On the evening of Friday 10th February, the Criterion Theatre in London will play host to an evening of Twisted Love – an anti-Valentine’s collection of unlikely love stories. Niamh Cusack will read Angela Carter’s The Courtship of Mr Lyon and Tom Hiddleston – star of Stephen Spielberg’s blockbusting take on War Horse – will be reading the erotic Tennessee Williams short story The Kingdom of Heaven.

The Reader Organisation is delighted to once more be partnering the event alongside the Criterion and Vintage Classics, bringing the brilliant tradition of bedtime stories to the heartland of London theatre and sharing with the audience the sensation of reading aloud. So it’s fair to say we’re very much looking forward to the evening’s distinctly different take on the Valentine’s theme – as is one of the evening’s star guests, Tom Hiddleston:

The prospect of standing on that beautiful stage and reading well-written stories aloud, in particular, is one that excites me. And given that everything that night will be geared at couples on dates, an evening of twisted love sounds like the right antidote.

Stories Before Bedtime TWO: Twisted Love
Friday 10th February, 10.30pm
Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, London, W1V 9LB

Tickets: £12.50 (£10 GIR member/concessions available in person the Criterion Box Office)

Book your tickets online or call 0844 8471778.

Forget flowers and chocolates – a night of reading is a considerably better and much longer lasting gift for your loved one to enjoy.

Each evening will feature three classic stories that revolve around a central theme, read by well-known actors and writers. As well as reminding people of the power and joy of storytelling aloud, the selection of readings are designed to discover or rediscover classic tales.

The first scheduled Stories Before Bedtime is a ghost-themed ‘Halloween’ special on Friday 28^th October 2011, featuring Tim McInnerny reading M R James’ Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad and Mark Gatiss, reading E F Benson’s ‘In The Tube’.

The series is hosted by the Criterion Theatre, in association with The Reader Organisation and Vintage Classics (which hold the top 20^th century classics list in the UK).

Stories Before Bedtime ONE: A Halloween special of ghost stories
Friday 28th October, 10.30 pm
Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, London, W1V 9LB

Get dressed up in your favourite Halloween outfit, order a Devil’s handshake cocktail from the bar, and bed down for some ghoulish storytelling treats.

Featuring Mark Gatiss (League of Gentlemen) reading E.F.Benson and Tim McInnerny (Notting Hill, Blackadder) reading M R James.

Tickets: £12.50 (£10 GIR member/concession available in person from the Criterion box office)

Book your tickets online or call 0844 8471778

Dressing up strongly encouraged.

On 30^th and 31^st July an ambitious and extraordinary performance about Climate Change is coming to Liverpool.

Combining dramatic film and visuals with breathtaking aerial performance from Liverpool’s own Wired Aerial Theatre, ‘As The World Tipped’ confronts one of the most pressing issues for people and the planet with spectacle, humour and emotion. Suspended above the audience in the night sky, the performers struggle to control their increasingly precarious world as they do battle with the effects of environmental catastrophe.

The Stage Online described it as:

an epic and stunningly realised portrait of the full-scale disaster we may be facing

Commissioned by Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Primary Care Trust as part of the Decade of Health and Wellbeing ‘As The World Tipped’ is written and directed by international director Nigel Jamieson, best known in Liverpool for creating the opening of Liverpool European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The free show takes place at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st July. The Cathedral will be open to explore all day with activity from 7pm leading up to the main performance at 10pm – this will be outdoors so no tickets are needed, just make sure you don’t miss what promises to be a thrilling performance!

Saturday 16th July, 2 pm

Tickets: £5

An outdoor adaptation of Dickens’ classic, Great Expectations, brings the first Maghull Arts Festival to a close. This family friendly production by Quantum Theatre Company will take place in the grounds of Maghull High School in an outdoor marquee on Saturday 16th July at 2pm. Refreshments are available throughout.

Great Expectations is the thirteenth of Charles Dickens’ novels and tells the tale of Pip, an orphan, who is brought up by his abusive sister and her husband, but who eagerly abandons his humble beginnings to begin a new life as a gentleman. From the misty marshes to the dusty, dirty streets of London, Quantum Theatre bring you a brand new adaptation of Dickens’ most enduringly popular and atmospheric novel which promises high comedy and dark drama as we follow Pip’s journey through adversity to discover the true nature of his ‘great expectations’.

Emma Lloyd, Sefton Arts & Cultural Services Marketing & Programme Manager, says:

“I can think of no better way to end a fabulous three weeks of arts and cultural activity than having a truly classic novel come to life outdoors. Not even the British Summer can spoil this event, as the marquee will keep us dry in all weather!”

All tickets for Great Expectations are £5 and are available by calling 0151 928 1919 / 01704 540011 by visiting www.seftonarts.co.uk and booking online or at Maghull High School reception (during school hours).

