Community Post Type: News

A brand-new show celebrating the incredible music of Billy Joel is premiering in Wirral this September.

The Billy Joel Show UK is a live concert experience produced and performed by highly-talented musicians who are all huge fans of the Piano Man.

It spans his entire career and features classics like Uptown Girl, She’s Always a Woman, New York State of Mind, My Life and We Didn’t Start the Fire alongside fan-favourite album tracks and acoustic sections.

Billy Joel’s unique multi-instrumental sound will be recreated on stage by an eight-piece band including three vocalists: Rory Taylor, Barney Taylor and Ollie West.

They have all performed over the past three decades with bands and shows across the UK and internationally.

Rory was also runner-up on ITV’s Superstar series, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s search to find a new lead singer to play Jesus in a UK arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and went on to appear on the tour.

The Billy Joel Show UK will be performed for the first time at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight on Sunday September 20, in what promises to be an unforgettable night for fans of the legendary singer, songwriter and pianist.

It’s also a rare opportunity to hear his extraordinary back catalogue of music live, especially after he was forced to cancel 2026 UK stadium dates – including one at Anfield – due to ill health.

The show, which combines the energy of an arena concert with the intimacy of a theatre setting, has been written and produced by musicians Karl Sweeney and Sam Broadbere.

It will be the first to be created by their production company, Custom Entertainment, and Liverpool-born Karl and Sam, from Wirral, were keen to give it a home debut.

Karl Sweeney said: 

“We play and tour in a multitude of theatre productions around the world and we’re both massive Billy Joel fans so we thought that would be a good way to start, by doing music that we really love.”

As a celebration of Billy Joel’s timeless songs, the show takes audiences on a journey through his career right up to now. 

Karl continues:

“We’ve been able to get together an ensemble of brilliant musicians, who we’ve known and played with for a long time. It’s a Billy Joel show, made by Billy Joel fans for Billy Joel fans, so we all just want to pay respect to the music and play it right.”

For more information and tickets see link here: The Billy Joel Show UK – Gladstone Theatre 

 

Following the resounding success of their Heritage Lottery Funded project this Summer – marking 100 years of radical theatre in Liverpool – Unity Theatre are proud to present their Autumn/Winter 2026 season, featuring an exciting programme of bold, groundbreaking and innovative shows.

With a continued emphasis on platforming underrepresented voices and stories, the upcoming season offers a diverse selection of theatre, film, dance, comedy and family shows – championing both emerging local theatre companies and nationally-acclaimed touring productions in every stage of their development.

Festival season is far from over at Unity Theatre – with Autumn/Winter 2026 promising a bustling festival programme for everyone to enjoy…

The season starts with the return of Liverpool’s International Festival of Contemporary Physical Theatre. Launching on Monday 7th September and produced by award-winning Liverpool-based theatre company Tmesis Theatre, Physical Fest spotlights some of the world’s most exciting visual and movement-based performance through a vibrant seven-day schedule of shows, workshops and events.

Established in 2005, Physical Fest is one of only two dedicated physical theatre festivals in the UK and attracts participants from all over the world with it’s diverse programme – shining a light on physical theatre in all its forms.

Liverpool Irish Festival then follows in October, platforming artists of Irish heritage and their important stories.

On 30th & 31st October, ‘The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong’ is a one-man show retelling the great historical injustice of Paddy Armstrong, who in 1975 was falsely convicted of helping to carry out the Guildford and Woolwich bombings.

Starring one of Ireland’s most loved actors, Don Wycherley (as Paddy) brings unflinching honesty, pathos and humour to his portrayal of Paddy, a man failed and scarred by a flawed system yet refusing to be defined by it. Following critical acclaim and outstanding reviews, the play is a heartwarming reminder of resilience and the power of forgiveness.

Liverpool’s home for unapologetically Queer arts, culture and activism returns to Unity Theatre with Homotopia Festival 2026 in November.

‘Natural Behaviour’ on Saturday 7th November blends a distinctive mixture of dance, satire, impersonation and poetry, in a queer look at what it means to be natural or unnatural, highlighting the essential role of diversity in all life.

