Event type: Theatre

9 Things To Do In May Half Term In Liverpool and The City Region

Posted on | by Uncover

Big Art WAG 050722 0003

Looking for ways to keep the kids entertained this May half term in Liverpool? Whether you’re staying local or heading into the city for a day out, there’s a packed programme of free and low-cost family events happening across Liverpool and the wider region. From musical mornings and interactive theatre to hands-on science shows and crafty workshops, there’s something to spark every imagination. Here’s our top pick of activities that promise fun, creativity and adventure for children of all ages – without breaking the bank.

1. Mini Maestros, Everyman Theatre Cafe (17 May – 28 June)

Mini Maestros Everyman Theatre Liverpool

Mini Maestros is an excellent music session for 0-5s on Saturday mornings. The session is an interactive, multi-sensory music workshop for children and their grown-ups.

With percussion, signing and dance, the sessions present an engaging platform for children to explore sound and song whilst learning and having fun! Head along on Saturday mornings and join them making music at the Everyman Theatre Cafe.

Mini Maestros is run by RISE Music Education CIC, a local collective of professional musicians working to deliver engaging creative arts projects in the community.

2. Fowl Play – May Half Term Workshops, Tate Liverpool + RIBA North (24 May – 4 June)

Fowl Play half term activities Tate Liverpool 2025

Swoop into Tate Liverpool’s Learning Space this half term holiday for free Fowl Play avian art activities!

Flock together for crafty family fun, constructing multi-coloured replicas of your favourite birds. Play with print stamping blocks and collage to recreate intricate feathered patterns and textures. Using their easy-to-follow templates, make a 3-D model of your bird and dive into their pick ‘n’ mix recycled craft box to add finishing touches to personalise your bird.

There will be a free facilitated workshop on Thursday 29 May from 14.00-16.00 led by artist Colette Whittington.

3. Animal adventures – Little Liverpool special, Museum of Liverpool (27 May)

Little Liverpool Animal Adventures NML
Are you ready to explore the wild world of animals? Welcome to Animal adventures! Join Museum of Liverpool’s animal-themed Little Liverpool special combining a visit to the popular Little Liverpool gallery, with extra animal-themed activities for their younger visitors to enjoy.

Animal adventures takes place on Tuesday mornings at 11.15am and on Sunday afternoons at 2.15pm.

4. Beanstalk! Shakespeare North Playhouse (27 May)

Beanstalk
Beanstalk! is a fantastic tale for kids, big kids and everyone in between! Stuffed with outlandish mischief, magic, music and maybe a bean sprout or two…

Jack is stuck working in his Mum’s greengrocers and all he wants is to go on adventures! When a huge beanstalk starts sprouting between the shelves – maybe the biggest adventure isn’t so far away after all!

A classic slice of family theatre and ideal for a half term visit.

5. Aquarium Behind The Scenes Tour, World Museum (27 / 28 May)

Aquarium Behind The Scenes Tour World Museum
Ever wanted to know what it takes to look after all the amazing animals in the World Museum’s aquarium? Wonder no more! Why not book onto this 20 minute Aquarium Behind The Scenes Guided Tour with one of the museum’s knowledgeable aquarium team members.

You’ll be taken into their back of house facilities to see how they look after the animals in their care. Each tour will have a maximum of 10 visitors and is for years 6+. They also ask for a minimum ratio of 3 children to 1 adult.

6. Big Art special: Art Sparks, Walker Art Gallery (27, 28 and 31 May)

Big Art Special Walker Art Gallery
Spark your creativity and have fun with Walker Art Gallery’s fabulous friendly facilitators in Big Art special: Art Sparks! Big Art is a very special place for young children and their grown ups to discover arty things together.

Explore your creativity as a family with their special facilitated activities and make a marvellous masterpiece to take home. Plus you’ll have some  time to explore Big Art and all the wonderful resources for yourself.

There is a small charge of £2 per child with up to two accompanying adults who can attend free of charge.

7. Garden Cyanotypes: Family Print Session, Bluecoat (28 May)

Bluecoat Garden Cyanotypes Print Session
Join Bluecoat as they explore this photographic printing process in a Family Friendly Print Session. Collect leaves and flowers from their beautiful spring garden to create your prints, or you can bring your own.

