New season of public shows: Children of the Revolution and Christmas Concert
Monday 30 September 2024
Musical theatre, a multi-media production, thematically linked dramas and the much-loved Christmas concert are all part of LIPA’s exciting new season of public performances.
Entitled Children of the Revolution, our autumn/winter season includes four dramas set in the post-industrial-revolution era: The Gift, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Sweet Science of Bruising and Scuttlers. In these shows, Victorian sensibilities are combined with modern storytelling to shine a light on tales that still resonate and shock. The season also includes two shows looking at issues arising from the more recent digital revolution: The Mis-Informed – created with Turntable Theatre - and The Children of the Revolution – a musical revue.
The season will also feature the enormously popular, LIPA Christmas Concert. Last year it celebrated its 20th anniversary with an event at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, bringing an audience of 1,500 people together to enjoy the festive musical celebration. We return to ‘The Phil’ again this year and are expecting another sell-out.
The season is presented by our Acting, Dance, Filmmaking, Music, Management, Sound Technology, Theatre & Performance Design and Theatre & Production Technology students, who will be collaborating with some of the industry’s brightest producers, directors and creatives.
LIPA’s Principal and CEO Sean McNamara says: “I’m excited by such an eclectic collection of productions that will give audiences a chance to experience the diverse skills and professional standards of our public productions.
“Every aspect of the production and creative process is delivered by our students. As a simulation of professional practice within a variety of creative environments the performances enable them to test and extend their skills. It also gives the public an opportunity to witness the emergence and development of a new generation of storytellers and creative artists.”
Tickets for LIPA’s autumn/winter season are now on sale. The season starts with The Gift and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall on Tuesday 19 November. Tickets for The Mis-Informed will be released in mid October.
The Gift
19-23 November
1862, Brighton. Sarah Bonetta Davies - a 19th century Yoruba princess, orphaned, enslaved, adopted by Queen Victoria and raised by the palace - prepares to return to Africa.
2024, rural Cheshire. Sarah - a successful middle-class black woman - deals with a visit from her overbearing, blinkered neighbours.
Timelines crash, sparks fly - and both Sarahs find themselves sitting down to tea with Queen Victoria.
An outrageous and biting drawing room farce about forgotten histories, cultural appropriation and the continuing impact of imperialism.
Performed by third-year Acting students.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
19-23 November
The arrival of a new tenant, a young woman with a child – but, scandalously, no husband - enthralls and appalls the locals.
Helen has a secret, one she must keep for the sake of her son. But as a friendship threatens to turn to romance, she knows it’s time to face the past.
Adapted from Anne Brontë’s 1848 novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’s portrayal of privilege, patriarchy and a woman’s fight for independence remains compellingly contemporary.
Performed by third-year Acting students.
The Mis-Informed
Created in collaboration with Turntable Theatre
28-30 November
What does it mean to live in a ‘post truth’ world, where fake news and misinformation are used to polarise opinions and create division?
The Mis-Informed melds research and personal experience to create a multimedia, immersive and non-linear response to life in a society where everything isn’t what it seems.
Created in collaboration with Liverpool-based creatives, Turntable Theatre, who were behind 2022’s Made of Stars, an immersive sharing of stories from 40 refugees.
Performed by third-year Acting (Screen & Digital) students.
Bookings open mid-October
Children of the Revolution: A musical theatre revue
5-7 December
A society of rapid technological advancement where the lines between the physical, digital and biological worlds are blurred. Welcome to the fourth industrial revolution.
A devised musical theatre revue, Children of the Revolution highlights the issues of life in the 21st century while celebrating humanity’s ability to overcome adversity.
This is a great opportunity to catch our final year Dance students before they enter the profession in a thought-provoking production that showcases their singing, acting and dance skills.
Performed by third-year Dance students.
LIPA Christmas Concert
7 December
Take a break from the glorious chaos of Christmas preparations to enjoy an evening of festive classics, carols and seasonal melodies from across the ages. Performed by students from LIPA, this annual feel-good, family concert features the LIPA Big Band, strings, choirs, vocalists, and dancers in a wonderful evening of yule-tide light entertainment.
The Sweet Science of Bruising
10-14 December
A journey into London’s underbelly and the world of Victorian women’s boxing.
Set against a backdrop of the city’s rowdiest pubs and theatres we follow four contrasting but conflicted women as they find freedom in the fight to become Lady Boxing Champion of the World.
Based on research into 19th century women’s boxing, The Sweet Science of Bruising is a full-blooded tale of passion, politics and the pursuit of inner peace.
Performed by third-year Acting students.
Scuttlers
10-14 December
Fifty-thousand people are crammed into Ancoats to power the industrial revolution.
Treated as just cogs in the industrial process, workers turn to the streets to make their mark. Before long, the first industrial suburb becomes home to the first urban gangs.
Inspired by media coverage of 2011’s Manchester riots and how it echoed newspaper reports from the 1880s, Scuttlers is a poetic but brutal portrayal of how violence has plagued us for centuries.
Performed by third-year Acting students.