An anarchic cocktail of comedy and physical theatre arrives on Thursday 19th November in the form of ‘Fag Packet: DYKE Systems Ltd’. Selected as part of The Stage’s Fringe Five, the performance is a hysterical, sharp and subversive takedown of pyramid schemes, ruthless heteronormativity and corporate feminism.

Widely known as Liverpool city-centre’s warm and welcoming theatre space, Unity continue to champion local stories and creatives.

Showing on Wednesday 16th September, ‘The Story of Edith Smith’ is a new heritage theatre production as part of Her Stories of Wirral, a national project uncovering overlooked women’s histories from across the Wirral.

Originally hailing from Oxton, Edith Smith became Britain’s first female Police Constable with full powers of arrest – but behind that historic title is an incredible human story of family responsibility, personal loss and motherhood. The production follows Edith’s inspirational journey from local woman to national figure, exploring the challenges she faced when women’s roles in public life were tightly restricted.

Autumn 2026 also sees Unity continue their partnership with Liverpool Doc Club for a series of cutting-edge, cinematic non-fiction.

Showing on Saturday 26th September, ‘My Stolen Planet’ is a multi-award-winning documentary that tells an alternative history of Iran out of decades of private joy, dancing and quiet defiance, with footage from personal recordings and videos bought and rescued from families in Iran.

Then in October, Unity welcomes award-winning Portuguese cinema from director Ana Reimão on Saturday 10th October – ‘Wolf & Dog’ follows Ana’s story of self-discovery and queerness, growing up on the remote island São Miguel, where she learns that boys and girls are given very different lives while ‘Kora’ documents the lives of refugee women now living in Portugal, gathering their voices, gestures and portraits of those they carry with them.

Silent film also comes to Unity this Autumn, with ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ on Thursday 29th October. Taking its title from the Hopi word for “life out of balance”, this worldless, plotless journey moves from untouched nature into the accelerating churn of cities and machines, revealing just how far humanity has drifted from the world it depends on. Built entirely from time-lapse and slow-motion imagery, with no dialogue and no narration, it lets Philip Glass’ now iconic score carry the argument instead.

A fitting finale to the series, Liverpool Doc Club presents Brazil’s official submission for the 2024 Academy Awards – ‘Pictures of Ghosts’ by Oscar-nominated director Kleber Mendonça Filho comes to the Unity on Thursday 26th November. Told in three chapters, the film is a journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking. Set in the streets of Recife and blending archival footage, clips from decades of Brazilian cinema and personal memory, it maps a century of dreams, closures and transformation.

Other season highlights include explosive true story ‘Woodhill’ by multi-award-winning LUNG, shining a light on the hidden story of HMP Woodhill with gut punching choreography and unflinching beats from Wednesday 21st-Thursday 22nd October, as well as quick-witted and deeply heartfelt coming of age story ‘Off Key’, about Black girlhood, ambition and friendship on Tuesday 3rd & Wednesday 4th October.

And although we’re a little way off from Christmastime, the festive season is already shaping up to be a very merry one – with RAWD’s ‘Tinsel on the Tracks’ oozing Christmas spirit from Thursday 3rd-Saturday 5th December, and in typical spooky fashion, Arts Groupie presents ‘Ghost Stories for Christmas’ on Friday 11th & Saturday 12th December.

Unity continue the festivities with their in-house production ‘The Night the Toys Came to Life’, showing from Friday 11th – Wednesday 23rd December. Packed with physicality, puppetry and playful storytelling, the show is a joyful, funny and magical Christmas adventure where the toys have a life of their own!

For a sneak preview of everything that’s coming up, Unity are hosting their Autumn/Winter 2026 Season Launch on Wednesday 2nd September…

UNITY THEATRE

AUTUMN-WINTER 2026 SEASON

Physical Fest 2026

7th-12th September

Unity Theatre & Arts Bar Hope St

Tickets Here

The Story of Edith Smith

16th September, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

The Seriously Stupid Show

19th September-21st November, 2pm

Tickets Here

Workshop | Introduction to Clowning

with Joe Lawlor

21st September, 6pm

Tickets Here

Workshop | Making Up Stories

In The Company of Others

22nd September, 6pm

Tickets Here

LAR Scratch Night

25th September, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

My Stolen Planet | Liv:Dox

26th September, 5pm

Tickets Here

Stuffed

2nd-3rd October

Tickets Here

Workshop | Expressive Ensemble

with Eli Randle

6th October, 6pm

Tickets Here

Manuelita

7th October, 8pm

Tickets Here

Sober Scribbles Scratch Night

8th October, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

‘Nida’ by Sonia Sabri Dance Company

9th October, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Wolf & Dog | Kora | Liv:Dox

