Community Post Type: News

Liverpool’s much-loved Epstein Theatre is set to reopen after a deal was agreed to breathe new life into the historic city centre venue.

The Grade II listed theatre closed its doors in June 2023 following a decision by the city council, which owns the building’s freehold, to withdraw financial support which had helped to keep the 112-year-old venue running.

But now the Hanover Street landmark is due to welcome audiences once again, with new leaseholders and a new management team promising a busy programme of entertainment which reflects the theatre’s century-long role as the home of local talent, national touring productions, music, comedy and pantomime.

Test events are set to take place over the spring and summer, with a full autumn programme of shows being launched including a special Gala Night on Friday, 19 September – Brian Epstein’s birthday – which will feature local acts and celebrities.

Ahead of that, £1 million is being invested in the venue with extensive refurbishment works including refitting the stage with new lighting, stage cloths and sound, and improving the backstage areas.

The theatre’s bar is also being remodelled as part of the work.

The theatre is encouraging people to join the Epstein mailing list via the website www.epsteintheatre.com to be the first to hear about future shows.

For programming enquiries, contact programming@epstein.com

The search to find the most talented young artists across Liverpool City Region is nearing its exciting conclusion – and now, the public can get involved by casting their votes online.

dot-art Schools, in partnership with Edge Hill University, invites the public to vote for their favourite artwork as part of the annual competition highlighting the creative brilliance of young artists from the Liverpool City Region. This year’s entries come from Year 5 and Year 9 students across more than 80 primary and secondary schools.

A judging panel of respected arts professionals have shortlisted three entries from each school. The panel includes Tina Ramos Ekongo, a figurative visual artist and workshop facilitator, painter Joseph Venning known for his large murals; Alice Demba, who leads the learning team at National Museums Liverpool, Hannah Lambert the Schools Programme Manager at Curious Minds and Steph Leach Senior Lecturer in Primary Education and the Art & Design Lead at our partner Edge Hill University.

The shortlisted artworks can be viewed and voted on at schools.dot-art.com/browse-schools from Monday 24th March to Thursday 24th April 2025.

The entry with the most votes from each school will be displayed at the 13th annual dot-art Schools exhibition, which is being held at The Walker Art Gallery from Thursday 5th June to Sunday 6th July 2025.

Carolyn Murray, dot-art Schools Project Manager said:
“The dot-art Schools competition showcases the excellent visual arts happening in schools and develops young artists creative confidence. We encourage everyone to get involved and vote for an artwork online. Let’s make this a record year for the number of votes cast. Voting gives all the shortlisted pupils a chance to be the winner for their school and have their work shown in the iconic Walker Art Gallery!”

Alice Demba, Schools, Young People and Adults Lead at National Museums Liverpool, said:
“dot-art Schools has yet again captured a wide range of vibrant artistic talent from students across the region. It’s been my privilege to admire children’s and young people’s imaginative expression, exploring themes such as the beauty of nature and the ocean as well as their personal reflections and thought-provoking stories. The artworks express deep emotional narratives, playful and abstract concepts, and cultural symbols.

We can’t wait to showcase their work at the Walker Art Gallery, celebrating their dedication and innovation. We hope this experience also sparks new inspiration as they take in the masterpieces from artists around the world that call our walls home.”

As a national leader in high-quality teacher training Edge Hill University provides dot-art Schools with greater access to schools in the region and supports it in its key aims of promoting creativity and good mental health.

Lorraine Partington, Head of Partnership Development in the Faculty of Education.
“Our successful partnership with dot-art has significantly fostered creativity within local schools, empowering young people to recognise their artistic potential. The positive impact of art on pupils’ development is evident.

I encourage you to explore the wonderful artworks showcased on the dot-art Schools’ website and vote for your favourite short listed piece.”

Visit https://schools.dot-art.com/browse-schools/ between 24th March and 24th April to cast your vote.

New spring poetry walks, school heritage trips and a Garden Party have been announced at Liverpool’s Calderstones Park to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

Mersey Forest, the Cheshire and Merseyside community forest has commissioned The Reader – the UK’s biggest Shared Reading charity – to run these three events as part of The Oaks at 80 project.

The project, which launched in Calderstones Park on Remembrance Day in November last year, will see local communities encouraged to collect seeds and plant oak trees in 2025 to honour the service men, women and civilians from across the region who helped defend Britain during the Second World War.

