This workshop will focus on being rather than doing.
Through games & impros, we explore the present moment, connecting with ourselves and others. Embracing innocence & wonder, you’ll embark on a personal journey to discover your unique sense of humour & truthfulness, by listening & being receptive.
Join Culture Liverpool Resident Artist, Dora Colquhoun, at a series of family-friendly workshops exploring the meaning of home.
Dora, and co-facilitator Og the Giant, will be hosting a series of family workshops at Spellow Community Hub and Library. The pair will lead fun creative exercises for attendees of all ages to explore the concept of home.
Dora Colquhoun is a neurodivergent writer, facilitator, performer, and theatre maker. Her original shows (ADHD The Musical, and The Lodger) have both met with rave reviews, and are headed to Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Co-facilitator Og the Giant (AKA Isaac Nixon) is a Liverpool based children’s storyteller, with a wealth of experience working with families to unlock their imagination through play and storytelling.
Together, Dora and Og will deliver these creative workshops for families to explore what home means to them.
Molly Farquhar is your facilitator who is taking her award winning one-woman show, Hairy Bastard, to Edinburgh Fringe this year. She will be on hand to guide you in writing your own solo performance whether it is auto-biographical or fiction.
Sunday 18th May 12.00 to 1400
What to expect:
Finding your Story
Setting the Journey of your character
What should/shouldn’t I share
Adding humour
Giving the light and shade a rhythm
Avoiding the Pitfalls such as self-indulgence.
Cutting and editing your show
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen.
Sharon Colpman is your facilitator who has developed this characterisation workshop after her struggles with one very tricky character that hid in the shadows of a play she was writing. It led her to examine what it means to be human and which parts of ourselves do we hide or hold up for examination.
Sunday 4th May at 12.00 to 1400
What to expect:
Finding your character
Setting out the four different aspects of your character with the help of an actor
P typing your character
Evolving a character throughout your play
Putting a character in difficult situations
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen.
Kiefer Wes Williams, who’s play Orton Fallen Angel is on at Shakespeare North and his work has toured as part of Grin Theatre, is your facilitator for this course. Renown for his fast paced and touching dialogue he will introduce you to real dialogue within the structure of a play.
Sunday 1st June at 10.30 to 12.30
What to expect:
The key function of dialogue in a script
Writing effective dialogue and what it is.
Making people sound different using hierarchy, mood and local colour
Developing natural Dialogue
Practical exercises to explore what we have learnt
Editing your dialogue and avoiding bad habits
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen
Edward Gray writer of Passing Moustache and director of obscurest style plays will be your facilitator. Learning his craft in an era of protest and political theatre Ted’s work could never be called dull or predictable.
Sunday 22nd June 12.00 to 14.00
What to expect:
The essence of storytelling
What defines a great story
How to break the rules
How to turn left instead of right
How to avoid the pitfalls of predictability
Going outside what you know without falling for stereotypes.
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen
This online event is perfect for anyone interested in learning the basics of writing for the stage. The course starts on Tues 13th May 2025 at 19:00 and over the following 6 weeks (no session on 10/6/25) you’ll discover the key elements of crafting scripts for theatre. Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to refine your skills, don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to dive into the world of playwriting!
Helen Jeffery is a writer, performer, poet & creative facilitator from Merseyside.
A graduate of the Playwright’s Programme at the Liverpool Everyman, Helen has had several plays produced including, ‘The Brink’ and ‘Gun Metal Blue’, which won the Blink. Theatre Award for New Writing in 2017. Her most recent play, ‘Buckled’ toured to venues in the Northwest in March 2025. Alongside her writing for stage , Helen works freelance for several organisations including Writing on the Wall and the Liverpool Everyman, where she facilitates writing and drama workshops with specific communities.
You can find out more information about Helen here – https://linktr.ee/HelenJeffery
In series of eight themed workshops, professional photographer Steve Samosa will help you gain a range practical and creative photography skills, whatever your level of experience.
You’ll learn striking composition, the use of perspective, long exposures, HDR, multiple exposure, mixed lighting and street photography. There is also an introduction to aerial photography using drone cameras!
The workshops are designed to provide you with a range of creative techniques and practical tips to elevate your photography. Each week covers a new theme and you can book on to as many or as few sessions as you wish:
8 May – Creative Light Painting
15 May – Black and White Photography
22 May – Drone Photography
29 May – Street Photography
5 June – Portraits Mastering Available Light
12 June – Food and Product Photography
19 June – Smoke Photography
26 June – Architecture and the Built Environment
Please note that you will need your own DSLR or phone camera and a tripod and some sessions will take place outdoors.
These workshops are funded by The Friends of Kirkby Gallery & Prescot Museum. Contact galleries@knowsley.gov.uk for more information or to book a place.
Looking for something to keep your young artists busy?
At Kirkby Gallery, they have two art courses on offer for young people under 18 years of age:
Their Little BIG Art club is a fabulous opportunity for young people aged 7-12 to try new and exciting techniques, have fun and make new friends. Central to the course is gaining confidence in drawing and learning new ways of further developing their creativity.
They also now run the Young Makers Group, designed for young people aged 13 -17 who wish to develop their practical art skills further and their knowledge of artists past and present.
Both courses are led by professional artists and run 10.30am till 12.30pm. It costs just £75 for the 10 weeks and all art materials are included in the course price. Booking is essential as places are limited. Contact galleries@knowsley.gov.uk for further information.
This new Shared Reading group offers a welcoming, inclusive and non-judgmental space where people can connect and share experiences using stories and poems. There is no pressure to talk or read aloud. It is led by a volunteer who has trained as a ‘Reader
Leader’ with national charity The Reader based at The Mansion House in Liverpool’s Calderstones Park. Anyone interested in joining is invited to drop into the library.
Shared Reading has been shown to improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and help people find new meaning in their lives, according to the charity’s research and annual feedback from group members and volunteers.
The charity also works with children, families, adults in community spaces, people in dementia care homes, people with physical and mental health conditions, those coping with or recovering from addiction and people in the criminal justice system.