Unity Theatre Archives - North West End UK

Crab Tragedy: A Greek Myth told Sideways – Capstone Theatre

7Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Crab Tragedy: A Greek Myth told Sideways – Capstone Theatre

A special adaptation for families of their previous ‘Sirens, Men and Crabs’, Teatro Pomodoro’s Crab Tragedy is an hour-long surreal comedy that turns Ancient Greece upside down with this performance pre-empting a soon to follow national tour. A cast of three take on the fishy tale of Ulysses (Simone Tani) and the Siren (Carmen Arquelladas) but it’s all about the Crab (Miwa Nagai) thrown in for good measure with the cast taking on other characters to keep the story sailing on to its inevitable albeit unexpected conclusion. There’s a low-budget atmosphere reminiscent of The Play That Goes Wrong but here the money has been spent wisely with thoughtful and considered staging and expertly adapted props that aid and support strong performances: don’t be fooled, the creative skill and arti...

4Jul

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Choosh – Unity Theatre, Liverpool

People often say they’re scared of clowns. What they usually mean is they’re scared of a thick layer of white greasepaint covering a face with a red nose and overexaggerated red mouth sitting beneath a green wig. Julia Masli is not that type of clown and Choosh, part of Physical Fest 2023, is like nothing you’ve seen before, either in or out of a big top. Masli has worked with dramaturg, Annie Siddons, to create a surreal and unique homage to migration, hunger, desperation felt during a job search, and love at first sight, whether that is for another human or a hot dog. The set is simple: an orange suitcase sits on a floral platform, but of course the simplicity is not what it seems as the suitcase is crammed with Masli’s props and tricks. She bursts onto the stage with an inside ou...

10May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Maria – Unity Theatre

Commissioned by Unity Theatre and Culture Liverpool as part of the Eurovision Cultural Festival 2023, and supported by The Lowry in Salford, Yurii Radionov and Shorena Shoniia’s world-premiere production of Ulas Samchuk’s 1934 novel, follows the life of a young woman through the history of Ukrainian upheaval from the 1861 emancipation of serfs in the Russian Empire under the Tsars through to Holodomor: the communist-regime’s induced mass starvation in Soviet Ukraine in the early 1930’s. As well as marking the 90th anniversary of this horrific and unimaginable event, it is a timely parallel to the events that continue in Ukraine following the attempted invasion by Russia in 2022, echoed by its performance from a cast of seven Ukrainian refugee actors currently living in the UK as a resu...

5May

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

UKRLAND – Unity, Liverpool

An aesthetically outstanding performance sharing the untold stories of survival, strength and determination of ordinary women living in Ukraine. Their endurance in maintaining the idea of hope and love in the face of fear, death and hate is powerful and poignant in this mesmerising and incredible show. Following its acclaimed UK tour, this breath taking one woman show arrives in Liverpool as part of ‘A Place of Hope’, a two-week long free programme celebrating Ukraine with an incredible schedule of music, dance, movement and poetry. UKRLAND, a combination of ‘Ukraine’ and ‘land’, documents 8 stories written by Ukrainian playwrights and the unique perspectives from women experiencing the horrors of war first hand. Created by theatre makers Yurii Radionov and Sho...

Martha, Me and My Family – Unity Theatre

16Apr

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Martha, Me and My Family – Unity Theatre

A lot of us dream of becoming rock stars, and Saphena Aziz, half Guyanese, half Indian, a wholly talented and original writer and performer, gets the chance to become a Vandella. That story is the hook but what reels you in is her family’s history, coupled with her ability to bring to life the different characters, from Martha, to her friends, to her redoubtable, valiant mother. At so many points, the audience was nodding in recognition, whether the volatility of family relationships or the fakeness of a telephone voice. As for history - we do not know the half of it: slavery may have been abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833 - it was simply replaced by the insidious practice of indenture. But we all dream of escape, making it to a better life. Yet for too many people, it...

8Apr

By Andrew LeeNo Comments

North West

Barely Visible – Unity Theatre

Unity theatre continues to offer a space for important and thought-provoking theatre to the city of Liverpool, and Barely Visible is no different. The venue is unique because whenever you attend the theatre, you feel that the audience invariably are on the side of the performers, they are there to learn as much as to be entertained, and performer Rowena Gander certainly achieved this. Barely Visible is a piece of physical theatre, including movement and dance around primarily pole work. It highlights social attitudes towards the lesbian community and tackles the lasting effects of some of the key difficulties lesbian women face. Quite often the phrase thought-provoking is banded around, but it is safe to say that many members of the audience left Unity this evening having learned so...

5Apr

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

When All is Said – Unity Theatre

Fuel Theatre’s When All is Said is a collection of five short plays, that are written by Black Trans people, in their own voices and performed over the phone. Each play lasts approximately 30 minutes and tells a different story about what life is like, if you are considered ‘different’ from the people around you. I heard ‘Home is where your heart is lying on the open roads’ which was written by the Curator of the pieces, Travis Alabanza and was performed by Alexis Meshida. It is a taxi journey that journeys into the past and shapes us and the places we live/are from. Meshida was able to convey compassion, empathy, anger and was able to take you on the full journey through the telling of the story. The piece was well written and made you think about your own interactions and actions. Th...

29Mar

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

The Winston Machine – Unity Theatre

Brought to us by the critically acclaimed Kandinsky, we see a fusion of worlds decades different, but with mirrored tensions of grief, purpose and place. An awesome use of effects and controlled dialogue led to a crisp performance that I would watch again. The teamwork on stage was apparent and which led to an impressive and at times funny mode of storytelling. Unfortunately, I am unable to identify who exactly played on stage, but each performance lent itself to the quality of the work, with detail and precision used in each moment. The conviction and presence of the players was palpable. Their use of singing, swift accent changes and physical movement were again impressive. Together with an emotive soundtrack with modern flavours meant the audience were fully immersed in the performa...

10Mar

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Algebra – Unity Theatre

Amongst a packed-out audience, the debut performance of Algebra was well received, and I took the time to appreciate the platform for queer expression that Unity and Stuart Crowther provided. Being a play of two characters, the stage can become a big space. Yet, Stuart and Kieran Mason carried the story with a professionalism and flare, and the space felt perfectly filled. The connection of the actors, and the whole creative team for that matter, was noticeable. Due to the sensitive and intimate themes, it was evident that each artist supported each other in the space, allowing one another to explore the light and shade in the emotional rawness of the story. Sam McKay and Morven Currie chose an uncluttered, open space to frame the story. The plants brought a calmness to the...

27Jan

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Touch – Unity Theatre

Becky Downing has carefully crafted a beautiful script that brings four people’s stories together. As they were playing to a sold-out crowd, there was high expectation for the long-awaited verbatim piece, and it was received with great warmth. Verbatim, for those that are unaware, is a theatrical device where the real words of people are used in the script. In this instance, it was handled well, and the language of those people was owned and honoured by those on stage. Set over one day, this play tells a lot more about the connections between four neighbours, and for me the best moments were when everyone was still. At times it felt that the movement in and around the space was scripted and not spontaneous, which distracted from what was being said. Using a wonderfully diverse ca...