Mary Crotty, The Reader’s Engagement Manager at Calderstones Park, said: “The Reader is thrilled to be launching the first of three new events at Calderstones Park this month in collaboration with Mersey Forest.

“We were delighted Oaks at 80 was launched here, in the park, with the planting of a new oak tree near to the 1,000-year-old Allerton Oak. During the Second World War, acorns and leaves from the tree were sent with letters to local soldiers fighting on the frontline to remind them of home.

“All three of our events are designed to inspire adults and the next generation to nurture the environment, highlighting the importance of trees and woodlands for biodiversity, climate resilience and a sustainable future.

“As the team at Mersey Forest expressed so eloquently at the project launch, oak trees embody strength, resilience and longevity – virtues that resonate deeply with the sacrifices made during the Second World War and the hopeful spirit of peace that followed.”

A new free weekly Poetry Walk is set to begin at the start of spring from this Sunday (23 March) between 11am and 12noon. It will be a restorative walk around the park with its many exotic plants and trees accompanied by reflective poems. Walkers meet on the Mansion House steps.

During spring eight fully-funded new Step Back in Time School Heritage Trips will also be launching for children aged seven to 11 from local schools. Pupils will go on an educational nature walk learning about some of the trees in the park, including the Allerton Oak, voted England’s tree of the year in 2019 which has connection with World War II.

Pupils will also have an opportunity to create a class mural based on what a new oak tree might see in a thousand years’ time and create their own poems based on the Allerton Oak. The tours will be led by an experienced team of Heritage Storyhunters and Calderstones heritage volunteers.

The third event taking place is a special family-friendly Garden Party on Sunday 11 May, 11am-5pm, celebrating Victory in Europe or VE Day when the war ended in 1945 and celebrations took place across the world.

All are welcome to join in, pop up a deckchair or lay out their picnic blanket in the stunning ‘secret’ walled garden at the Grade II listed Mansion House for a chilled afternoon with live music from the Liverpool Show Choir, a female-led community choir who sing musical theatre, pop, gospel and folk.

Highlights will include a free bookable Mansion House Heritage tour at 11am, two Shared Reading taster sessions at 11.30am and 1.30pm, as well as seed planting.

There will also be a BBQ, summer tipples, the Ice Cream cart and crafts, along with Library on the Lawn – a handpicked selection of books for adults and children to explore. Entry is free with donations welcomed.

Paul Nolan, Director of the Mersey Forest, said: “Oaks at 80 is about remembering the past and planting for the future. By coming together to plant trees, we not only honour the sacrifices of those who lived through World War II but also create a long-lasting commemoration, that will benefit our communities and environment for generations to come.”

For further information about The Reader visit: https://www.thereader.org.uk/

For further information about The Mersey Forest and Oaks at 80 project visit here: https://merseyforest.org.uk/get-involved-with-the-oaks-at-80-project/

 

FREE ACTIVITIES this Easter Holidays 2025

Shadow Puppetry for children aged 7-13

Join ArtsGroupie for their Free Workshops in library spaces across Liverpool City Region, kindly supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants.

Shadow puppetry encourages children to engage in creativity, and unleash their imaginations.

Children will devise their own characters and stories, and create their own puppets, culminating in a celebratory puppet showcase at Liverpool Central Library – a FREE FAMILY Puppet Day on Saturday 10th May 11 -3pm.

Mersey Trails are also back for 2025 with an amazing offer!

Start the year off right and explore Liverpool like never before with four incredible tours. Whether you’re a local or a tourist, there is something for everyone!

Special Offer: Get 3 for 2 Simply use code: MERSTRA342 at checkout to grab this limited-time deal!

Get your tickets today https://bit.ly/43zN7Eg

ArtsGroupie CIC

Visitors to Beyond Van Gogh and Beyond Monet will have the chance to take part in an exciting programme of activities when the two mesmerising immersive experiences come to Liverpool this summer.

 Yoga, Pilates, meditation and painting sessions will all be held inside the unique multimedia events which come to Exhibition Centre Liverpool from Tuesday 15^th July to Sunday 3^rd August.

When Beyond Van Gogh was given its UK premiere in Liverpool last year, yoga among the art was a sell-out success. Special Beyond Yoga sessions return for 2025, with Yogacita Liverpool instructor Lucita Fernandez leading 50-minute classes on the morning of Saturday 19th July and the evening of Thursday 24^th July.

