Event type: Comedy

6.30pm

Kudera + Mpearsonator
What have we become? Is a collaborative project with garment designer Alena Kudera, who has created wearable sculptures from landfill-bound fast fashion and single use plastic. The costumes inspired the movements of three dancers who will perform to an original score.

Festival Pass: Thinking about attending all of Leap Festivals Saturday performances? Purchase a festival pass here and make a £8 saving!
All works shared are new commissions by Culture Liverpool, funded by UKSPF, Leap Dance Festival and *DaDaFest.

8:00pm

The Loss of innocence is a performance by four dancers, exploring the hardship and heartache on the journey into adult/womanhood, and the potential of finding solace in community. Inspired by resilient female figures throughout history and in film, as well as martial arts.

This event will also feature a screening of Amy Milson’s Unseen

Festival Pass: Thinking about attending all of Leap Festivals Saturday performances? Purchase a festival pass here and make a £8 saving!
All works shared are new commissions by Culture Liverpool, funded by UKSPF, Leap Dance Festival and *DaDaFest.

Come and enjoy the latest exhibition in the Unity bar space!
 

This exhibition of botanical prints was made by a process utilising the chemicals in leaves and flowers to create ethereal imprints. The work was produced in three workshops during May and June 2024 at Squash Grapes Community Garden, Granby Winter Garden and Growing Sudley walled garden. The workshops were delivered by Dr Sarah Haynes a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University to gather specimens for a contemporary herbarium, annotated with the thoughts, memories, folklore, recipes, botanical knowledge, and experience of the workshop’s participants. For more information see here: https://www.thevirtual-garden.com/herbarium This exhibition also features printed specimens from Sarah’s garden in Aigburth.

 

The project has been a collaboration between plant scientists, gardeners, herbalists, artists, and communities in Liverpool exploring the roots and branches of plant culture, gardening and plant chemistry. The project aims to connect people with their local environment, to ask questions and share knowledge about plants.

“Any piece of art should have the audience leave with more than they entered the room with. Super Connected definitely succeeds : it is a hugely significant piece of work, containing a vital message, carefully constructed and brilliantly performed. Outstanding”  – UK Fringe Review ★★★★  

Is it time to break up with our phones?  The stage adaptation of the critically acclaimed album by Tim Arnold, ‘Super Connected’ is an art rock Black Mirror-esque show fusing film, live music, and theatre about the ticking time bomb of social media, screen addiction and the impact of Big Tech’s power over human life. As the film rolls, Arnold performs his Silicon Valley-slamming songs on stage and screen. With the scale of Radiohead and panache of Bowie, Super Connected LIVE is a digital-age take on the silent movie. With narration by Stephen Fry. Full of wit, wisdom, and terror, the show tells the true story of a teenager battling screen addiction—and her family’s fight against it. Being pulled in and out of the screen by the attention-grabbing characters, Arnold grapples with what connection and intimacy mean in a digitally distracted world. PhoneFreeze! Lock your phones in our pouches, pocket them, and break free from the digital grind before the show! Join us after for our ‘Screenless Social’ to chat with each other and the creative team.  

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_xV6CHx-WU Explore the album before you watch the show: https://superconnected.technology/the-album/ Follow Super Connected and Tim Arnold on Instagram: @superconnecteduk @timarnold Visit the official website: https://superconnected.technology/story/ Music taken from the album ‘Tim Arnold – Super Connected’ Written and performed by Tim Arnold Piano Sarah Kershaw   Film directed by Tim Arnold. Developed with, and directed by Kate Alderton Produced by Nim Arnold for The Tim Arnold Company  

“A lush, dynamic and dramatic piece about the enslavement and surveillance of our phone and computer screens” – Mojo ★★★★ 

“A mammoth triumph, through Tim Arnold’s immaculate songwriting and Kate Alderton’s superlative artistic stage direction. A reformation of the art of album-crafting” – Brighton and Hove News ★★★★  

“Super Connected is like a warning from the future… remarkably poignant, funny, ominous and heartrending” – R n R ★★★★

7:30pm
Dylan is living with dementia. Heather must watch the love of her life drift away and battle with the erosion of his memories…but Heather is not going to let Dylan go easily!
Instead, they fight to remember their past together, the laughter, the battles, and to rediscover a joy that keeps them connected for whatever the future holds.
Kook Ensemble brings together a team of world class theatre makers to create original and playful stories. They delight in blending the very best of circus arts and theatre to charm, surprise and keep you guessing until the end!
‘Sand’ is Kook Ensemble’s second show, hard on the heels of their critically acclaimed tour of ‘Filibuster’ in 2024.
Created and produced by Kook Ensemble, co-commissioned by Landmark Theatres.  Supported by Arts Council England and the Royal National Theatre Generate programme.
Reviews from previous work:
A fusion of the body and the heart   The Guardian.
Spectacular, sensational, arresting   The Observer
A truly spectacular debut   Time out

3.40pm
 

Taxi tales … a night on the town
Taxi tales is inspired by Raymond Carvers short stories which subsequently became the award-winning film ‘Short Cuts’ directed by Robert Altman. Carver was a master storyteller in expressing a lot with a little, Carver’s signature style: understated yet impactful portrayals of the struggles and frustrations of everyday life.
The taxi driver, a witness to countless dramas, has seen it all unfold either in the backseat of their cab. Therapist, confidant – passengers bare their souls under the flickering city lights. The subsequent journey throws up recurring themes resulting in a rich human comedy – a mosaic of life’s absurdities, built piece by piece across one night.

