Shows to see in Liverpool in 2025
A new year means new treats in store for Liverpool theatre lovers with a busy season of shows being staged at venues across the city…and a little beyond.
A quarter of a century into the ‘new millennium’ – and, somehow, five years since the devastating you know what – there’s much to enjoy coming our way between January and December.
Whether it’s old friends, first time visitors, acclaimed touring productions, re-worked Shakespearean classics, brilliant musicals, homegrown hits including Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers and Shirley Valentine and Alan Bleasdale’s Boys from the Blackstuff or new homegrown productions especially for the 2025 season, the curtain will be going up on great shows here, there and everywhere.
Added to which the Liverpool Empire is celebrating its centenary, and its programme includes the arrival in May of the smash Broadway and West End hip-hop hit Hamilton.
Here are just some of the treats in store over the next 12 months.
The Merchant of Venice 1936 – Liverpool Playhouse
February 4-8
This acclaimed production was first due to be staged at the Liverpool Playhouse back in September 2020 with the E&P one of five co-producers – but we all know what happened then.
Liverpool audiences are finally getting to see Tracy Ann Obermann’s The Merchant of Venice 1936, which has even more resonance now than it did five years ago.
Oberman, whose Three Sisters on Hope Street was staged at the Everyman during Capital of Culture year, devised the new production with Watford Palace’s artistic director Brigid Lamour, setting the story in 1936 London and against the backdrop of fascism sweeping across Europe.
She was inspired to reframe Shakespeare’s tale based on her own great grandmother’s experience as a single mother in the East End of London - drawing on her own family history of her grandmother and uncles who were on the front line at The Battle of Cable Street as children.
Book HERE
Chicago – Liverpool Empire
February 10-15
Prepare for plenty of razzle dazzle as everyone’s favourite killer dillers bring sizzling jazz era America to 2025 Liverpool.
Faye Brookes plays Roxie Hart, Djalenga Scott is Velma Kelly, Brenda Edwards reprises the role of Mama Morton and twinkle-toed former Strictly professional Kevin Clifton is Billy Flynn.
Clifton says he’s particularly excited about the Empire tour date as he and partner Stacey Dooley moved to Liverpool last year so it’s now his “hometown….being able to be home for the week and what’s an amazing theatre is a week I’m most looking forward to.”
Book HERE
No Sex Please, We’re British – Hope Street Theatre
February 19-22
Peter and Frances could reasonably expect to look forward to a calm, happy start to their married life together. But owing to an unfortunate mistake, they find themselves inundated with adult material from the ‘Scandinavian Import Company’.
Senior bank officials, Peter's snobbish mother, and a prim, respectable bank cashier become inextricably entangled in the rumbustious events that follow as they try - but fail - to keep things under control.
Northern Comedy Theatre returns to Hope Street after staging Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party last year, presents this new production of Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott’s farce, with former Corrie actor Stephen Arnold among the cast.
Book HERE
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Liverpool Empire
February 25-March 1
It’s been billed as ‘the show that changed the dance landscape forever’.
Now, 15 years after Matthew Bourne first brought his ground-breaking version of Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet Swan Lake to Liverpool – and 30 since the ‘audacious reinvention’ was premiered, a new production of the multi-award-winning ballet heads for the Empire as part of a special anniversary tour.
Directed by Bourne, and with set and spectacular costumes by Liverpool’s Lez Brotherston, it’s an unmissable treat.
Meanwhile Bourne’s New Adventures company is making a second, separate, visit to Liverpool in 2025, bringing The Midnight Bell back to the Playhouse in September.
Read a review of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake HERE
Book HERE
Love’s Labour’s Lost (More or Less) – Shakespeare North Playhouse
February 28-March 22
Shakespeare North Playhouse and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough present the Bard’s romantic comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost in a new adaptation from Elizabeth Godber and Nick Lane, set in 90s Ibiza.
The stags have made a solemn promise to each other: this is a boys’ weekend. Don’t talk to any girls, don’t even think about any girls and most importantly, do not contact the hens.
The hens are ready for fun in the sun when the resort calls to say they’ve had to relocate them… to a hotel in Ibiza. Both groups of revellers are stuck on the same Mediterranean island. Cue: shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters and theatrical chaos.
Book HERE
Shirley Valentine – Liverpool Everyman
March 1-29
Shirley Valentine returns to the Everyman stage where Willy Russell’s famous tale started life back in 1986.