New for 2025, there is a chance to take part in Beyond Pilates inside the exhibition, with 50-minute sessions on the evening of Thursday 17^th July and the morning of Saturday 26^th July. The mat-based classes will be hosted by the city’s DT Pilates.

A second new activity for this summer is Beyond Breathwork and Meditation, with a morning session on Sunday 20^th July taking place among Monet’s impressionist masterpieces. Join Align Lifestyle for 50-minutes to relax tension and foster mindfulness, connection and restoration.

And Beyond Van Gogh producer Annerin Productions is also thrilled to partner with Paint Away Events to give visitors the chance to paint like Van Gogh and Monet – right inside the immersive experience.

Special two-and-a-half-hour Paint and Sip classes will be held on the evenings of Friday 18^th July and Friday 25^th July, with participants able to draw inspiration from the breathtaking surroundings to create their own masterpiece in a relaxed and social atmosphere, while enjoying a drink at the same time.

The ticket price will include all materials, aprons and a welcome drink, with additional beverages available to purchase at the venue. No artistic experience is necessary.

Produced by Annerin Productions and Paquin Entertainment Group, Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience brings together more than 300 of the post-Impressionist icon’s paintings blended with cutting-edge technology and a specially curated musical soundtrack to tell the story of one of history’s most influential artists, with people able to wander through iconic works – including The Starry Night, Sunflowers and Terrace of a Café at Night – as they came alive around them.

Meanwhile Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience has been seen by thousands of people at venues across North America, and now it is coming to the UK, following in Beyond Van Gogh’s footsteps by being premiered in Liverpool.

In the immersive impressionist extravaganza, cutting-edge technology breathes new life into more than 400 of the legendary French painter’s artworks, taking visitors on a spectacular and unforgettable audio-visual journey through his captivating and colourful world.

Beyond Monet brings together some of the artist’s most famous canvases – including Poppies, Impression: Sunrise and his exquisite Water Lilies series – with lesser-known works which all swirl around the space, offering a fresh and exciting new look at much-loved masterpieces and a deeper connection with Monet, his subjects and his innovative technique.

Taking inspiration from Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, the designated home of Monet’s works, visitors can freely roam the Infinity Room where they are transported inside the paintings themselves to the accompaniment of a moving original score.

There are a range of ticket options for both experiences including, new for 2025, special family tickets and ‘parent and child’ tickets which offer great savings on individual prices.

Anna Parry, UK Business Development at Annerin Productions, said today: “Our special yoga sessions in the heart of the immersive experience were really popular with visitors when we held them during Beyond Van Gogh’s UK premiere in Liverpool last summer, so I’m absolutely delighted to be able to offer more classes for 2025.

“I’m also excited that this summer we’re expanding our complementary activities to include Beyond Pilates and Beyond Breathwork and Meditation sessions too. And for all the budding artists out there, our Paint and Sip events are going to be a unique and memorable way to spend an evening immersed in Van Gogh and Monet’s iridescent worlds.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Website –  www.beyondvangogh.co.uk

Facebook – Beyond Van Gogh UK | Beyond Monet UK

Instagram – @beyondvangoghuk | @beyondmonetuk

Official trailers – Beyond Monet trailer – https://youtu.be/bKOWI8jUyNo | Beyond Van Gogh trailer – https://youtu.be/day0lyb-s4s

The Studio Below are officially up and running in their new space for 2025!

They’re launching their new space the way they know best; with a sold out double bill of plays called “Relics” and “Wise and Foolish”.

Both plays are written by Bernie Winston, a loved playwright within the Liverpool community, who uses their spaces frequently.

RELICS highlights the importance of families pulling together in times of need.  Grace, Gran, and Berni are under pressure.  Berni’s unemployed boyfriend, Steven, adds to the pressure.  As their worlds start to fall apart, no one seems to be listening to their prayers.   Then they hear news that St. Bernadette’s relics are touring the UK and are coming to Liverpool. Could paying her a visit help ease their plight?

WISE AND FOOLISH is the story of Brian, a Scouse lad whose older brother has gone to the big smoke after finishing uni.  Two worlds collide in this one-man play from Bernie Winston.

Both pieces are full of wry humour alongside the more serious moments.

Both shows have sold out, marking our first performance in the new space a full house.

