This May and June, through a multi-faceted heritage project, we will celebrate our building’s unique history—first as a synagogue and later as a home for political and grassroots theatre.
Join us for a series of events that delve into our rich heritage and history.
This project has been made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
What’s on?
Exhibition | A Radical Reimagining: the history of Merseyside Unity Theatre, 1937-1987
Thursday 14 May to Sunday 28 June
Step into the past at this exhibition featuring archives from the Unity Theatre collection.
Mount Pleasant Campus Library, 29 Maryland St, Liverpool L1 9DE. Opening hours Monday to Friday 8:45am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Exhibition Launch Event
Thursday 21 May, 4:30-6:30pm
Join us for an evening of celebration to mark the official opening of the Merseyside Unity Theatre archive exhibition, with pop up performances!
Common/Wealth Theatre Company DO IT YOURSELF: Making Political Theatre
Friday 29th May John Foster Drama Studio, Hope Street, L1 9BY
10-12.30: Workshop – Doing it Yourself
This workshop will offer a brief introduction to a range of practical exercises to enable you to work with others to create political theatre and make social change. The exercises will give you an insight into Common/Wealth, how we make original theatre about the here and now, and with people who may not have been part of any theatre-making process before.
Suitable for people new to theatre, experienced theatre makers, activists and community organisers.
Age guidance: 16+
2-3.30: Talk including Q&A
We’ll share our DIY origins, how we’ve made shows along the way and why making political theatre is critical and urgent now more than ever.
About Common/ Wealth Common/Wealth is a political theatre company based in Bradford and Cardiff, UK. We make radical, high-quality documentary theatre and other public events that are site-specific, experimental and push form – relevant, artistic work addressing social injustices and concerns of our times, in partnership with the people who are most affected by inequity.
Archive Open Days
Thursday 4 June – Friday 5 June, 10-12pm and 1-3pm
Have you ever visited an archive before? Join us at our open day sessions to view some of the original papers created and collected by Merseyside Unity Theatre. Explore rare scripts, programmes, photographs and songbooks, and meet the Project Archivist to learn more about how unique historical records are being preserved for future generations.
Special Collections and Archives, Mount Pleasant Campus Library, Liverpool John Moores University, 29 Maryland St, Liverpool L1 9DE
Political Songs Workshop| Sing, March, Protest with Patrick Dineen
Saturday 23rd May | Unity 2-5pm
Come along and experience the political songs that the Unity Theatre would have performed,
written and experienced over the years from the Spanish Civil War to the 1960s.
From rousing marching songs through to sophisticated cabaret. Listen and sing the wit and irony, dark humour of songs that speak of injustice and corruption.
Patrick Dineen is a composer and lyricist. He has written many scores for theatre and political
cabaret over the years and has had a long standing relationship with The Unity Theatre. His work as a composer includes tv, film, dance, cabaret and directing his own music-theatre shows.
LIV:DOX presents “Orwell: 2+2=5” (2026, dir. Raoul Peck)
Saturday 23rd May | 6pm
“Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5” is a dense, urgent, and unapologetically blunt documentary that offers a chillingly relevant examination of totalitarianism’s enduring appeal and the societal conditions that enable it.
Screening presented by LIV:DOX (Liverpool Documentary Club), a project fueled by Imagine Futures CIC.
Breaking the Class Ceiling | A Live Exploration of Working Class Artistry
Saturday 30th May | 3-4.30pm
Join us for an unflinching, live panel discussion that bridges the gap between Unity’s 1930s ‘Workers’ Theatre’ roots and Liverpool’s contemporary creative scene.
In an era where the ‘class ceiling’ remains a challenging barrier in the arts, how do creatives and radical makers keep momentum? We bring together five Liverpool working-class artists to discuss the politics of the stage, the power of heritage, and the future of working-class storytelling.
Following our headline panel discussion, we’re offering a space for working-class creatives to test new ideas, political rants, or works in progress.
Radical Scratch Open Mic 5-6.30pm
YOUNG RADICAL THEATRE MAKERS
Unity Theatre, 4,5 & 6th June
6–6.30pm, 6.45–7.15pm (& Sat matinee 1.15-1.45)
Step into the future with our Young Radical Theatre Makers as they take the stage in a bold, high-energy ensemble performance, this new generation of artists amplifies the voices of today to ask the urgent questions of tomorrow, a call to listen, to reflect, and to imagine what comes next.
Divided by the ensemble. Directed by Grace Gallagher and Mariana Pires
STAGE LEFT
Thursday 4th- Saturday 6th June | 7.30pm (& Sat matinee 2pm)
Created in-house at the Unity, this new performance dives into the theatre’s bold and rebellious past. From its roots as Merseyside Left Theatre in the 1930s to the vibrant creative home we inhabit today, A Radical Reimagining brings decades of radical storytelling roaring back to life.
Through dynamic performance, powerful voices, and striking moments from the past, we celebrate a legacy of theatre made for the people. Expect a journey through protest, passion, and creativity, a reminder that this stage has always belonged to those with something to say.