10th October, 2pm

Tickets Here

Workshop | Introduction to the Theatrical Clown

13th-20th October, 6pm

Tickets Here

The Lawn of the Sleeping Soldiers

15th October, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Woodhill

21st-22nd October, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

The Jewellers Daughter

27th October, 2pm

Tickets Here

Koyaanisqatsi | Liv:Dox

29th October, 7pm

Tickets Here

The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong

30th-31st October, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

The Oracle

31st October, 5.45pm

Tickets Here

Workshop | Raving in the Training

with Will Dickie

2nd November, 6pm

Tickets Here

Off-Key

3rd-4th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Afloat Through Spoken Word

6th November, 7pm

Tickets Here

Natural Behaviour

7th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Raising the Wreck: Revisited

12th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Clue

13th-14th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Workshop | Catch It. Say It. Play It.

17th November, 6pm

Tickets Here

Fume Live

18th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Fag Packet: DYKE Systems Ltd

19th November, 7pm

Tickets Here

Kim Blythe: Puzzle

21st November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Homotopia x Unity Scratch Night

25th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Pictures of Ghosts | Liv:Dox

26th November, 7pm

Tickets Here

Disco King

27th-28th November, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

A Turn for the Better | Collective Encounters

2nd December, 11.30am

Tickets Here

Tinsel on the Tracks | RAWD

3rd-5th December, 2pm & 7.30pm

Tickets Here

Ghost Stories for Christmas

11th-12th December, 7.30pm

Tickets Here

To mark the centenary of the birth of George Melly, Bluecoat‘s Director of Cultural Legacies Bryan Biggs reflects on the musician, writer and entertainer’s long association with the Bluecoat.

Born in Liverpool on 17 August 1926, the musician, writer and entertainer George Melly had a long connection to the Bluecoat and, to mark what would have been his centenary this month, we remember this association, which started during the arts centre’s early years.

Many will know Melly from television appearances such as a panellist in the art game show Gallery, as film critic for The Observer, as bawdy blues vocalist on the British revivalist jazz scene, or as a writer and cultural commentator. His books included Revolt into Style: The Pop Arts in Britain, and a trilogy of autobiographies: Owning Up, followed by Rum, Bum and Concertina, and Scouse Mouse. In this final book, Melly vividly recalls his Liverpool childhood, including a chapter that brings to life the Sandon Studios Society in the 1930s.

This was his introduction to bohemia:

“The Sandon is so much a part of my very early memories that it is hard for me to think of it as a real place. It has the mythical precision of the stories of Beatrix Potter. It carried an aura of immense sophistication.”

Quoted in Roderick Bisson, ‘The Sandon Studios Society and the Arts’, 1965.

The Sandon began life as a group of art students who’d broken away from University College Liverpool’s Department of Applied Art in 1905 after it merged with the Municipal Art School. Having been taught by the charismatic painter Augustus John and other forward-looking tutors, the young artists shunned the more traditional teaching on offer at their course’s new home. In order to pursue ‘free art’, they set up their own studios which, in 1907, occupied rooms at the vacant Bluecoat building after the charity school moved, after nearly 200 years, to larger premises.

As a society, the Sandon extended its membership beyond artists to include people interested in the arts, developing the Bluecoat into a cultural hub for Liverpool, with adventurous programmes including two Post-Impressionist exhibitions in 1911 and 1913 that featured work by Picasso, Matisse and other leading European modernists. The Sandon enlivened the city’s social life through a dining room, where significant artists and cultural players such as George Bernard Shaw and Stravinsky, signed the visitors’ book and there was a lively programme of cabarets, theatrical productions, and parties.