Visit their website here for more information on their work and events.

The Beautiful Things About is an exciting collaboration between artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington with children from Broad Oak Community Primary School and the wider community in Parr, St Helens.

The documentary film about Parr was created by their young artist collaborators, in dialogue with and for the people from the place they call home.

The Beautiful Things About features interviews with a range of members of the local community (from taxi drivers and teachers to chip shop owners and former miners) and tells the story of Parr through the children’s eyes. Every part of the project has been shaped by children ages 8 to 11 as they explore their neighbourhood and imagine its future.

Find out more about the project and watch the film on the Heart of Glass website.

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, returns for its 23rd year this July.

Founded in 1998, LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity.

The festival also celebrates Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world and welcomes and accepts all who arrive within it.

This year’s festival theme is Nostalgia, which will be explored through a diverse range of disciplines, including music, theatre and performance, visual art, literature and film – with the programme culminating at the ever-popular LAAF Family Day.

Nostalgia evokes a longing for the past, both in individual and collective experiences. Whether rooted in childhood memories or recent defining moments, it often has an idealised or romanticised connotation.

Within the Arab world and its diaspora communities, you will find that nostalgia transcends mere sentimentality. Indeed, it translates the need to reclaim and preserve cultural identities, acting as a parallel resistance to the internal changes and surrounding shifts that shape them. Increasingly, MENA artists use the culture of nostalgia to bridge between nations and generations, while unlocking connections of the past and present. Whether by revising treasured memories or revisiting historical narratives, it has become a powerful means for honouring, revival and continuity.

This is the journey LAAF would like to invite audiences on at this year’s festival. From one-person performances and family events to film screenings, a golden music era homage, authentic embroidery and cultural cuisine workshops, talks and literature events; the notion of nostalgia is woven throughout this year’s festival programme, it will undoubtedly resonate with the challenging context we witness today.

At a time when war and violence fill screens on a daily basis, LAAF believes passionately in the ability – and in the freedom – of artists who are documenting and narrating change.

Visit their website here

Goodison Park’s final season as home to Everton Football Club will be documented from a fan’s perspective, through a new photo display opening on 5 April at Museum of Liverpool.

Featuring nine photographers from the club’s fanbase, Goodbye to Goodison is a love letter to the home stadium of Everton Football Club in its final season. The display of photos taken during the final season looks at the relationship between this iconic ground and the loyal fans who congregate around the stadium.

Goodbye to Goodison brings together fan photographers that document the matchday experience at Goodison Park. The photos selected highlight matchdays away from the Premier League glamour – the chippies, pubs, meeting places and family moments shared during the final season.

As the club moves into the next chapter of its rich history, relocating to a state-of-the-art stadium, fans are savouring the final moments in one of the country’s last great football stadiums.

Chris Wardle, co-curator and contributor to Goodbye to Goodison, said: “While a lot of attention is focused on the pitch for Goodison Park’s final season, I wanted to shift our focus to the pre-game experiences and moments that, to me, make this old ground so special.

“The display celebrates the streets, landmarks and establishments that have become an extension of the ground over the years.

“We’re lucky, as a fanbase, to have a talented group of photographers who have taken it upon themselves to document Goodison’s legacy from their own perspective. I am excited to showcase the work of these photographers and pay tribute to one of the great stadiums in world football.”

To mark the final game, museum curators will select an image taken from the final game of the season, capturing the emotion and importance of the final game at The Grand Old Lady.

Karen O’Rourke, curator for sport, music and performance at Museum of Liverpool, said: “Leaving a space for an image from the final game at Goodison Park seems like an important thing to do. We are hoping the photographers involved can capture the emotion that will no doubt overflow before and after the last game. The display pays tribute to a landmark of the city, before the club moves to its new ground on the banks of the River Mersey.”

Goodbye to Goodison opens in Museum of Liverpool’s Skylight Gallery on Saturday 5 April and runs until Sunday 10 August.

On Thursdays throughout the run of the display, visitors will be able to see additional images from the photographers and share their own memories and experiences of going to the match.

Running alongside the display, the museum will release an episode of the NML Podcast talking with staff, ex-players, ex-managers and other important figures who know Goodison Park best. Online a wider selection of photos from around the ground will be available to view.

For more information on Goodbye to Goodison, the photographers and special events, please visit: Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/Goodison-park.