Book now for The Rise Up Rebel Writers Night at Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio
6 writers. 6 powerful stories. One unforgettable night.
Be there when the next generation of Black & GEM voices take the mic.
June 10 | £6 | 📍 Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio
Tickets available here
Open Space: Guest Speaker Announcement:
Collective Encounters delighted to share they will be joined by Penny Caffrey, Pei Yee Tong & Maria Malone from Movema, along with Alan Lane from Slung Low at their upcoming Open Space event titled ‘Alternative Hierarchies in Arts Organisations’.
Prompted by findings from the Imagine it Different report (Clore Leadership, 2024), they’ll ask how alternative leadership models centred on collaboration, shared decision-making and community might better reflect the values of participatory and socially engaged practice.
Guest speakers will offer provocations drawn from real-life experience in non-traditional arts organisations. Then, it’s over to you—the conversation is shaped by participants.
📅Wednesday 18 June 2025
📍 Online via Zoom
⏰10am-1pm
🎟 £5 via link here
Join Open Eye Gallery for the first three of the six Photo Here exhibitions!
Photo Here is a programme of socially engaged photographic residencies and exhibitions: six diverse groups from across the Liverpool City Region provide a unique snapshot of their lives and communities. Here are the upcoming exhibitions:
📍Crosby Library
❤️ Not All Who Wander Are Lost by Stephanie Wynne and Crosby Camera Club
📅 12 June – 24 July
Celebration:14 June, 12pm–2pm
Discovering the feel of Sefton – the streets, fields, green spaces, coast and places where day to day life takes place – and responding through photography to locations across the length and breadth of the borough that are familiar and less familiar.
📍World of Glass and Street and a Half
❤️ Waiting Rooms by Hassona and Cafe Laziz
📅 14 June – 26 July
Celebration: 15 June 12pm–2pm at World of Glass / 1.30pm–4pm at Street and a Half
Showing the diverse culture of St Helens through portraits of people with different immigration and residence statuses. Each image is an introduction to a resident of St Helens and the stories that make a town feel rich with history and experience.
📍The Kirkby Centre
❤️ Communities of Welcome by Anoosh Ariamehr and Communities of Welcome
📅 19 June – 29 August
Celebration: 19 June, 1pm–3pm
Each person brings their own unique history and experiences to a place. This exhibition tells personal stories of connection, identity and place. When these stories are shared, they help us build stronger, more cohesive communities.
Photo Here is commissioned by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, as part of this year’s Cultural Events Programme. Developed by Open Eye Gallery in collaboration with each of six local authorities: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.
Join Milap at Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room on 28th September to kickstart the Music Room 10 celebrations! 🎉
Milap are delighted to present boundary-breaking guitarist Modarelli Giulanoand world-renowned tabla maestro Kousic Sen for an exhilarating blend of traditional Indian classical music and contemporary improvisation.
This event is free and requires no advance booking.
Visit the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall website here
Backyard Cinema’s much-loved production of ‘Romeo + Juliet’ is set to return to Liverpool this June, bringing a unique blend of film, live music and immersive theatre to the grand surroundings of St George’s Hall.
Running from 23–29 June, the acclaimed reimagining of Baz Luhrmann’s iconic 1996 film will transform the Grade I-listed building into a candlelit Verona.
Audiences will be treated to a live gospel choir performing standout tracks from the film’s soundtrack, including “Young Hearts Run Free”, “Everybody’s Free”, “Kissing You”, and “When Doves Cry”. The result is a multi-sensory experience that blurs the lines between cinema, concert and theatre.
Evening screenings will take place nightly at 7.30pm, with additional matinee performances scheduled for Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June.
Known for its innovative approach to event cinema, Backyard Cinema has earned a reputation for transforming spaces into immersive worlds.
Their production of ‘Romeo + Juliet‘ has toured the UK extensively, with previously sold-out runs in Liverpool.
For tickets, visit here
Beats Beyond Borders is a one-day festival of music, activism and solidarity, organised by Clementine Arts CIC. It’s taking place on Saturday 22nd June, from 1pm-10pm, at Future Yard, Birkenhead, as part of Refugee Week 2025.
This powerful event will bring together some of Merseyside’s most exciting up-and-coming artists alongside spoken word performers, guest speakers, and refugee voices, in a creative stand with displaced communities in Palestine, Sudan and the UK.
Tickets are a minimum £12 donation and can be purchased on Future Yard’s website.
100% of profits from ticket sales will go to three incredible humanitarian charities:
· Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
· Save the Children Sudan
· Heart 4 Refugees, a grassroots support organisation based in Birkenhead
The line-up includes artists such as DBA!, Jessica Dives, Ellis Murphy, The Balla, Grace Elizabeth Harvey, Tender Claws, and many more — with every performer generously donating their time.
We’re also honoured to be joined by guest speaker Channtelle Lunt and poet and activist Amina Atiq , alongside contributions from members of Heart 4 Refugees, sharing poetry rooted in lived experience.
There will be family friendly elements from 1pm to 3pm with face painting, henna, and eco friendly instrument making.
BBB is more than a music festival – it’s a space for justice, compassion, and collective action, and showing solidarity with those impacted by war, displacement, famine, and systemic oppression.
Be the first to experience the Liverpool Biennial at Tate Liverpool’s special late night opening.
The Liverpool Biennial late night opening is held at Tate Liverpool on 5 June 18.00-20.30 to mark the festival launch. 💫🌙
Free, no need to book.