Melly, aged about five, was brought to one of the Sandon’s children’s fancy dress Hogmanay parties. After an unsuccessful attempt to impress dressed as Douggie Duck, a popular comic strip character in the Daily Mail, he went the following year as Mickey Mouse, to far greater acclaim. And young George in his costume was captured for posterity, the photograph later adorning the cover of Scouse Mouse. The exuberant sartorial style – loud suits and wide-brimmed hats – that later characterised Melly the entertainer, perhaps had its origins in these Sandon parties, which were held in the large, recently refurbished upstairs space, an enormous slide its main attraction. Huge murals painted by Sandon artists adorned the wall in readiness for the evening’s New Year’s Eve ‘bacchanalia’ for the grown-ups. These decorations featured caricatures of Sandon members cast as ‘classical deities or historical figures, and engaged in activities just this side of decency’.

Melly’s parents were heavily involved in the Sandon’s social life and took him to lunch there when in town – ‘a long narrow unlicensed dining room with a stained floor, oak tables and chair and earthenware jugs’ – where he was fascinated by ‘painters and sculptors in their rough tweed suits, blue or rust coloured shirts and knitted ties. It was proof of another world unconnected with business’. He goes on to describe the highlight of his parent’s year, the annual Sandon cabaret, with specially written songs and sketches, many devised by Maud Budden, wife of the University’s Professor of Architecture, Lionel Budden. Known for creating a popular cartoon strip in the Liverpool Echo, ‘Curly Wee and Gussy Goose’, Maud was a prolific writer and organiser and, much like the guiding light in the Sandon’s early years, Fanny Dove Hamel Calder, ensured that entertainment remained at the heart of the society.

Melly’s career in music, journalism, writing and entertainment took him away from Liverpool but in the 1980s he reconnected with the Bluecoat, becoming Patron of our Friends organisation and returning to the arts centre on several occasions to perform. During a jazz gig in the Concert Hall with John Chilton & the Feetwarmers, the band he fronted for three decades, a local television crew filmed some of the evening and interviewed George in the garden, where he reminisced about his childhood at the Bluecoat. The arts centre had clearly had a profound impact on him, providing a creative grounding and arguably shaping his cultural outlook, as attested to by a letter he wrote in 1984:

“As one whose childhood was enriched by contact with the then Sandon Studios Club and whose initial interest in architecture was stimulated by the beautiful building which contained it, I am delighted to be asked to bring to the attention of the public the renaissance of the building as an amenity and artistic centre. In the painfully depressed Liverpool of today, anything which helps to stimulate pleasure and the signs that life is for living should be carefully nurtured.”
George Melly

Visual art was another important string to Melly’s bow. After the war, he did reviews of contemporary exhibitions for the Liverpool Daily Post and worked for the Belgian Surrealist E.L.T. Mesens at his London gallery. Coming into contact with René Magritte, whose painting ‘Le Viol’ proved to be a formative influence on his abiding interest in Surrealism. He would later own work by the artist and became an expert on Surrealism, authoring several books including a memoir of Mesens. He lectured on art and gave two spellbinding talks at the Bluecoat, on Magritte in 1981 and Max Ernst in 1984. Three years later he visited the arts centre for a retrospective exhibition of his friend Adrian Henri.

Invited to buy works for the Arts Council Collection, among his purchases was work by three Merseyside artists, Henri, Abraham Newman and George Jardine, the ‘Wallasey Surrealist’, who had a studio at the Bluecoat and had been active in the Sandon since at least the 1940s when Melly first encountered him. In the catalogue to an exhibition of his purchases …a cold wind brushing the temple in 1979, Melly wrote, ‘Jardine’s pictures are unlike anyone else. He owns the key to Treasure Island’.

Melly died in 2007 and in 2025, the Bluecoat worked with storyteller Gav Cross to devise a successful family weekend themed around George, inspired by his childhood reminiscences. It was great to see parents and children alike responding enthusiastically to Gav’s gregarious and warm-hearted impression of the man who’d taken his first tentative steps as an entertainer in our building over eighty years before.

An Australian-American award-winning screenwriter and playwright’s debut play, Seasons of You, is receiving its world-premiere performance at Liverpool’s Unity Theatre.

After more than a decade writing screenplays and working in Los Angeles, Joanne Rose was at a creative crossroads. A first trip to London in 2024 sparked her interest in theatre, and she enrolled at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) to rediscover the foundations of storytelling and reconnect with my creativity.

