Event type: Theatre

Hello Castaways! Imagine you’re shipwrecked on a desert island. What would be your ‘go-to’ song and your most treasured item? With these suggestions to inspire them, Absolute Onions will produce a fully improvised tale, drenched with drama, emotion, fun and laughter! So, let’s drift away on your ocean of dreams!

Tales from the Armchair – Aunt Batty Knows

Step into the unsettling and absurd world of Aunt Batty Knows… as they weave dark tales of supernatural suspense.

Tales from the Armchair is an all-woman longform show which draws its inspiration from 1970s and 1980s TV drama programmes such as Play for Today and Tales of the Unexpected. 

Everyday characters and situations meet a context of eerie surrealism where we wonder, is the uncanny in the mind, outside of the mind or perhaps both? 

“To learn what we fear is to learn who we are. Horror defies our boundaries and illuminates our souls.”

― Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

Shakespeare on the Spot – Stephen Longstaffe

The world clearly hasn’t enough Shakespeare, so this solo show improvises some more from audience suggestions. Your host (former university Shakespeare lecturer and current idiot) will transform whatever the Liverpool muses bring into new iambic speeches and dialogues by some of the bard’s most famous characters. It could get silly. No asps, daggers, or skulls are permitted in the venue, but feel free to bring another hitherto unknown Shakespeare prop along!

Life Happens! – AnneLiina & Quitar

Life is unpredictable — and that’s exactly where the magic begins. 

From Estonia’s kIMPROose collective, performers Anneli Kirotar, Liina Karro, and musician Maarius Pärn bring you Life Happens! — a spontaneous, heartfelt, and hilariously human exploration of connection in all its chaotic beauty. 

In this fully improvised show, Anneli and Liina dive into the wild landscape of relationships: the closeness and the distance, the conflict and the comfort, the moments that shift us when we least expect it. Every scene is created on the spot, shaped entirely by the performers’ quick thinking, creativity, and playful curiosity. 

Guiding and colouring the journey is Maarius Pärn on live guitar. His improvised soundscapes pulse through the performance — sometimes soft, sometimes bold — giving each moment its own emotional rhythm. Music and theatre weave together as the story evolves in real time. 

Funny, warm, and boldly unpredictable, Life Happens! invites you to witness how we navigate each other — one unexpected moment at a time.

The School of Night has been improvising Shakespeare since they were formed by theatre maverick Ken Campbell at the request of Mark Rylance at Shakespeare’s Globe in London in 2005. Their shows are wild and extravagent celebrations of theatre as they attempt to extemporise one of Shakespeare’s lost plays, inspired by audience suggestions. As well as being masters of improvising in iambic pentameter, The School enjoy breaking out into the styles of other great poets and playwrights. They might even make up a song or two. The School’s unique brand of literary improvisation has been seen all over the world, from the National Theatre to Elisonore Castle, from the Hay Literary Festival to the Edinburgh Festival. And now they are delighted to be asked back to Liverpool to continue asking the question: what if making stuff up was more fun than writing it down?

‘You cannot help but stare in awe as they perform’ ★★★★★ Broadway Baby

‘Uproarious, intelligent, laugh-a-minute fare’ ★★★★ Telegraph

‘Fearsomely able improvisers’ ★★★★ Financial Times

Using audience suggestions, Improv the Dead conjure up a spontaneous zombie flick right before your eyes, part B-movie schlock, part chaotic blockbuster, complete with thrills, gut-busting laughs, and fake blood. Plus, bonus features!

Between carnage-filled scenes, the cast can smash cut to improvised interviews with the characters, step into hilarious behind-the-scenes moments with the director and crew unveil deleted scenes that never made the cut—all created on the spot with your help.

So, if you’re looking for an evening of blood-soaked laughter, creeping suspense, and gloriously shambolic zombie antics, look no further.

Improv the Dead promises a high-energy, one-night-only horror-comedy experience that will leave you both terrified and tickled, and like any good cult classic, you’ll never see this exact film again.

“Delightfully funny and brilliantly unhinged.” ★★★★ A Shiny Life

Sometimes silly, sometimes serious, sometimes surreal, A Very Capable Boy are a duo who blend improvisation, alternative comedy and kitchen-sink drama to create a uniquely surprising live comedic experience.

For fans of I Think You Should Leave, The Royle Family, and Rick and Morty, the show draws from sources as varied as DIY music, absurdist theatre, and performance art to create a world full of darkly hilarious characters who move and amuse in equal measure.

Phyllida invites you to a celebration of her life and career. She’ll be sharing her repertoire of songs and stories—songs and stories which are unique for each performance.

The lyrics, the music, and the conversation are all inspired by the audience and created on the spot. Indeed, the whole character of Phyllida is only fully formed once the show has begun. From her piano, she’ll tell of her amusing adventures, her incredible career, and her most personal moments.

Come and celebrate the life of this incredible woman—you may smile, you may laugh, you may cry, you might even sing along!

“This lovely gentle clever show was a delight.” (Scene)

“A powerhouse of musical improv” (Open Your Mouth And Sing)

“Phil Lunn from the UK became the star of the festival.” (Sirp Magazine)

Hollywood’s monster maker is at the end of his life. But his creations won’t let him depart so easily. Embittered from his Hollywood lifestyle, James Whale confronts the flawed, grotesque creatures that he brought to life in an effort to tell one last incredible story to tell; his own.

Based upon the true story, ArtsGroupie examines class and LGBTQ+ identity whilst celebrating the life of Universal monster movie director James Whale, an artist that defined horror cinema. An intimate performance from John Maguire (‘A Portrait of William Roscoe’). Written and directed by David Griffiths (‘The Hammer and Helena’)