Liverpool Improvisation Festival 2025 dates and shows

The third annual Liverpool Improvisation Festival (LiF) will be held in the city this spring – and organisers are promising the 2025 event will be the biggest and most ambitious yet.

This year’s festival, taking place from April 23-27, features 18 shows – including five world premieres – and seven workshops over its four days.

The event is being staged at the Unity Theatre and the neighbouring Joe H Makin Drama Centre (part of LJMU) and will include improv clowning, comedy, shadow puppetry, theatre, and storytelling from some of the best local, national and international improv troupes and names.

Advance access tickets are now on sale, but the three-day ticket has already sold out and there is limited availability for Friday and Saturday (two day) all-access tickets.

Day tickets and those for individual shows are also available.

The festival will feature a quintet of premieres – Iain Luke Jones’ The You and Me Show; Behold! The Improvathon! from Trev Fleming; The Orange of Truth from Terje Brevik and Jen Hardy; Wing It Improv’s Taxi Tales, One Night on the Town, and From Dusk to Dawn by ImprompTwo.

Meanwhile 12 of the companies and solo performers are new to the event for 2025.

LiF opens on April 24 with an evening of shows which includes three of the premieres along with Moses and Bird’s Things You Love.

Among other highlights of the long weekend are the multi-award-winning Crime Scene Improvisation (CSI), celebrating its 10th anniversary with a comedic murder mystery billed as “the world's daftest whodunnit.", an appearance from the world-renowned School of Night troupe which is marking its 20th anniversary, and Birmingham’s multi-talented Box of Frogs, creating spontaneous songs, sketches, and scenes from the suggestions of the audience.

All performances take place in the two theatre spaces at the Unity.

Meanwhile the festival workshops will be held in the Joe E Makin Drama Centre on April 27. Details and booking via the festival website HERE.

LiF is at the Unity Theatre from April 24-27. Full details and booking HERE