Thursday, March 28

Tag: John Maguire

The Signalman – Metal Culture, Liverpool
North West

The Signalman – Metal Culture, Liverpool

From ArtsGroupie, the producers of Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse and A Portrait of William Roscoe, comes a slice of winter terror with a new adaptation from David Griffiths, who also directs, of the much-loved Charles Dickens supernatural classic, The Signalman. Following the arrival of a somewhat lost and larger than life visitor (John Maguire) at a remote signal box on a dark winter night, the solitary railway signalman (Zoran Blackie) tells him of a spectre that has been haunting him with each appearance preceding a tragic event on the railway on which the signalman works, a deep cutting near a tunnel entrance on a lonely stretch of the railway line where he controls the movement of the passing trains and is alerted to danger by his fellow signalmen via the telegraph and alarms. ...
A Portrait of William Roscoe – The Athenaeum
North West

A Portrait of William Roscoe – The Athenaeum

The latest production from ArtsGroupie CIC, penned and performed by John Maguire, celebrates William Roscoe, a renowned writer and one of England’s first abolitionists. Using an array of theatrical techniques including puppetry, physicality and traditional storytelling, Roscoe is literally taken out of his portrait and brought to life in the very building he helped to found over two hundred years ago. Born in 1755, as the son of an innkeeper Roscoe was of humble stock but with the benefit of education, he was to become a man of learning, able to explore his interests and advocate for a number of causes close to his heart including establishing the original Liverpool Botanic Garden in 1802. A social activist throughout his life, Roscoe became an MP in Liverpool where, in spite of much l...
Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse – Shakespeare North Playhouse
North West

Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Kitty Wilkinson is the only female statue in Liverpool’s St George’s Hall, and she is brought to life by Samantha Alton to take us back to 1830’s Liverpool in a captivating one-woman show that tells an against all odds story of how a working-class Irish migrant girl, whose life was laden with poverty, loss, and hardship, fought the cholera epidemic and became a community champion. Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden provides the perfect backdrop for this intricate tale from celebrated local writer John Maguire which, told with humour and kindness, brings Kitty’s story centre stage under the direction of Margaret Connell as we are immersed in the world of a true heroine of the North. White sheets draping the open set provide the perfect backdrop for the narr...
The Liver Bird – Shakespeare North Playhouse
North West

The Liver Bird – Shakespeare North Playhouse

What if the Liver Bird really did exist? Charlie J (Tom Browning) has heard all about Liverpool’s famous Birds from his Grandma’s (Samantha Alton) stories but are they real? Has anybody seen one fly? When things start to get difficult at school and just when he needs it most, Charlie is visited by a very special creature… Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden is well and truly brought alive by this enchanting modern-day fairy-tale from writer John Maguire, adapted here for stage by Jessica Mae Buxton of The Bookworm Players and directed by Margaret Connell. Using the simplest of sets, our two talented actors bring all of their skills to the fore through mesmerising performances with mime and puppetry added in for good measure. There is a high level of interac...
ArtsGroupie to play brand new Shakespeare North Playhouse
NEWS

ArtsGroupie to play brand new Shakespeare North Playhouse

Local Northern heritage and theatre CIC, Artsgroupie play the Sir Ken Dodd Performance Gardens July 23rd and 24th at the new Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot. “We are ecstatic to see two of our productions come alive in this exciting new theatre space. The Liver Bird and Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse celebrate two Iconic Northern favourites. Both shows champion Northern history and community spirit. Audiences are encouraged to embrace their imaginations and enjoy the classic oral tradition of storytelling.” John Maguire, Creative Director THE LIVER BIRD – a fun interactive performance for all the family What if the Liver Birds really did exist? Charlie J has heard all about Liverpool’s famous Birds from his Grandma’s stories but are they real? Has anybody seen one fly? When t...
1984 –Thingwall Community Centre
North West

1984 –Thingwall Community Centre

George Orwell’s dystopian novel, originally published in 1949, is a cautionary tale, drawing on the then recent insights into Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany, examining the role of truth and facts within politics and the way in which they are manipulated. This dramatisation is constructed almost entirely from dialogue taken from the original novel. Winston Smith (Zoran Blackie) is in prison, found guilty of Thoughtcrimes against Big Brother. As part of his reconstruction, led by O’Brien (John Maguire), he must re-enact key moments from his past life, with the help of other thought criminals playing key characters including re-enacted versions of himself (John Reynolds) and O’Brien (Kate Mulvihill) as well as Parsons (Michael Silverman) and Charrington (Vicki Griffiths), so that every...
Big Brother Is Watching You
NEWS

Big Brother Is Watching You

Liverpool community theatre company, Thingwall Players, returns following a sold-out panto with an adaption of the science fiction classic Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell, directed by Gateacre based director and playwright David Griffiths. The play will be staged at Thingwall Community Centre in Wavertree, 23rd to 25th June at 7:30pm. Tickets are £10 (£7 Concessions) and available from www.trybooking.co.uk/bpcr   Winston Smith is in prison, found guilty of Thoughtcrimes against Big Brother. As part of his reconstruction, he must re-enact key moments from his past life, with the help of other thought criminals, so that everyone can learn from his mistakes. Including his biggest mistake of all: falling in love with Julia. George Orwell's classic dystopia Nineteen Eighty Fou...