The play began life as a screenplay Joanne had actually deleted during a period of writer’s block. She recovered it from the computer’s trash folder, and through NIDA it evolved into a stage play. It went on to be selected for several UK scratch nights in 2026, and is now making its way to the professional stage in Liverpool.

Seasons of You is a romantic drama about a novelist who travels to London to co-write the autobiography of a musician, only to find that their professional relationship becomes something much more personal.

The play debuts at Liverpool’s Unity Theatre, 15 January 2027

For tickets, visit here

Collective Encounters have a full calendar of events to look forward to as part of their Creative Health Programme which is using creativity to improve health and wellbeing in Liverpool City Region and runs until March 2027. Read on for details of the events you can get involved in this autumn.

Dare to Dream is an interactive piece of theatre exploring health equity, as part of ReCITE. It has been created with the voices of communities at its centre, and represents these through song, stories, poetry and performance. Head along and find out how people in Liverpool, Sefton, and Knowsley think about health, and how they imagine better outcomes for everyone.

BOOTLE
​Date & time: Wednesday 16^th September 2026 1-3pm
​Location: MYA Space, 106 Marsh Lane Bootle, L20 4JQ

Tickets
​

KIRKBY
​Date & time: Thursday 17^th September 2026 1-3pm
​Location: Centre 63, Old Hall Lane, Liverpool, L32 5TH

Tickets
​

TOXTETH
​Date & time: Friday 18^th September 2026 7-9pm
​Location: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool, L6 7LT

Tickets

All venues are wheelchair accessible. Performances will include integrated audio description and BSL interpretation.

New Faces, New Focus: Stories We Share is a collaborative touring exhibition bringing together new creative work by artists and community participants alongside objects and artworks from three museums collections across the UK.

Created by Open Eye Gallery in partnership with Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council and Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service, the exhibition explores the theme of journeys, identity and home through the voices of local communities whose stories have not always been represented in museum collections – including those with lived experience of migration and displacement.

Developed through residencies in Liverpool City Region, Armagh and Aberdeenshire, the exhibition explores the theme of journeys, identity and home through the voices of local communities whose stories have not always been represented in museum collections – including those with lived experience of migration and displacement.

In Liverpool City Region, three socially engaged photographers have worked with communities to create new work inspired by local collections and participants’ own experiences; Anoosh Ariamehr worked with communities in Knowsley, Nina Karetska with displaced Ukrainian community in Sefton, and Abdullrhman Hassona with communities in St Helen’s supported by Cafe Laziz. Their projects have been developed in partnership with Kirkby Gallery (Knowsley), The Atkinson (Sefton), and The World of Glass (St Helen’s), where the work will also be exhibited.

Held: 18 September – 20 December

Milap unveils a brand new season for Autumn 2026, featuring some of the world’s finest Indian artists, unique collaborations and rare instruments…

The UK’s leading Indian Arts organisation Milap continue to pave the way for Indian live music and dance in Liverpool this Autumn, announcing a fresh roster of incredible artists for their upcoming season.

Kicking things off in October, Milap’s very own ensemble Tarang present bespoke arrangements of new contemporary Indian music, as part of The Tung Auditorium’s lunchtime concert series on Wednesday 7th October.

Tarang is an innovative Indian music collective bringing together the UK’s most exceptional young professionals. Far from a standard ensemble, Tarang is defined by its contemporary interpretations of Indian classical music, reflecting the global influences and diverse cultural environments experienced by this generation of British-born Indian musicians.

Produced by Milap, this lunchtime concert features bold, innovative repertoire, from the intricate structures of Carnatic and Hindustani music to global contemporary influences. Highlighting a world premiere by Liverpool’s tabla maestro Kousic Sen and works by Hariharan and Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh, Tarang delivers a fresh, sophisticated, and entirely unique sonic identity.

Showing at Unity Theatre on Friday 9th October, multi-award-winning dancer, choreographer and movement director Sonia Sabri invites audiences on a journey where beautiful Kathak dancing meets soulful Indian music, illuminated by candlelight.

Starting out in her role as a tutor for Milap’s flagship Dance India programme, Sonia has gone on to become one of the world’s leading Kathak dancers and one of the most inspirational British-born dancer-choreographers of the twenty-first century. Amongst many of her accolades, she founded the UK’s leading and award-winning contemporary South-Asian dance company – some dancers of which will be performing alongside Sonia on the night.