A cyanotype is a blue print made by placing an object on paper coated with iron salts. The silhouette of the object is transferred onto the paper as it is exposed to light, and appears after washing the paper in water. Suitable for ages 3+, just drop-in on the day.

8. Pirates Love Underpants, Liverpool Playhouse Theatre (28 – 31 May)

Pirates Love Underpants Liverpool Playhouse
Pirates Love Underpants is based on the beloved book by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. Join their swashbuckling party of pirates on their quest to find the fabled Pants of Gold for the Captain’s Treasure chest!

Dodge hungry crocs beneath Long-John Bridge, bob upon the waves of Big Knickers Bay, spot sharks in fancy underpants and trek across Three Pants Ridge.

Filled with music, puppetry and glittering pants of gold, arrr you ready to set sail for a family adventure?

9. Exciting Science, The Atkinson (30 May)

Exciting Science The Atkinson
This brand new, Exciting Science educational show will amaze and astound all ages from 4 years and upwards, as they put the ‘Exciting’ back into ‘Science’.

With fun and fact filled experiments, watch in amazement as they recreate a volcanic eruption; turn a vacuum cleaner into a missile launcher or take aim at you with their smoke blaster!

So, stand clear and prepare to be amazed!

For even more things to do in Easter half term in Liverpool and the city region check out our What’s On Listings.

Double bill! Any Other Business and Seat of Learning!

 

Join us at The Studio Beyond for a double bill of new writing this May!

Any Other Business by 4th Wall Productions and Seat of oLearning by Four by Four productions are taking to the stage in a fantastic double bill.

Any Other Business: A life – and a committee – in disarray. Will Gerald be able to reconcile looking after his sick mum with his role as treasurer, or will it all come tumbling down? An award winning play, Written/Directed by Ted Grant.

Seat of Learning: A light hearted, engaging look at intergenerational family life with its heartwarming tales of relationships and new ventures. Written by Tony Vale and Directed by Liz Hardy.

Age Advisory: 12+

Trigger Warnings: Occasional sexual innuendo references. Very occasional mild swearing. References/portrayal of dementia.

 

FRUIT SMOOTHIE

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

HERZ; the roots of the potato

8:oopm
HERZ is the encounter of a woman and her heart in the empty space.

Physical Fest are delighted to bring the hilarious and brilliant Spanish clown back to Liverpool after her fantastic performance a few years ago with this funny and moving show exploring the limits of freedom and love!

The encounter between her and her roots, the expectations and the facts, the ones who wait and the ones who arrive.

lnspired by the return of the hero in classic mythology, Madame Señorita has a teasing silliness that invites the audience to witness and take part in a playful  transformation where the ridiculous and the absurd blend with the tenderness of a failed character

Queer Scratch Night | Unity Pride Series

7.30pm
Join us for a one-off night of sparkling new stories that imagine a better world through a queer lens.

Performed by local LGBTQIA artists trying out new work for the first time, this performance is developed with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse’s Nathan Powell and writer Luke Barnes (Cinderella).

 

“Heart-warmingly, proudly, queer.” Sydney Morning Herald⁠ on Roots’ Happy Meal

@rootstouring

 

Want to get involved? 

Are you a Merseyside-based LGBTQIA writer, creator or content maker looking for collaboration and a stage? Then we have an opportunity for you…

In Queer Scratch, rootstouring are inviting 8 theatremakers to create and perform their own short work at Unity Theatre, that imagines a better world through an LGBTQIA lens.

You’ll be working with Roots, Yorkshire’s award-winning queer theatre company, and will receive training from leading theatre makers in Liverpool, including writer Luke Barnes (Cinderella) and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse’s Nathan Powell.

Deadline to apply: May 30th 18:00

Performance at Unity Theatre: June 28th

Sign up via the link: https://www.rootstouring.com/queer-scratch-unity-call-out

 

 

Wet Dream with Jesus | Unity Pride Series

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+

Beanstalk!

Jack is stuck working in their Mum’s greengrocers, when all they want is to go on adventures! 

But between Mr Business trying to buy the shop, D.A.I.S.E.E (The Digital Artificial Intelligence System for E-Commerce Extravaganzas!), and a huge Beanstalk sprouting between the shelves – maybe the biggest adventure isn’t so far away after all!

