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Philip Key

THEATRE REVIEW: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Southport Arts Centre

EASTER pantomime is fast becoming a Merseyside tradition and this is the second year that producer Lee Kelly had staged one at the Southport Arts Centre. Read

Home havoc makes for a quirky tale

WHEN a strange creature enters an Edwardian home it creates havoc. That is the strange story behind one of this season’s stranger theatrical offerings. Read

Dancing in the Streets at the Liverpool Empire

THEATRE REVIEW: Dancing in the Streets, Liverpool Empire Theatre

PHILIP Key rediscovers some classic Motown pop of the 60s and 70s Read

Mystery plays star Mary not mother of God but quite the opposite

“I AM the Antichrist!” sang the Sex Pistols in Anarchy in the UK. They weren’t, but Mary Lewery can honestly claim that she is. Read

Suzanne Collins in a scene from the play Brick up the Mersey Tunnels at the Royal Court theatre, Liverpool

THEATRE REVIEW: Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, Royal Court Theatre

RARELY has a play developed such an affinity with its audience as Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels. Read

Birkenhead Priory

Birkenhead Priory is another world for film director

THE latest film by Wirral film-maker James Chalmers is to have its world premiere at the Wirral Museum. Read

The theatre ship Fitzcarraldo, berthed at Liverpool's Canning Dock

Cabaret but not as we know it

IT IS a cabaret on board a ship but not a cabaret or a ship as you may know it. This ship is not cruising the Med and the cabaret does not feature a singer performing cabaret-style numbers. Read

Dancing in the Streets at the Liverpool Empire

MUSIC: Motown magic is alive and kicking

Philip Key talks to the man who is bringing the American legend to the Liverpool stage Read

Image from the action film, 10,000 BC

Film Review: 10,000 BC


NO-ONE really knows what it was like to be alive in 10,000 BC, apart from the archaeological evidence. But it is a fair bet that it was nothing like the goings-on in this film. Read

Jennifer Ellison, Andy Serkis and Reece Shearsmith in the horror film comedy, The Cottage

Film Review: The Cottage


JUST why do we get so many horror films these days? I suspect that it’s because they are quick and easy to make and - above all - quite cheap. Read

Decadance Vs The Firebird at the Liverpool Playhouse

DANCE REVIEW: Decadance Vs The Firebird, Liverpool Playhouse

STRAVINSKY and hip-hop dance may seem strange bed-fellows, but it was a meeting which worked remarkably well for the New York-based dance company Decadance at the Playhouse last night. Read

Stage Designer Billy Meall on stage at the Royal Court theatre, Liverpool

Philip Key talks to one of Liverpool’s top stage designers

AS A teenager straight out of school, young Billy Meall arrived at the stage door of Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre clutching his portfolio of art work and with dreams of becoming a theatre designer. Read

Artist Elspeth Hamilton with her exhibition at View 2 gallery, Mathew street

ART EXHIBITION: Elspeth Hamilton, View Two Gallery, Liverpool

CROSBY-BORN artist Elspeth Hamilton has been celebrating her 65th birthday with her first Liverpool exhibition. Read

Arts and Entertainment

Morecambe Bay Cocklers' tragedy remembered in music and drama

THE Morecambe Bay tragedy of 2004 is to be commemorated in a new drama staged on a large scale in Liverpool. Read

Haphazard journey to choreography

THE Indian-born choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh admits she was a late starter in the dance world. “My route was unorthodox,” she says. Read

Brendan O'Carroll in his stage persona of Mrs Brown

THEATRE REVIEW: For the Love of Mrs Brown, Liverpool Empire Theatre

IRISH pensioner Mrs Brown was back in town last night, more outrageous, more sweary and as daft as ever. And she had the kind of success of which other performers dream. Read

MUSIC: Writer’s new Mersey sound - with a Viennese accent

A NEW Liverpool musical has a rather unusual musical source for its inspiration, no less than Franz Schubert. Read

ART: Painting unveiled at Easter service

THE final painting in a series first shown in 2000 will be unveiled at Liverpool Cathedral on Easter Sunday. Read

Key Liverpool Arts events

MUSIC: One of the world’s great chamber groups, The Borodin String Quartet, play in these rather delightful surroundings. Read

Tim Hibberd, Ann Farrar and David Allison of the theatre company Rejects Revenge

Last performance in city for cash crisis theatre group

"IT WILL be an emotional night,” says Anna Farrar, of her theatre company’s visit to Liverpool’s Unity Theatre next Friday. Read

Author Profile

Arts Editor Philip Key spends his week attending and reporting on the numerous live arts events in Liverpool. Plays the banjo ukulele, collects classic true crime books and performs (badly) magic tricks. Tel: 0151 472 2499

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