1.30pm
 

A SPECIAL DOUBLE BILL

 

Cafe Amour

by Neil+1

Technology has made our access to the dating world easier. Swipe right for love, swipe left for your next potential marriage. But what would happen when our first date becomes the most influential moment in our lives? Join us in the Cafe of Love as Neil and a random audience member search for answers to the many mysteries of the heart!

Will you swipe right for me?
“What was really spectacular is how Neil Curran made a non-improviser off the street, the star. For a truly unique experience, I highly recommend this show”
 – Will Luera, Florida Studio Theatre
“Really recommend seeing @ImprovNeil. His show #NeilPlusOne is hilarious!”
 – Nathan O’Reilly, Spin1038
“Neil and his guest were superb”
 – Dave Madden, DublinCulture.ie
 

Godse Jansen

Improv Theatre Like You’ve Never Seen Before – and hopeful never will see again! 

The infamous Danish improvisation theatre group Det Hvide Snit (known internationally as The NoNoBut) is back on stage with their brand-new show, “Godse and Jansen”. Kim von Bülow and Bo Vilstrup, two of Denmark’s most seasoned improv actors, present a performance that challenges both the audience and themselves – with a mix of chaos, humor, and an unpredictable journey to… well, who knows where? 

Founded in 1986, Det Hvide Snit is possibly the world’s oldest active improvisation theatre group (?). They’ve gained a reputation for their boundary-pushing performances, especially their iconic show, “The Yellow Line”, where anything can happen, and nothing is off-limits. With “Godse and Jansen”, they take a new approach but with the same wild and humorous spirit that has made them kind of famous in Denmark.

Welcome to “Godse and Jansen” – where nothing is planned, and everything is possible. Bon appétit!

12.30pm
 

In Jungle of Emotions, young audiences will explore a world where animals get a voice, each with their own unique feelings and personalities. Through playful, on-the-spot storytelling, children will discover how we handle emotions like excitement, nervousness, and happiness. With laughter and surprise around every corner, this heartwarming show helps children understand and express their own emotions in a light and joyful way.

Full of imagination and creativity, Jungle of Emotion is perfect for young minds eager to learn and have fun. Kids will get to participate, shout out ideas, and even help shape the story as it unfolds! Bring your little ones for an uplifting, educational experience they won’t forget.

8.30pm
 

Taxi tales … a night on the town
Taxi tales is inspired by Raymond Carvers short stories which subsequently became the award-winning film ‘Short Cuts’ directed by Robert Altman. Carver was a master storyteller in expressing a lot with a little, Carver’s signature style: understated yet impactful portrayals of the struggles and frustrations of everyday life.
The taxi driver, a witness to countless dramas, has seen it all unfold either in the backseat of their cab. Therapist, confidant – passengers bare their souls under the flickering city lights. The subsequent journey throws up recurring themes resulting in a rich human comedy – a mosaic of life’s absurdities, built piece by piece across one night.

5.40pm
 

A DOUBLE BILL

 

STUPID.

Stupid are an improvised comedy duo staring Al Donohoe and Mike Burton.

Inspired by audience suggestions, the pair of fast-thinking fools create comedic scenes
that thematically link while bouncing off one another. And, as the name suggests, things
soon get silly…

Not only does the duo make it up as they go along, they also play multiple characters
within scenes, and, at times, swap and play each other’s characters. Watching them
skilfully keep pace with their own spontaneous creation only adds to the fun.

Stupid stars Mike Burton and Al Donohoe, two seasoned performers with decades of stage
experience under their belts. They’ve been performing together regularly since 2021. They
combine a mix natural observational wit and UCB style game in to make a joyful, daring
and very, very stupid show.

 
Far and the rest of the Family

If your family is weird, you will soon find out that this family is even weirder. All the way from Norway, this gang will enter the stage with a boom, and show you their funniest games. It might get funny, it might get emotional, it most certainly will be unforgettable (hopefully in a good way). Far and the rest of the family is a group of experienced improvisers doing short-form improv. We do it just the way you like your family get-togethers: maybe a movie your cousin forced you to see, popcorn from the microwave and wine from aunt Margaret’s closet. Spend a night with people you have to like since you are family, but realize at the end of the day that they are actually quite nice.

“Oslos best short form group” – Aree Withoelar, after Oslo Impro Festival 2023.

“..the Norwegian group “Far and the rest of the family”, is a fast cavalcade of short-form improv, with a group that appears to be really well-knit and coordinated.” – Cathrin Monell, Scenkonstguiden/The Performing Arts Guide, after our show in Improfest, Gothenburg, Sweden.