6:00pm
Got a craving for some Whose Line Is It Anyway style games, brought to you by everyday, fun-loving people from different parts of the northwest? Come in for some belly laughter, served extra fruity, extra sweet and extra fibrous by improv comedy troupe the Oickers!
The fourth wall won’t know what hit it, as audience suggestions are part of everything we make up–there will be singing, as an audience member will be serenaded, guessing games with the help of audience imagination. There will be a celebration of the wacky, pocketbook edition themes of life in all its hilarious banality!
See some crowd favourites, but also some Oicker originals–our Fruit Smoothie may not break any visionary records, but we have sweetness at our core, zest in our little steps, and a keen focus on what makes ordinary life extraordinary–so come and be a part of it for an hour!
The Team
Dave Hodgson
Iain Luke Jones
Liz Hardy
Michael Ananins
Sandra George
Sekki Tabasuares
Stuart Hughes
6pm
Louisiana; home of Mardi Gras, southern hospitality, and purity culture. This autobiographical comedy explores Alice’s teenage upbringing in the thick of America’s Bible Belt. Discover her LGBTQ+ identity and experience the South beyond it’s cowboy boots!
Hold your beers tight as Alice plays 20+ characters with more flavour than a boilin’ pot of gumbo. Expect chameleon-like storytelling as Alice recounts events so shocking you won’t believe they’re real! Always wondered if American high school is really like the movies? Don’t be shy now – How much can happen to one queer high schooler swimming through a flood of southern gossip?
16+
They have two series of their own Channel 4 TV show, an iTunes-chart-topping podcast and now they’re tuning up their instruments once more to tour the country: it’s the Horne Section’s Hit Show!
“Britain’s Funniest Band” (The Guardian) have made appearances on The Last Leg (Channel 4), Peter Crouch’s Year- Late Euros (BBC One), they are Dictionary Corner regulars on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the only band to ever host Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Separately, members of The Horne Section have performed with recording artists including Robbie Williams, Madness, Florence and the Machine, Amy Winehouse, George Ezra, Basement Jaxx, Disclosure and Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds.
Unruly, ridiculous, and surprisingly satisfying, the six-headed comedy band includes five outstanding musicians and one non-musical stand-up. There’ll be comedy, songs, enthusiastic dancing, and a lot of mucking about. A brand-new show from the hugely talented band and Alex Horne, the creator and co-host of the BAFTA and National Comedy Award winning Taskmaster.
Age guidance: 12+ (parental discretion advised) – U16s must be accompanied by an adult.This show may contain mild language and some adult references.
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
6-8pm
At Kook, we enjoy exploring the boundaries of comedy and tragedy – what makes a moment simultaneously beautiful, painful, and funny? How can you challenge yourself to view your work from a different perspective and be courageous enough to tear it down and start anew? This session will focus on your individual spirit of play and how it integrates into an ensemble dynamic. Sean Kempton, a seasoned performer, director, and teacher with over 30 years of experience, has created and performed work for numerous international companies, including Cirque Du Soleil. Sean has also been a core teacher at the National Centre for Circus Arts.
Participants must be 18+
5.30pm
Pei Yee Tong
A collaboration fusing live dance (contemporary and traditional Chinese styles), with spoken word and film by Noel Jones. The piece is inspired by the increase of hate towards Asian communities during the pandemic.
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.
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.
