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Review: Talking Head Twice at the Unity Theatre ***1/2
Liverpool Improvisation Festival returns to the Unity this May with a programme of shows from some of the genre's brightest talent. Ahead of that, LiF organiser Wing it Impro took the chance to present a new idea currently in development in what was a well-received scratch performance which brought the Unity’s 2026 Up Next Festival to a close. Boasting the tagline 'Inspired by Bennett. Shaped by you', Talking Head Twice offers a huge nod to the nonagenarian playwright and all
Review: Knickerbocker Glory at the Unity Theatre ****
When you call yourself Choc-a-block Comedy, it inevitably creates a certain level of expectation. But Trading Standards can stand down, because Laura Robinson and Aidan Rivers’ droll double act happily lives up to its name in this chock-a-block comedy confection whipped up and staged as part of the Unity Theatre’s Up Next Festival. In Knickerbocker Glory, the recent LIPA acting graduates (Robinson appeared at the Unity several times during training, while you might recognise
Review: Spinster at the Unity Theatre ***1/2
One of the key elements of the Unity’s annual Up Next Festival is the disparate range of work on show over one busy four-day period. That packed programme reached its zenith with a trio of double bills on Friday evening, mixing and matching six short pieces, from ‘architects of the absurd’ to a dark comedy exploring the background of the pandemic to a cabaret in the middle of a compost heap. First out of the starting blocks in the initial double bill of the night was Martha J
Review: Bember at the Unity Theatre ****
One of the few positive things to emerge from the Covid pandemic was the Unity Theatre’s Up Next Festival – designed to support and nurture new work by local talent. This year’s Up Next is the fifth annual festival, and over four days (it runs until Saturday) it is showcasing 20 pieces at various different stages of development, from rehearsed readings to fully formed productions. Up first at Up Next on its opening night was Bember, Winnie Grace Southgate’s dark comedy/comi-t
Up Next Festival returns to the Unity Theatre this month
The Up Next Festival is set to return to the Unity Theatre this month for a fifth year. The 2026 festival takes place from March 25-28 and will feature 20 new and diverse performances – many of them work-in-progress, readings, workshops and a guided walk, created by Merseyside artists. The Hope Place theatre started the festival in 2021 as a response the Covid pandemic and the seismic effect it had on live performance, providing a vital platform for new work with the aim of s
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