Restoration playwrights would no doubt have chewed off their left arms to create a character even half as bold and memorable as Nell Gwynn, the woman who - for a brief time - became their real-life muse. And some 350 years on, Gwynn proves an equally luminous presence in Jessica Swale’s warm, witty and effervescent celebration of a very human heroine, br


Review: The Bodyguard at the Liverpool Empire ***1/2
When The Bodyguard was released in cinemas in 1992 it propelled Whitney Houston from successful music artist to global superstar. And while film critics were generally unimpressed (the movie picked up no fewer than six Razzie nominations), audiences loved it, and the soundtrack swept the board at nearly every music awards, clocking up an estimated 45 million sales to date. That music remains the beating heart (and backbone) of this stage version, on its latest visit to Liverp


Paul O'Grady's Lily inspires SAVAGE which comes to the Liverpool Playhouse in 2027
A ‘bold and deeply moving’ new comedy inspired by the late Paul O’Grady is set to come to the Liverpool Playhouse next spring prior to a West End run. SAVAGE, written by Liverpool playwright Jonathan Harvey and created with O’Grady’s blessing, tells the story of the life of the late star and his most famous creation – the ‘Blonde Bombsite’ Lily Savage. It will be staged at the Playhouse from March 16-20, 2027, and will feature Wirral-born RuPaul Drag Race UK winner Danny Bear


Where to enjoy open-air theatre in Liverpool City Region this summer
Dust off the picnic chairs and rugs, locate the cool box, pop a bottle of something fizzy in the fridge and your sunscreen in your bag because the 2026 open-air theatre season is upon us. Travelling theatre troupes and wandering minstrels are going back on the road to bring productions to outdoor spaces across the region and beyond over the next few months, with plenty of variety and choice to appeal to everyone. This summer Liverpool and the wider City Region is welcoming a


Bost celebrates 100 years with new Liverpool Playhouse residency
BOST Musicals has announced a new five-year residency at the Liverpool Playhouse as part of its centenary celebrations. The long-running organisation, founded as the Birkenhead Operatic Society Trust in 1926, will stage three shows at the Liverpool Playhouse between now and 2030. The inaugural production, Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, is set to be performed at the historic Williamson Square theatre on June 5-6. Directed and choreographed by James Lacey, the spectacular musical


Review: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold at the Liverpool Playhouse ***1/2
Berlin in 1963 was the central battleground between two conflicting ideologies which had recently brought the world to the brink of destruction. Twelve months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, two years after the Berlin wall was erected - dividing the communist East from capitalist West - both Kennedy (“ich bin ein Berliner”) and Khrushchev paid visits to the city in an appeal for hearts and minds. The perfect setting then, and perfect timing too, for the publication of John Le


Liverpool's Unity theatre explores its radical history and tradition
Liverpool’s Unity Theatre is exploring its own radical history this spring in a Heritage Lottery-funded programme of events. A Radical Re-imagining encompasses theatre, music, art, workshops, talks and panel discussions and community events and includes a special archival exhibition at Liverpool John Moores University’s Mount Pleasant Campus Library. And the celebratory season will culminate in a specially devised new production, Stage Left, at the Hope Place theatre on June
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