Liverpool Fringe Festival returns to city venues for 2023

Liverpool Fringe Festival returns this week with an 11-day programme of performances in spaces across the city centre and beyond.

The festival, now in its seventh year, runs from October 3-14 and at locations including Liverpool Arts Bar, the Casa, Valley Community Theatre and the Pilgrim.

Several shows will also be staged in The Studio Below, a new theatre space in Rodney Street.

The festival opens on October 3 with One Man Poe at Studio 3 at Liverpool Arts Bar in Hope Street. The Threedumb Theatre Production brings Edgar Allan Poe’s 1840s text to life on stage.

Lost in the Beat by Andrea Orton comes to the Hope Street Theatre on October 3 and 4. The second date is already sold out.

And Poetry on the Fringe returns for 2023 with a free event at the Pilgrim in Pilgrim Street on October 4.

The festival continues on October 5, with a Make It Write double bill - Dancing at 3am and Down the Alley - at the new The Studio Below at 39 Rodney Street, while Studio 3 at the Arts Bar hosts mind reader and psychological entertainer Mason King with his show Sleight of Hand,

Rachel Louise Clark’s California Dreamin’ is at the Pilgrim on October 6 and 13, with three 30-minute performances on each night.

Hannah Tudge and Stephanie Simpson perform Stacey and Rose at The Studio Below on October 6, 7, 11 and 14.

And Valley Community Theatre in Childwall Valley Road is the venue for A Sense of Place on October 6-7.

Alice Way’s Wet Dream with Jesus is at The Studio Below on October 7, and a musical adaptation of Bill Morrison’s O’Brien’s Dream is presented at St Francis Xavier Church on the same evening.

Above: The Studio Below in Rodney Street.

Smashed, a new work in progress by Helen Jeffrey, comes to The Studio Below on October 10, and a second work in progress, Molly Farquhar’s Hairy B*stard, is at the venue on October 11. It will be followed the same evening by I Am Purple by Luke Sookdeo.

October 12 sees The Rainbow Monologues Live at the Arts Bar’s Studio 3, and a Keyhole Productions double bill (Speed School and Grief in the Green House) at the Casa.

Meanwhile Make it Write returns to The Studio Below with comic drama The Cat Box by Karl Owens, and Eve Howlett and Stephen Porter’s ‘spoken word for grown ups’ Eve ‘n’ Stephen comes to the Excelsior in Dale Street.

Make it Write are at The Studio Below again on October 13 when it presents Uncle Toad by Jamie Cunliffe and I Hate Charlie Pickles by Ian Cragg, and Hope Street Theatre hosts Plays in the Key of Life on October 13-14.

Finally, on October 14 catch Julia Knight’s Zeit-Heist: More Than a Feeling at The Studio Below, while Granby Winter Gardens in Cairn Street hosts Windrush 75 Artist of the Year Addae G's Shores of Enchantment.

Festival co-producer Steff Hudson says: “Liverpool is an ideal place for a fringe in the same way Edinburgh is.

“The Liverpool Fringe is a platform for talent but is also accessible to everybody. Not everyone feels comfortable going into a formal theatre space. Prices are reasonable and shows are an accessible length.

“This year we’ve got a varied programme which includes some really innovative work.”

Liverpool Theatre Festival takes place from October 3-14. Full details HERE