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I Should Be So Lucky

★★☆☆☆

Stock Aitken Waterman are synonymous with the music of the 80’s. In 1989 alone, they were responsible for 27% of the UK music singles market sales! They are even responsible for the global phenomenon that is Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. Now, Debbie Isitt who is best known for creating The Nativity films and musical has taken some of Stock Aitken Waterman’s best loved works to create the new musical I Should Be So Lucky.

First Folio Talk by Ben Crystal

★★★★★

As part of the First Folio exhibition currently on at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Associate Artist Ben Crystal has delivered an absolutely fascinating insight into how the First Folio was made, and what makes the First Folio such an important piece of both literature and history.

During the Lights On / Lights Off shows which Ben directed and performed in, he gave brief background details into each of the excerpts of the plays which we both really enjoyed. Ben is not only hugely knowledgable and passionate about Shakespeare, but he is also a very engaging public speaker. You cannot help but be swept up in his enthusiasm for The Bard. So with tickets available for just £3 per person as part of Shakespeare North’s Pay What You Decide scheme, attending this event felt like an absolute no brainer.

First Folio Exhibition

★★★★★

400 years ago, just 7 years after Shakespeare’s death, the First Folio containing 36 of Shakespeare’s plays was published. Now, to coincide with the European premiere of ‘The Book of Will’, Shakespeare North Playhouse have an exhibition all about the First Folio, which includes an actual copy of the First Folio which is on loan from The British Library.

Forming part of The British Library’s Treasures on Tour programme, the First Folio on display is The Grenville First Folio which was bequeathed to the library by Thomas Grenville in 1846. Unlike many copies of the First Folio, all of the pages are present in this one including the iconic portrait of William Shakespeare.

River of Light

★★★★☆

Every year, the waterfront of Liverpool is transformed into an outdoor exhibition of light. Artists from around the world bring fantastic light sculptures to different spots around the city to provide a walking trail of art. For 2023, the River of Light is embracing the legacy of Eurovision 2023 with a range of illuminated art pieces that draw on Eurovision and the connection the people of the city will forever have with Ukraine and the rest of Europe.

The Book of Will

★★★★★

As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Shakespeare North Playhouse are staging Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will.

Telling the tale of how the First Folio came to be, and how so many of Shakespeare’s plays only survive due to the efforts of those who knew him best, The Book of Will is a fantastic co-production with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Octagon Theatre Bolton.

The Book of Will takes the audience on the journey of The King’s Men and their realisation that as each of them dies so to do the real words of Shakespeare, and with each passing the mis-remembered words and modified versions become the truth. As each version moves further away from how Shakespeare would have intended, The King’s Men decide to gather The Bard’s works in order to publish them in a folio. There’s just one problem; the majority of the works haven’t been written down. Those that are written down largely exist as individual scripts for actors and cover purely their lines and cues. The King’s Men must band together to try and find complete works that they can publish.

Noises Off

★★★★☆

A play within a play performed across three acts, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is the original “goes wrong” play. Following the on and off stage antics of a touring theatre company as they perform ‘Nothing On’, Frayn’s work is timeless and this latest touring production directed by Lindsay Posner is brilliantly bad.

The show begins with the cast of ‘Nothing On’ completing a final rehearsal before opening night. The cast are woefully underprepared; Dotty (Liza Goddard) is constantly getting lines wrong and misplacing sardines, Frederick (Simon Coates) keeps finding plot holes, and Brooke (Lisa Ambalavanar) is not only extremely inexperienced but has an uncanny ability to lose contact lenses. This first act gives the audience the opportunity to see half of ‘Nothing On’, before act two details a completely disastrous matinee performance of the show. The entire second act takes place backstage as jealous lovers and cast tensions bubble over into the performance. Finally, the third act shows the catastrophic final performance where those members of the cast who haven’t completely given up attempt to ad-lib their way through the show with varying degrees of success.

High Times and Dirty Monsters

★★★★☆

High Times and Dirty Monsters is like no show we have seen before. Combining acting, dancing, and beatboxing, this fast paced, episodic production is raw and hard-hitting. A collaboration by Liverpool based 20 Stories High, Graeae Theatre Company, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and LEEDS 2023, this show is the output of workshops that have been held throughout the last year asking what’s good (the high times) and what’s bad (the dirty monsters) about being young in 2023.

TONY! The Tony Blair Rock Opera

★★★★★

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you crossed The Book of Mormon with Spitting Image, and then added a smidge of Harry Hill’s TV Burp insanity, then Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera has the answer! Telling the story of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s rise to power, and his transformation from pop-rock hippy front man of Ugly Rumours to a warmongering multimillionaire, this hilarious musical comedy is written by Harry Hill and Steve Brown.

Mersey Tunnel Tour

★★★★★

Hidden in plain sight is a unique way to experience Liverpool; from the underground!

For just £10 per person, Mersey Travel offer a unique tour of the Queensway Tunnel which runs under the River Mersey and connects Liverpool and Birkenhead together.

Lasting approximately 2 hours and limited to 20 people at a time, the tour takes in the original control room, giant ventilation fans, the rescue areas underneath the roadway, a section of the Old George Dock, and even out onto a gangway of the tunnel whilst cars are driving through.

I,Daniel Blake

★★★★★

If you have never been in a theatre where the end of the show is met by massive amounts of tears by the audience and a standing ovation for a phenomenal cast, then you probably haven’t been to watch I, Daniel Blake.

Based on the Ken Loach directed film, this stage production has been adapted by Dave Johns who starred in the original film as the titular character, and is a co-production between tiny dragon Productions andEnglish Touring Theatre, in association with Northern Stage.