‘NIDA’ blends wordless storytelling, beatboxing, intricate rhythms, mime and percussive dance – inviting audiences to step away from the stresses and challenges of everyday life. Featuring live music from the rare and hypnotic Santoor, this piece is a feel-good performance demonstrating the beauty of Indian dance and music.

Renowned for creating intimate and special live music experiences, Milap once again head to Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room for the soulful sounds of Sandip Chatterjee & Kousic Sen on Friday 30th October.

At the heart of the evening is the Santoor – a magnificent, hundred-stringed hammered dulcimer played with breathtaking dexterity by Sandip Chatterjee, a recipient of the President of India Award. Its rippling bell-like tones and delicate melodies fill the space, offering a meditative and peaceful atmosphere – suitably complimented by Kousic Sen’s energetic and rhythmic mastery on Tabla, adding a perfect grounding pulse.

Whether you are an Indian music aficionado or looking to experience something entirely new, this performance promises to be an uplifting and deeply moving experience.

A fitting season finale comes in the form of Roopa Panesar, one of the finest sitar players to ever emerge from the UK.

Returning to The Tung Auditorium on Friday 27th November for an evening of breathtaking virtuosity, Roopa is known for her captivating emotional depth, staggering technique and her effortless ability to blend Indian Classical music with jazz and western classical influences.

Over the course of her career, Roopa Panesar has performed at major global venues, from London’s Barbican and Darbar Festival to New York’s APAP – and her recent critically acclaimed album ATMA (The Soul) reflects her profound musical virtuosity, solidifying her reputation as a leading light of the British Asian diaspora.

For this special performance, Roopa is joined by Kousic Sen. Their musical partnership is a long-standing one; in 2011, Milap produced Roopa’s debut album, Khoj, which featured Kousic’s masterly accompaniment — an early milestone in a collaborative relationship that continues to flourish on stages worldwide.

Expect an emotional and immersive evening – and a true masterclass in Indian Classical live music.

Milap & The Tung Auditorium present

Tarang: New Contemporary Indian Music

Wednesday 7th October, 1pm | The Tung Auditorium

TICKETS HERE

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Milap presents

NIDA by Sonia Sabri Dance Company

Friday 9th October, 7.30pm | Unity Theatre

TICKETS HERE

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Milap & Liverpool Philharmonic present

Sandip Chatterjee & Kousic Sen

Friday 30th October, 7.30pm | Philharmonic Music Room

TICKETS HERE

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Milap & Asian Arts Agency present

Roopa Panesar & Kousic Sen

Friday 27th November, 7.30pm | The Tung Auditorium

TICKETS HERE

A new exhibition examining how constant connectivity, artificial intelligence and social media affect people’s identities and relationships will open at FACT Liverpool this autumn.

BRB brings together new work by North West-based artists Ellie Hoskins, Mrs Luva-Luva and Livi Wilmore. Running from Friday, September 18 to Sunday, December 6, 2026, the free exhibition will use film, animation, sculpture and interactive installations to explore the emotional and psychological effects of life online.

Its title comes from the abbreviation “brb”, or “be right back”, once used on early messaging platforms to signal a temporary break from the screen. The exhibition asks whether stepping away remains possible in an age of endless notifications and algorithmically generated feeds.

All three participating artists are members of FACT’s Studio/Lab, a production and research space supporting artists who work with emerging technologies. They have used its specialist facilities and technical and curatorial support to develop three immersive installations.

Ellie Hoskins’ Alive in a world of car parks, armed with an air fryer and a fake baby centres on a large, dilapidated rollercoaster populated by figures clinging to or drifting along its tracks.

Screens embedded throughout the sculpture show animations based on ordinary moments from the artist’s life. An accompanying conversation between Hoskins and a fictional baby begins as a comforting fairy tale before turning to technology, loneliness and the search for connection.

Mrs Luva-Luva examines online privacy, artificial intelligence and the commodification of personal data in Tap Tap Tippety Tap. Her installation transforms the gallery into an eerie supermarket lined with singing, identical lumps.