The Knowsley Feelgood Festival and Flower Show are back at Court Hey Park on 2 & 3 August! 🎉
Kick off your weekend on Saturday with the Feelgood Festival with something for everyone to to feel good Activities to get you moving and chill-out zones to de-stress.🧘♀️🏃♂️
Then on Sunday, it’s the Knowsley Flower Show! 🌸🌼
Whether you’re a master gardener, a baking whiz, or a crafty genius, there are over 100 categories to enter (even for kids!). Think you can grow the biggest beetroot or bake the best jam? Now’s your chance to prove it! 😉
Find out more, including how to enter this year’s Flower Show at https://orlo.uk/n9ggn
Inspired by strange but true headlines, including a white stag being spotted in the town centre of Bootle, Merseyside in 2021, the play follows three very different people as the wild unexpectedly enters their ordinary lives.
Tasha Dowd, writer of Tell Me How it Ends, which was produced by Liverpool Everyman in 2024, plays Rio, a sweet and earnest Tesco nightshift worker from Liverpool’s night takes an unexpected turn when a stag crashes into the store like something out of a Tom Hardy film. The encounter prompts a moment of reflection, leading Rio to question parts of their identity. As an actor, Tasha’s credits include Stocking Fillers and Vernons Girls at the Royal Court, Liverpool.
LIPA graduate Princess Khumalo, whose credits include The Streets Where We Live (Falling Doors, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse), plays Hazel, a sharp and witty woman living in Colorado Springs with her boyfriend Aiden, is caught off guard when he attempts to propose with a bear standing just behind him. The surreal moment gets Hazel thinking about love, life choices, and what settling down really means.
Oskar, a Norwegian tour guide from a long line of disapproving fishermen, turns up to work one day to find a walrus has taken over his boat, forcing him to rethink not just his next move, but how to keep making a living. Oskar is played by Reginald Edwards, whose credits include Great Expectations (Manchester Royal Exchange), A Christmas Carol, Hamlet, and Frankenstein (TNT/ADG Europe), as well as The Comeback Special and The Collector (Hope Street Theatre).
The play introduces characters at very different stages of their lives, offering something relatable for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The story also includes a heartfelt queer narrative, which the writer hopes will resonate with LGBTQ+ audiences looking for authentic and meaningful representation on stage.
Wirral-born writer Billie Collins has had a long-standing connection with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, first engaging with the theatres as a teenager. This new production continues the organisation’s commitment to nurturing regional talent by bringing Billie’s latest work to the stage. A graduate of the BBC Writersroom Northern Voices programme, Billie’s recent credits include Peak Stuff (ThickSkin Theatre, UK Tour), Too Much World at Once (Box of Tricks Theatre, UK Tour), Saga (BBC Radio 4) and episodes of Malory Towers series 5 and 6 (King Bert Productions for CBBC).
Billie said,
‘The title of the play came from a news story about a walrus that strayed into backyards in Kotka, Finland, which was shared in my family WhatsApp group. That sparked the idea for this play, which explores themes of nature and climate, and the gap between our ideas of these things and what they’re really like. But I think it’s also about responsibility and freedom. Each character is struggling in some way with a weight of obligation – to their families, their jobs, their community… What happens when you realise you’re not really living the life you want? How can you make a change?’
The Walrus Has a Right To Adventure is directed by Nathan Crossan-Smith, who worked with Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) on A Monster Calls in 2024. There is a workshop on Saturday 21 June with director Nathan Crossan-Smith, exploring how Nathan has used Foley and soundscapes to bring writer’s vision to life. Composer and Sound designer Oliver Vibrans (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare North Playhouse), an Ivor Novello Award-winning composer, brings live Foley sound effects to the performance. The cast has trained as foley artists, recreating the sounds of the natural world in real time on the stage to immerse the audience more deeply in the play’s environment.
Lighting Designer Rajiv Pattani, whose credits include Yellowman at the Orange Tree Theatre was nominated for Best Lighting Design at the Broadway World UK Awards in 2022. Set and Costume design is by Chloe Wyn (These Majestic Creatures, Stephen Joseph Theatre), Voice Coach is Rachel Nicholson and Abbie Caskie from YEP joins the production as Trainee Assistant Director, working alongside Nathan Crossan-Smith.
There is a post-show discussion following the Wednesday 18 June performance, with members of the cast and company. Accessible performances include a Captioned Performance on Monday 16 June at 7:30pm and an Audio-described Performance on Thursday 19 June at 7:30pm. The Walrus Has a Right To Adventure was developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme.
Ticket prices range from £11 to £26 and are available at www.everymanplayhouse.com/
Jewellery designer Sam Holmes has been selected for Bluecoat Display Centre‘s ‘In the Window’ display for June 2025, chosen from the graduating makers who exhibited at Manchester School of Art Graduate show, MMU in 2024
‘My journey as a jewellery designer began with a profound love for the outdoors, where I draw endless inspiration from nature’s intricate details and ever-changing landscapes. From the vibrant colours of wildflowers to the rugged textures of stones, I find creative fuel in the world around me. My process goes beyond craftsmanship; it’s a hands-on, immersive experience that connects me to the environment.
Each piece I create is a reflection of the moments spent gathering materials, sculpting designs, and letting the essence of the natural world guide my vision. Through my work, I aim to craft not just jewellery, but an experience—a story that celebrates the beauty of our planet, inviting others to carry a piece of nature’s elegance with them, wherever they go.’- Sam Holmes
Watch a clip of Sam making the Clough Quarry Pendant which is available to see and buy from our show which opens this weekend.