Spring/Summer Season of public performances
Thursday 01 May 2025
Our biggest-ever festival of new music, two innovative dramas, a short film festival, a devised dance show and a swinging night of big band music - welcome to LIPA’s Spring/Summer Season.
It gets underway with 2ube Xtra, a 15-day music festival featuring 60 artists. That’s followed by two plays, Alice Birch’s experimental and provocative Blank and Flesh: Code, a collaboration with leading devising company Filter Theatre. A Heart of Fire is a multi-genre dance show inspired by the children’s book Skellig. Four narratively linked, sci-fi inspired movies get their premiere at One Night, Four Films, and finally the LIPA Big Band and Singers perform a celebration of jazz and swing classics.
The season is presented by our Acting, Dance, Costume, Filmmaking, Music, Management, Sound Technology, Theatre & Performance Design and Theatre & Production Technology students. They, in collaboration with industry practitioners, deliver every aspect of our shows. It provides them with the opportunity to use and extend their skills in a real-world setting - and you the chance to enjoy what the next generation of storytellers and creatives has to offer.
Tickets are now on sale.
2ube Xtra
6-23 May
2ube Xtra is a 15-day celebration of new music featuring showcase performances by LIPA Music students.
With 60 local, national and international acts playing material from a variety of genres, 2ube Xtra is a key event in Liverpool’s musical calendar for anyone who wants to see the latest emerging artists.
Blank
15-17 May
Provocative and experimental, Blank is a compelling portrayal of the criminal justice system and its impact on women and children.
Told through a series of what appear to be unrelated scenes - threads and themes emerge as the sharp dialogue and compelling characters pull us into a world of unravelling assumptions.
Alice Birch wrote 100 scenes for Blank from which the director and cast choose a selection to create a unique narrative and production.
Performed by MA Acting students
One Night, Four Films
21 May
A Gilded Helix, Spirit Box, C.R.E.A.M and Pepper’s Ghost received their premieres in this celebratory short film festival.
Existing in the same story world, the films blend elements of sci-fi, mockumentary, dystopia and horror to create a unique hour-long viewing experience.
Four original stories written for third year BA (Hons) Acting (Screen & Digital) students.
Age ratings/classifications to be confirmed. Tickets available in mid-May
LIPA Big Band and Singers
29 May
After their hugely successful Christmas Concert, The LIPA Big Band and Singers return to the Philharmonic - this time to the more intimate Music Room - for a celebration of jazz and swing classics.
Over 20 iconic songs from across the ages including: Frank Sinatra’s New York New York, Ella Fitzgerald’s Black Coffee, Michael Bublé’s Sway, Paul Anka’s Eye of the Tiger and jazz from Louis Jordan, and Quincy Jones.
Celebrate the 149th day of the year and National Biscuit Day in style and join some of the UK’s brightest musicians and singers for an unforgettable night of big band bangers and cool crooning.
Don’t miss it – it’ll be a hoot!
Tickets available from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall box office
Flesh:Code
5-7 June
Liverpool is hosting an international AI conference. Scientists, tech pioneers and investors are busy shaping the future. But what about everyone else? The techies, the press, the workers, the students, the AI-skeptics? The departed and the unborn? When do they get their say?
Flesh:Code is a bold, immersive exploration of where the human body meets artificial intelligence. Through live performance and evocative sound design, this dynamic production blurs the boundaries between the organic and the digital, challenging ideas of identity, autonomy and intimacy.
Performed and devised by second-year Acting students.
A Heart of Fire
6-7 June
A child’s world is turned upside down. Already unsettled by domestic upheaval, they are confronted with news that their baby sister is dangerously ill.
Exploring themes of fear, friendship, magic and hope, A Heart of Fire is a devised dance show featuring a variety of different genres.
Inspired by David Almond’s book Skellig, it is a powerful evocation of the power of innocence and imagination.
Performed by second-year Dance students
