Queens: The Exhibition
The LowryWhile many may be familiar with The Lowry’s theatre space, the venue also boasts numerous gallery spaces that host a range of temporary exhibitions alongside a permanent exhibition of LS Lowry’s work. The latest temporary exhibition curated by The Lowry combines history, musical theatre, and the modern world to ask, ‘What type of Queen are you?’
Produced with the support of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the co-creators of the hit musical SIX, Queens: The Exhibition primarily celebrates the show. Costumes, memorabilia from Moss’s personal collection, and insights into Marlow and Moss’s development process combine with informational boards detailing the lives of the real Tudor Queens and the pop Royalty that inspired their looks within the musical.
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My Son's a Queer, (But What Can You Do?)
Liverpool PlayhouseInternet sensation Rob Madge is arguably best known for their childhood home videos showing their recreations of Disney rides and parades. Often including their family members as supporting cast or slightly unsuspecting ride participants, millions have viewed Madge’s videos across multiple social media platforms.
Utilising these home videos, Madge has created a one-person biographical show that is touring the UK for the first time following successful runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and on the West End.
Hamlet
Knowsley HallNamed after the company that William Shakespeare worked for as an actor and playwright, the all-male theatre company The Lord Chamberlain’s Men has performed Shakespeare’s plays as close to the original presentation as possible for the last 20 years. Touring throughout Europe, the company performs in the open air wearing Elizabethan costumes and features music and song within the performances. As an all-male group, any female roles are played by the men, as would have been the case in Shakespearean England.
Bees: A Story of Survival
World Museum LiverpoolThe latest temporary exhibition at World Museum Liverpool sees the museum partner with multi-disciplinary artist Wolfgang Buttress to produce a fascinating insight into the world of bees, how they have adapted to survive since the time of the dinosaur, and how vital they are to the survival of humanity.
The exhibition blends interactive displays, sculptures, lights and media across 8 different rooms.
The first room contained detailed information about bees, with computer displays covering everything from the anatomy of a bee through to the different species of bees around the world. This room is the most traditional museum element of the exhibition before the remaining rooms move more into an art exhibition. Our highlights from this first room included the discovery that bees evolved from wasps (we’d always thought it was the other way round), and that Vulture Bees exist in South America that are carnivores which feed on rotting meat.
New Season
HOME MCRThis week, HOME MCR unveiled an exciting lineup of shows for Autumn / Winter 2024. There is a diverse array of productions, with West End hits, groundbreaking new works, engaging family-friendly shows and a festive spectacular. We’ve pulled together our top picks of productions that we’ll be aiming to see over the upcoming months.
My Son’s a Queer, (But What Can You Do?) - 19 to 25 August
Rob Madge is social media royalty, thanks to their hilarious videos showing the Disney parades they created at home. This show is an autobiography of Rob’s life, and takes the audience on a journey through Rob’s experiences growing up queer, blending storytelling, comedy, and of course the home video clips that Rob is famous for. This is a celebration of individuality, but also a touching tribute to the power of unconditional love and acceptance.
Tell Me How It Ends
Liverpool Everyman TheatreThe 1980s, a time of big hair and even bigger shoulder pads, the emergence of MTV, and when an epidemic brought with it prejudice, fear, and new attitudes around being queer. In hospital rooms across the country, and indeed the world, groups of lesbians were ensuring that gay men diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were not forgotten or left to suffer alone. Many families turned their backs on their loved ones out of fear, but the lesbian community stepped up to support a part of society that many had marginalized.
Frankie Goes to Bollywood
HOME MCRBollywood, the billion pound Indian film industry, is synonymous with high-energy, perfectly choreographed, song-and-dance numbers, elaborate costuming, and melodramatic storylines that convey a deeper moral lesson to the audience. Rifco Theatre Company have now taken these key Bollywood elements and combined them with the experiences of British women within the Bollywood film industry bubble to produce a brand new musical entitled Frankie Goes to Bollywood.
Silence
HOME MCRIn 1947, the Partition of India took place. Marking the end of British colonial rule, India was divided into three parts: India, West Pakistan (now Pakistan), and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Partition triggered one of the largest mass migrations in history, with an estimated 10-15 million people crossing between the different countries.
Accompanying this migration came unprecedented violence. Riots, massacres, millions of deaths, and the decimation of entire villages irrevocably changed the social fabric of the region and also shaped modern Britain.
The Legend of Ned Ludd
Liverpool Everyman TheatreThe concept of machines taking over the world has a long tradition within popular culture. From Terminator’s thumbs up as he descends to a fiery death, to Westworld, I Robot and 2001: A Space Odyssey, technology is often portrayed as going rouge to create a form of dystopian future. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Fakes, and outsourcing of work to automation the apocalyptic wasteland can feel as though it’s within touching distance. The role of humans in all these scenarios is rarely touched upon. In the first of the three homegrown productions celebrating the Everyman’s 60th anniversary, The Legend of Ned Ludd aims to look more at the human elements of technology, exploring what happens when machines make decisions, and showing that the impact of technology is a timeless, worldwide question.
Frankenstein
Liverpool PlayhouseImitating The Dog are known for combining innovative digital media with traditional theatre to create exceptional works. Their production of Macbeth last year was one of our favourite stage productions of the year (you can read our review here), so when we saw that they were continuing their Gothic production theme with an interpretation of Frankenstein we knew that we had to go.
The production combines the classic Marry Shelley Frankenstein with that of a story of a nameless couple who are navigating an unplanned pregnancy. As they discuss what it means to be human, whether bringing a baby into the current world is the right thing to do, and create their own monsters through a lack of understanding those who are different, the storyline constantly switches to the text of Frankenstein which is cleverly introduced as a radio dramatisation. The struggles of Frankenstein, and the moral dilemma he faces in bringing life to his Creature, mirror that of the nameless couple.