Lights Up on Liverpool shines spotlight on city theatres

A new exhibition in Liverpool’s Central Library aims to explore the city’s rich theatre scene and highlight working-class contributions to theatre.

Lights Up on Liverpool is being staged in the Hornby Library between now and March.

The exhibition, which celebrates Liverpool’s 250-year theatre history including its radical and experimental approaches to theatre-making, includes artefacts and articles about venues which currently exist - including the Everyman, Playhouse, Unity, Royal Court and Empire - and also those which have closed or are long gone such as the Epstein Theatre, Prince of Wales in Clayton Square and the Theatre Royal which stood in Williamson Square.

It has been created by ArtsGroupie CIC in association with Liverpool Libraries and with the support of the Arts Council.

ArtsGroupie CIC a grassroots Liverpool-based arts and heritage company which works through community workshops and heritage walking tours as well as on a national stage with touring theatre productions, music releases, events and academic research.

It says the exhibition is a response to the decreasing number of working-class professionals in the performing arts. Research carried out this year by mentoring charity and support network Arts Emergency suggests fewer than 1 in 10 of all arts workers today come from working-class backgrounds.

Above: A gallery of images from the exhibition including the 19th Century cardboard 'Pollock's Regency Theatre'

During the summer, ArtsGroupie held drama workshops for youngsters aged eight to 13 in a tie-in with the Arts Council-funded Emerging Voices project. They initiative also included play reading sessions at Central Library and free theatre heritage walking tours, all aimed at communities in what have been highlighted as areas of high deprivation across the city region.

The CIC also hopes to expand the work around this new exhibition by applying for National Lottery Heritage funding.

ArtsGroupie co-director Mikey Garland says: “If the gatekeeping of the arts is not swiftly addressed, the UK’s arts scene is at risk of rapid stagnation. Artistic innovation cannot thrive when it is only represented by those who look the same, come from the same background and think the same way.

“Working-class life is depicted in film, television, and theatre all the time, but is told by people who have never lived it. They want our stories, but won’t let us be the ones to tell them.”

Lights Up on Liverpool is at the Hornby Library within Liverpool Central Library until March.