The Loons are back with another Tale for Kids, Big Kids and everyone in between! Stuffed with our trademark mischief, magic, music and maybe a bean sprout or two…

 

Recurring events in Liverpool

Liverpool is a city full of Irish culture. There is always something happening that you join in with. Below is a lit of regular and recurring activities, delivered by our that you can pick up at any time.
Liverpool Irish Centre
The Liverpool Irish Centre runs a shop full of Irish produce, open 7-days a week. It receives Irish food deliveries fortnightly on a Wednesday/Thursday. The main bar hours are Fri and Sat, 2pm-midnight and Sun, 12.30pm-9pm, with live music 4/5pm. Follow them online to stay up to date with events. The venue is a hireable space and can be booked for parties or functions. The recurring programme looks like this:

Monday

Gardening class,10am, The Shed
Comhaltas, 6.30pm

Tuesday

Sequence dancing, 1pm
Liverpool Irish Choir, 6.30pm

Wednesday

JJ’s lunch club, 1pm
Yoga, 6pm
Irish language, 6-8pm
The Lowlands, 7pm
Liverpool Irish Fluteband, 7.30pm

Thursday

Tea dance/Bingo, 1pm
Irish language, 6pm
Bolger-Cunningham Irish dance, 6.30pm
Liverpool Irish Rovers social run, 6.30pm

Friday

25 cards, 9pm

Saturday

Bolger-Cunningham Irish dance, 10am
Tin whistle class, 10.30am, The Shed.

In addition, Liverpool Irish Rovers run regularly through the week. Contact them directly to join. The Centre runs Supper Céilí on the last Wednesday of every month at 8.30pm and hosts a monthly seisiún on the third Sunday of every month.
Comhaltas
Running classes regularly at the Liverpool Irish Centre, Comhaltas is your go to organisation for anything relating to Irish music. See day listing above for class times.
Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl
Irish language is on the rise again, not least because of the astounding work done at community level by groups such as Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl. Based at Liverpool Irish Centre, there are all sorts of lessons to join in with. Look at the day lists above for details of Wed/Thurs clubs. They also host Lon Gaeilge sessions at 12.30pm on the first Friday of every month at The Railway on Tithebarn Street. Guests to this are invited to bring 10 new words per session to use in conversation. Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl are the lead organisers of the annual Tony Birtill memorial lecture and scholarship.
Irish Community Care Merseyside
With 60-years of Irish community championing, Irish Community Care Merseyside is a first port of call for those needing to access welfares services. It undertakes year-round work to improve life-chances and build communities.
Liverpool Irish Famine Trail
Conserved and updated by Liverpool Irish Festival, the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail has an app and self-guided maps that you can take yourself through. There ar recurring walks taking place across the year – see our events page using the Events menu above, or this link.
The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool
An academic centre of excellence with a year round programme of events, talks, activities and archives to share. Sign up for their events mailings.

Red Or Dead

Liverpool’s Royal Court are proud to present Red Or Dead A Liverpool PassionPeter Mullan (Ozark, Westworld, Mum) is Bill Shankly in an incredible new show adapted from David Peace’s iconic novel.
“I’m a people’s man – only the people matter.” Bill Shankly

This epic show, with a cast of 52, is the fictionalised story of one man, Bill Shankly and his work and of his life after that work. A man of two halves.

“Although I’m a Scot, I’d be proud to be called a Scouser. ”Bill Shankly

Brought to Liverpool from Huddersfield to fire the red heat of a revolution, Bill Shankly had one aim. To build Liverpool Football Club up and up until they were invincible.

“Liverpool was made for me, and I was made for Liverpool. ”Bill Shankly

Promotion, the first division title, the FA Cup and success in Europe all followed as Shankly defined what it was to be a Liverpool fan. He demanded total loyalty from his players and coaches. A loyalty that he hoped would be repaid when he retired.

“All I ask is that we try to make the people happy.” Bill Shankly

Adapted and directed by Phillip Breen (Royal Shakespeare Company, Clwyd Theatre Cymru) this will be the World premiere of an epic show that will have you on your feet and crying out the great man’s name. Don’t miss it.