Our Read author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce will be heading up the bill of performers on the night, joined by local poets Eleanor Rees and Paul Farley. Also appearing are playwrights Lizzie Nunnery (Intemperance, Unprotected, Anthology) and Laurence Wilson (Urban Legend, Lost Monsters, Tiny Volcanoes), songwriter Martin Heslop, Lindsay Rodden (The Almond Tree),  percussionist Vidar Norheim, writer Jeff Young (Quadrophenia the Musical), film-makers Sam Meech and Tim Brunsden, amongst many more.

Radical City is part of Liverpool City Of Radicals, a year long programme of events, exhibitions and debates marking a series of landmark anniversaries for radicalism in the city in 2011. It is also part of the Working Class Life and Music Festival, the biggest celebration of working class culture in the world, as well as the Everyman and Playhouse’s City of Radicals week.

So if you’re looking for something radically different to do this Easter weekend and an enriching creative experience crammed with the cream of the local cultural crop sounds like it would fit the bill, then why not head along? Tickets cost £12 (£10 concessions) and are available from the Everyman box office – in person or on 0151 709 4776 – or from the Everyman Playhouse website.

Endz is a community focused piece with The Everyman and Playhouse spending two years gathering opinions and experiences from various community members. These real life experiences are then retold by the actors within the production. Issues confronted in Endz include gun and knife crime, drugs, gang life, violence and change, all dealt with a sense of humour and honesty.

The opinions and experiences on which Endz is based come from a broad cross-section of society – young people, ex-gang members and drug dealers, police, mothers, youth workers and residents. The true life which the production revolves around leads to a lively entertaining story, and should temporarily transform Liverpool’s community centres into vibrant dramatic locations possibly showcasing the experiences of neighbours of some members of the audience.

The first leg of the tour takes place at 7:30pm on 19 April at Knotty Ash Youth Centre and will be performed on a further twelve dates, finishing at Fazakerley High School on 13 May. Tickets cost £3.

It is great to see another organisation using the arts as a force for good, as Endz reaches communities that may have limited exposure to theatre, potentially inspiring audience members to become more engaged in the arts in Liverpool whilst challenging stereotypes and offering uplifting messages.

Similarities could be drawn to our own Get Into Reading programme which brings people from different backgrounds within communities together, developing members’ interpersonal skills and enhancing their cultural experiences; once readers have been exposed to new and exciting literature they have gone on to visit more artistic and cultural events. Hopefully Endz can have a similar impact.

What could possibly go wrong?

The Wedding is not an opera as we think of it, but a modern musical about a Scouse wedding, where all the audience are invited as guests. The two families are colliding, and some have secret bombshells waiting to drop. There is even a table reserved for arguments – it’s called the Top Table. Fasten your seat belts – it’s a roller coaster journey. And you’re invited to join in the celebration –every ticket includes a free meal and your first drink!

Inspired by real-life stories drawn from the experiences of former workers at Price’s Candle Factory, Bromborough, The Wedding is a brand new show produced by the Aspire Trust in association with the Royal Court Theatre and Wirral CVS and scripted and directed by Parrabbola – who make community plays all over the world. The Wedding is performed by a community cast drawn from all over the Wirral and from further afield.

Dates: 1st – 5th of March, 2011
Times: 7:30 pm and 5th March 2:00 pm
Venue: Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, Bebington
Tickets: £15 / person – includes a meal and a drink! (Discount: Family: (4 people) £50 or Table: (10 people) £100)

For further information and for ticket bookings contact Clare at Aspire: cbentley.aspire@btconnect.com, or call the Aspire Trust on 0151 639 9231

Tales of the Country tells the story of Brian Viner – the man who wrote  the fantastic article about GIR in The Independent last year – and his family as they move from a terrace in north London to a rambling grange in rural Herefordshire.

Based on the book of the same name, and inspired by Brian’s weekly dispatches from the country in The Independent, this is a chronicle of hilarious incidents and compelling characters.

Adapted for Pentabus Theatre, Tales of the Country is a beguiling look at the pleasures and pitfalls that await a family from the city chasing a rural idyll.

The play is currently on tour, visiting Cheshire in March. Dates, times and venues are as follows: Barbour Institute, Tattenhall (01829 771442) on Thursday 3rd March, Gawsworth Village Hall (01260- 223352) on Friday 4th, and Plumley Village Hall (01565 722259) on Saturday 5th. Give them a call and get your tickets now!

Click here for the full list of venues.

GIR project worker Caitlin Clough is taking part in a version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a small local theatre group this weekend.

The performance takes place at Netherly Community Theatre, Childwall Valley Road, L27 3YA (on the number 79 bus route) this Saturday 27th at 7.30pm, and Sunday 28th at 3.00pm and 7.30pm.

You can buy tickets here, or on the door.

Click here for more information.