THEATRE
IT WAS a hit on the West End and Broadway – now Patrick Barlow’s comedy thriller, The 39 Steps, is wowing audiences here in Liverpool. It’s all derring-do, handsome heroes and sinister secrets in a show that gets through all the scenes in Hitchcock’s 1935 film in just 90 minutes, with four actors playing 139 different roles.
LIVERPOOL Playhouse, until January 16, tickets £9.50-£20, 0151 709 4776.
THE Unity continues its 31-year tradition of telling classic stories in its own way with The Snow Queen, produced and directed by Patrick Dineen and performed by theatre group Ullaloom. There are plenty of funny moments, but darkness, too, as the cast weaves its magical tale with an imaginative set, wonderful costumes and plenty of enthusiasm.
THE Unity, until January 23, tickets £8 (£5 concs, £25 family ticket), 0151 709 4988.
RAISE a glass to a Scouse proud Christmas at the Royal Court where Fred Lawless, co writer of Slappers and Slapheads, debuts his festive tale, Merry Ding Dong. Billed as a story about rednoses, bluenoses and Christmas lights so bright they can be seen from space, it stars Jake Abraham of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fame.
THE Royal Court, until January 23, tickets £10 - £30, 0870 787 1866.
ONE for adult audiences, Terry Titter is back on stage with Terry Christmas Everybody, featuring his own brand of crude and rude festive cheer.
UNITY Theatre, tonight and December 16-19, tickets £9 (£7 concs), 0151 709 4988.
PRESTO Puppets presents Rumpelstiltskin and Puppet Parade at Ormskirk’s Rose Theatre, based on the classic Grimms fairytale and performed using the ancient Japanese art form of Bunraku puppetry.
ROSE Theatre, December 13, tickets £5, 01695 584480.
LIVERPOOL’S newest theatre, The Lantern, on Blundell Street, remains faithful to Charles Dickens’s original text and characters in A Christmas Carol. The production is made up of narrative, physical theatre, original music and mask work.
THE Lantern, until December 30, tickets £10 (£8.50 concs), www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk
FOLLOWING on from the success of last year’s sold-out tour of Silent Night, Theatre in the Quarter’s new touring production is based on Chester residents’ recollections of the festive season during World War II. Home for Christmas features a cast of four professional actors supported by a choir drawn from local communities.
VARIOUS venues, until December 20, details at www.theatreinthequarter.co.uk
