Liverpool’s radical small-scale theatre announces a diverse and exciting season of shows for all the family in spring 2016.
Kicking off the season, LipService Theatre visit with their Victorian comic thriller, Move over Moriarty (14th-16th January) and hip-hop meets puppetry with The Broke ‘N’ Beat Collective (4th-13th February). I Know All the Secrets in My World (10th-11th Feb) explores father and son relationships and theatre-goers are invited to chippies in Southport, West Kirby and Liverpool for Chip Shop Chips (22nd-24th February), an immersive love story.
The World Premiere of Who’s Afraid of the Working Class by Luke Barnes is performed by third year LIPA students on 3rd-5th March and audiences are given an insight into the lives of six Pakistan-American women in Dirty Pakistani Lingerie (1st April).
Resurrection Half Price (13th April) is a surreal dark comedy about Jesus and Mary and Moggies the Musical (14th-16th April) is the purr-fect piece of musical theatre for any feline fan.
The theatre (digitally) crosses the Atlantic in The Lamellar Project (22nd-23rd April) with performers simultaneously in the U.K. and the U.S.A., whilst Dan Bye’s Going Viral (29th-30th April) is an epic, hilarious and tragic performance lecture. Perrier award winner Will Adamsdale premieres his new comic play The Joke on 3rd-4th May.
Liverpool theatre companies also taking to the Unity stage also include Shrimpton & Routledge (Second Soprano 29th Jan), MATE Productions (The Musicians 9th & 11th March), Impropriety (Schools Improvageddon 10th March), Tea and Tenacity (Tinned Goods 2nd April), Donna Lesley Price (Brakin’ Pad 5th-9th April) and Naughty Corner Productions (Double Bill 19th April and Dirty Glitter 20th April).
A stellar line-up of stand up comedy includes Stephen K Amos (26th January), Paul Sinha (8th March), Stephanie Laing (12th April), Chris Stokes (12th April), Mark Watson (27th-28th March), Matt Forde (17th May) and George Egg (31st May). Musical comedy comes from Jonny & The Baptists on 5th May.
Liverpool Acoustic Festival (18th-19th March) returns for its third year, spreading across the Liverpool Philharmonic’s newly opened Music Room and Unity Theatre, and there will be a supporting programme across more Hope Street venues. Headliners include Scott Matthews, Marcus Bonfanti, Ian McNabb, Stephen Langstaff, Tommy Scott and Paul Hemming.
Shows for a younger audience include awe-inspiring circus at The Black-E from The Hogwallops (18th-20th February), Shakespeare-focused Bardolph’s Box (1st March – 3rd April) and KITE (15th-16th March), which promises to be ‘an adventure as wild as the wind’. The internationally acclaimed, Forced Entertainment bring new family show The Possible Impossible House to Unity on 8th-9th April and Error 404 (28th-30th April) is an unusual family show for ages 8+.
Saturday Splatterdays workshops for ages 5-13s continue to inspire, and our education programme also offers sessions in circus skills, puppeteering and physical theatre (dates tbc).
In the recently released brochure, Artistic Director and CEO Matthew Linley also explains plans for a £750,000 redevelopment of the theatre over the coming year. This aims to ensure that the theatre is a world-class venue which is more environmentally sustainable and which still continues to support artists in creating new work.
Tickets for Unity Theatre’s shows can be booked via Unity Theatre’s Box Office in person, over the phone (0151 709 4988) or online via www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk.
Festival passes for one or both days of Liverpool Acoustic Festival can be purchased via the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall’s Box Office in person, on 0151 709 3789 or online via www.liverpoolphil.com.
A full online version of the Spring 2016 Brochure can be found at:
http://issuu.com/unitytheatre/docs/final_brochure_web_unitytheatrespri/1