“David Peace’s fictional portrait of the legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly is so hypnotic that even the football-averse might enjoy it.”  Mark Lawson, The Guardian

“David Peace brings perfect pitch to this ode to Bill Shankly’s Liverpool reign.” Frank Cottrell-Boyce, The Observer

A love letter to a great manager, an elegy to the beautiful game.” Doug Johnstone The Independent

Read the show programme here

Age advisory 14+

Cast confirmed:  Les Dennis, Matthew Devlin, Paul Duckworth, Keith Fleming, George Jones, Gordon Kennedy, Oliver Mawdsley, Allison McKenzie, Peter Mullan, Liam Powell-Berry, Dickon Tyrrell and Jhanaica Van Mook

Written by David Peace

Adapted for the stage and directed by Phillip Breen

Designer Max JonesAssociate Director Nicole BehanMusic Paddy Cunneen

8pm shows Tuesday to Saturday, 2pm matinees on selected Thursdays and all Saturdays.

Matinee tickets now available with a bowl of scouse for £10

Performance Information 

Stalls tickets are available with a meal (served at your table before the show) for an extra £14 for one course at evening shows Click here to see our menu or an extra £10 at matinees (scouse or blind scouse only). If you are eating with us please arrive at least an hour before the performance. 

Tickets are available for the show alone in stalls, circle and balcony. 

BSL performance is on Tuesday 8 April (interpreter Steven Delaney-Cain). Audio Described performance is on Wednesday 9 April (describer Anne Hornsby). To book please contact Box Office on 0151 709 4321 or email lauren@royalcourtliverpool.com. 

Captioning will be available for performances from 15-19 April. Please contact Box Office for more details.

Circle and balcony will open at 7.15pm. There are bars in both areas for pre-show and interval drinks. Stalls will be open from 6:15pm. 

If you are bringing a large group, every tenth ticket is free. This ticket will be automatically added to your basket on purchase. Meals and building levy must still be paid on your free ticket. 

NO BOOKING FEES ON THIS SHOW 

Please note – the bar will close 15 minutes before the advertised start time. 

£2 from every ticket bought will be donated to The Royal Court Liverpool Trust. For more details go to www.royalcourttrust.org 

Please contact Box Office to book if you are a wheelchair user.

Speedo Mick – The Scouse Stomper

Over its illustrious 150-year history Everton Football Club has had many heroes but perhaps none of them have been absorbed into the wider public consciousness as much as Speedo Mick. A die-hard Blues supporter, supported himself by thousands across the country and around the world.

This is the story of a man who thought he had lost everything. His family, his home, his mind and his soul. For some time, he suffered from addiction and mental health issues. As he got on the road to recovery, he wanted to give something back, so he set about raising money. 

He ran marathons until his knees gave out, he swam the channel until his shoulder packed in. And after that? Well, he had the trunks and he fancied a walk…

Join us for the world premiere of the musical that celebrates one of the biggest characters to come out of this city. From being that homeless guy in the shop doorway, they said wouldn’t amount to anything to raising more than £1,000,000 for disadvantaged young people and the homeless.

These tickets are going to go fast so get your Speedos on and walk down to the Court. 

Age advisory 16+ Strong language.

Dress code: get dressed

Written by John Fay 

Music by Boff Whalley 

Directed by Conrad Nelson

Designed by Ellie Light

8pm shows Tuesday to Saturday, 2pm matinees on selected Thursdays and all Saturdays.

Matinee tickets now available with a bowl of scouse for £10

Performance Information 

 Stalls tickets are available with a meal (served at your table before the show) for an extra £14 for one course at evening shows Click here to see our menu or an extra £10 at matinees (scouse or blind scouse only). If you are eating with us please arrive at least an hour before the performance. 

Tickets are available for the show alone in stalls, circle and balcony. 

BSL performance is on Tuesday 17 June (interpreter Karl Llorca). Audio Described performance is on Wednesday 18 June (describer Anne Hornsby). To book please contact Box Office on 0151 709 4321 or email lauren@royalcourtliverpool.com. 

Captioning will be available for performances from 1-5 July. Please contact Box Office for more details.

Circle and balcony will open at 7.15pm. There are bars in both areas for pre-show and interval drinks. Stalls will be open from 6:15pm.

If you are bringing a large group, every tenth ticket is free. This ticket will be automatically added to your basket on purchase. Meals and building levy must still be paid on your free ticket. 

NO BOOKING FEES ON THIS SHOW 

Please note – the bar will close 15 minutes before the advertised start time.
£2 from every ticket bought will be donated to The Royal Court Liverpool Trust. For more details go to www.royalcourttrust.org 

Please contact Box Office to book if you are a wheelchair user.