What's On In Liverpool #6
A collection of intimate summer highlights in Liverpool. Plus theatre, embroidery, immersive storytelling, outdoor classics and punk memoirs.
High Summer. Theatre seasons are coming to an end; actors, musicians and, well, event people are heading outdoors. Fittingly we’ve got a cornucopia of al fresco performance, let’s just hope the weather holds up, eh? Elsewhere an intimate festival of voices and experiences unfurls across Liverpool in July as the Arabic Arts Festival returns. Oh, and some old-school punk recollections, a bee parade and architecture. Liverpool, as ever, is nothing if not eclectic.
Outdoors: Twelfth Night
Chaos blooms in Twelfth Night in Calderstones Park. Award-winning touring theatre company The Lord Chamberlain’s Men return with this production as the Bard first envisioned it – in the open air, with an all-male cast and Elizabethan-era costumes, music and dance. It’s Shakespeare set among birdsong and grass in the epic Caldies Mansion outdoor art-deco theatre. BYO deckchairs; food and drink available.
Twelfth Night
Calderstones Park
10 July, 7pm
Book here
Also at Knowsley Hall 9 July, book here
As You Like It
Beneath Prescot’s evening sky, this nimble production of As You Like It turns Arden into a festival of refuge and romance. Rosalind, disguised as Ganymede, shepherds laughter, identity‑swaps, and pastoral carrying-on in a 90‑minute romp in the Doddy Performance Garden where courtly exile gives way to communal joy.
As You Like It
Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden, Shakespeare North
16 July, 6.30pm
Book here
Outdoor Events - SAVE at 50
SAVE Britain's Heritage celebrates its 50th with an outdoor walking tour through Liverpool’s architectural icons on July 19. Led by Jonathan Brown, the route takes in Lime Street Station, St George’s Hall, the Philharmonic Pub and the Granby Winter Garden – exploring conservation triumphs, threats and the pulse of urban renewal in situ.
SAVE at 50
Meet Lime Street Station
19 July, 11.30am
Book here
See also: Liverpool’s streets come alive as Queen Beeatrice, her bees, and award-winning dance troupe Movema lead a buzzing, family-friendly insect parade from the museum – costumes, waggles, and pollinator joy included. From World Museum on 19 July. More here
Talks - Budgie Q&A: The Absence, Memoirs of a Banshee Drummer
St Helens’ own Peter “Budgie” Clarke strolls through the punk‑pop underground, recalling the visceral electricity of Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Slits. Raw and articulate, he unpacks the chaotic camaraderie of that scene – and the quiet absences that followed. Less a talk, perhaps, than a confessional.
Budgie Q&A: The Absence
OH ME OH MY
14 July, 7 pm
Book here
See also: Icy Sedgwick explores how 19th-century penny dreadfuls – especially relating to Liverpool’s own spectral Spring-Heeled Jack, alongside Sweeney Todd and Varney the Vampire – shaped folklore, blurring fact and fiction to fuel enduring cultural myths. Mersyside Skeptics host at The Casa More here
See also: At the Museum of Liverpool, a panel of horticultural experts unearth the city’s rich botanical legacy – from its 19th-century Botanic Garden to today’s living collections and the newly-formed Liverpool Botanical Trust’s bold vision. More here
See also: Liverpool’s risk‑embracing crowd gathers at Leaf for another F-up night. Five candid souls recount their boldest blunders – don’t expect redemption arcs, just raw, raucous revelation. More here
Theatre: Penguin
A wry yet tender solo portrait, Penguin transforms personal pilgrimage – Syria to Jordan to, um Gateshead – into a paean of self‑acceptance. Playfully balancing moonlit fantasy and the dust of exile, he invites us to rediscover wonder in everyday survival.
Penguin
Unity Theatre
11 July, 7:30 pm
Book here
A Grain Of Sand
A lone child’s tale of loss and folklore amidst Gaza’s rupture. With simple staging at Unity Theatre, the monologue becomes allegory: grief, resilience, and the innocence needed to imagine another life. A tiny epic, striking in its honesty.
A Grain of Sand
Unity Theatre
18 July, 7:30 pm–9:30 pm.
Book here
Craft: Palestinian Tatreez Workshop
Palestinian Tatreez stitching becomes quiet revolution: threads cross centuries as participants embroider traditional motifs, each stitch a gesture of resilience against erasure. In Bluecoat’s calm midday hush, the workshop offers connective intimacy – a tactile meditation on heritage and solidarity.
Palestinian Tatreez Workshop
Bluecoat
13 July, 11 am–1 pm.
Book here
Music - Thalia’s Grace
In the hidden, summer-awakened Kaz Garden, Liverpool’s all‑female Thalia’s Grace channels grunge‑tinged shoegaze, raw riffs and dreamy vocals. Expect a gently fierce, intimate summer evening of alternative resonance from your girlfriend's favourite band.
Thalia’s Grace
Kazimier Garden
11 July, 7.30pm
Book here
Comedy - Black Cabaret Show
The Black Cabaret returns – raucous, irreverent, and brilliantly unfiltered. Hosted by Che B, it stars BAFTA-winning headliner Michael Odewale, rising comic Blank Peng, music, Black Bingo, oh, and a token white act.
Alternative Black Cabaret Show
Royal Court Studio
19 July, 7.30pm
Book here
Community - Florrie’s Fun Day
At The Florrie’s free community fun day, families can enjoy bouncy castles, face painting, live music, poetry, food and a licensed bar. Meanwhile, Tom Calderbank’s Magical History Tour unearths Liverpool’s hidden stories on a vibrant open-top bus ride – celebrating heritage, laughter, and local spirit in L8’s heart.
The Florrie's Magical History Tour
The Florrie
19 July, 3pm
Book here