Its accompanying film follows a woman whose emotional vulnerability and openness online turn her into a featureless form ready to be harvested by the surreal “Large Language Model Supermarket”. The work contrasts the colourful, optimistic visual language of influencers with a darker critique of platforms that reduce personal identity to branding and data.

Livi Wilmore’s Padded Cell takes the form of an ominous adult soft-play environment inspired by the graphic interfaces created by software designer Kai Krause during the 1990s.

Combining the aesthetics of the early internet with those of today’s dopamine-driven platforms, Wilmore contrasts the web’s former sense of exploration with online systems designed to make logging off increasingly difficult.

Nina Newbold, exhibition producer at FACT, said the installations explore the increasingly blurred boundary between online and offline spaces.

“Inviting audiences into their worlds, the artists ask us to consider the impact this is having on our day-to-day lives and to reflect on how constant connectivity is reshaping our understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world around us,” she said.

Across its three installations, BRB presents the internet not simply as a technology but as an environment people inhabit—one in which attention is a commodity, identity becomes a platform and being “away” is no longer as easy as typing three letters.

BRB runs from Friday, September 18 to Sunday, December 6, 2026, at FACT Liverpool, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ. The exhibition is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 11am until 6pm. Admission is free.

Don’t miss amazing street theatre and music around Prescot Town Centre and music workshops at Shakespeare North Playhouse in The Serious Nonsense Festival 2026.

The Culture Knowsley festival is held 21 – 22 August and features performances from Flat Pack Opera, Mr Swing’s Dance Orchestra and fiery jester Dan The Fireman, plus an acrobatic Tudor tea party from Circo Rum Ba Ba.

The festival are also hosting Holly Mallett Rhythm Workshops from CBBC for a rhythm workshop like no other, where you can learn how to use your body as an instrument!

For full details and line-up, visit here

Liverpool, August 2026: Liverpool-based electronic music promoters RAW today announce acclaimed selector Truly Madly for a special four-hour headline set at Kapsule on Saturday 3 October.

Known for his eclectic, vinyl-led approach and deep digging across genres, Truly Madly will take control of Kapsule’s renowned sound system for an extended session, drawing from a vast collection of vinyl rarities, underground discoveries and genre-spanning selections.

The booking marks RAW’s latest headline event as the collective continues to establish itself as one of Liverpool’s most exciting grassroots promoters.

Since launching in 2025, RAW has quickly built a reputation for delivering carefully curated, music-first club experiences that bring together established names and emerging local talent.

In just over a year, the collective has welcomed respected artists including Cesco, DJ Cosworth, Papa Nugs and Dr Dubplate, while hosting events across Liverpool venues including 24 Kitchen Street, Meraki and programming a stage at Baltic Weekender Festival.

Hosted at Kapsule, a collaboration between Invisible Wind Factory and Sun Palace Sound System, the intimate venue provides the ideal setting for Truly Madly’s extended performance. Equipped with a four-point high-fidelity sound system and dedicated sub stack, Kapsule has become one of Liverpool’s premier spaces for music-led club experiences, perfectly complementing RAW’s commitment to quality sound and carefully curated programming.

Founded by a group of passionate music lovers, RAW was created to contribute to Liverpool’s thriving electronic music community by creating opportunities for audiences and artists to connect through thoughtfully curated events.

The collective has become known for championing underground dance music while providing a platform for both established selectors and the city’s next generation of talent.

“This October, we’re excited to host Truly Madly’s four hour set. Known for blending the boundaries of house, techno, and garage, his headline at this more intimate event marks our return to Liverpool, where we’re eager to pick up where we left off.” – Ben Matchett, RAW

“As Kapsule is a relatively new venue, I’m excited to contribute a support set at one of Liverpool’s latest additions to their underground electronic scene. It’s the perfect place to host our first event back.” – Cody Roberts, RAW

“With me and Cody offering support sets, we’re excited to once again give a stage to both young and established talent. It keeps the underground scene alive, and that’s what RAW wants to do.” – Oli Williams, RAW

With more events planned for the months ahead, RAW continues to build on its momentum, connecting Liverpool audiences with some of the most exciting names in underground electronic music.

Location: Kapsule, Liverpool
Date: Saturday 3 October 2026
Tickets available: Link to tickets