Liverpool actress Helen Carter is set to take on the role in the one-woman play originally commissioned for the theatre's 21st birthday by the then artistic director Glen Walford.
Noreen Kershaw became Russell’s first Shirley, although the Whiston-born playwright famously understudied the role for three weeks after Kershaw was rushed into hospital in the middle of the run.
No word on whether he may understudy Carter for old time’s sake, but you never know.
Book HERE
Blood Brothers – Liverpool Empire
March 11-22
March is obviously Willy Russell season, with the playwright’s moving tale of nature verses nurture visiting the Empire as part of the theatre’s centenary year.
Blood Brothers has played hundreds of thousands of people at the theatre since it was first staged there 40 years ago.
The latest run will be the first time the Bill Kenwright Ltd production has visited the venue since the death of the Liverpool-born producer and impresario in October 2023.
The musical – which was first staged down the road at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983 - features songs including Bright New Day, Just Like Marilyn Monroe and the anthem Tell Me It’s Not True.
Read a review HERE
Book HERE
Ghost Stories – Liverpool Playhouse
March 11-15
Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s stage chiller Ghost Stories is heading for the Liverpool Playhouse as part of a UK tour.
The Williamson Square venue was the scene of the premiere of the original production in February 2010 with Nyman among the cast, and the play was due to return in spring 2020 before Covid locked down the nation.
When Professor Goodman, arch-sceptic out to debunk the paranormal, embarks on an investigation of three apparent hauntings – as recounted by a night-watchman, a teenage boy, and a businessman awaiting his first child – Goodman finds himself at the outer limits of rationality, and fast running out of explanations.
Book HERE
Red or Dead – Royal Court
March 21-April 19
Liverpool legend Bill Shankly will be brought to life on stage by acclaimed Scottish actor Peter Mullan in a new stage version of David Peace’s best-selling novel, adapted and directed by Phillip Breen.
Red or Dead is the fictionalised account of the great football manager’s work, and the life after that work, and will take audiences on a journey through promotion, First Division title, FA Cup and European success, with Shankly defining what it was to be a Liverpool fan.
Shankly demanded total loyalty from his players and coaches. A loyalty that he hoped would be repaid when he retired.
Book HERE
Boys From the Blackstuff – Liverpool Empire
March 25-29
Liverpool Royal Court smash hit Boys from the Blackstuff gets an even bigger stage in 2025 with a five-night run at the Empire as part of a tour by Bill Kenwright Ltd.
James Graham’s celebrated stage production of Alan Bleasdale’s seminal TV series plunges audiences back into 80s Liverpool.
Chrissie, Loggo, George, Dixie and Yosser are used to hard work and providing for their families. But there is no work and there is no money. What are they supposed to do? Work harder, work longer, buy cheaper, spend less? They just need a chance.
Life is tough but the lads can play the game. Find jobs, avoid the ‘sniffers' and see if you can have a laugh along the way.
Read a review HERE
Book HERE
Animal Farm – Liverpool Playhouse
April 1-5
Bolton Octagon Theatre’s visceral production of George Orwell’s searing satire about the corruption of power arrives at the Playhouse ahead of Easter as part of a UK tour.
When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master and take over, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality for all. However, over time a cunning and brutal elite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, gradually take control.
Soon the other animals discover that they are not all as equal as they once thought and find themselves ensnared as one tyranny is replaced with another.
Adapted for the stage by Ian Wooldridge, Animal Farm is co-produced by Derby Theatre and Hull Truck.
Book HERE
War Horse – Liverpool Empire
April 8-19
Based on Michael Morpurgo’s classic novel, War Horse tells the remarkable story of a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War.
At the outbreak of war, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land.
This is the third visit to the Empire for the epic, multi-award-winning National Theatre production after runs in 2017 and 2019 and there’s no better stage on which to experience it.
Book HERE
Takeaway – Liverpool Everyman
April 26-May 17
Billed as “a portion of fun and a big plate of chaos”, Everyman and Playhouse creative director Nathan Powell’s Takeaway kickstarts his first season in charge at the theatres.
Hyltons Caribbean takeaway is a much-loved restaurant at the heart of Liverpool 8. Built by Carol and her late husband into a bustling hub with a mouth-watering menu, it serves great food with a huge side-order of love. But in a world of delivery apps, street food markets and gourmet curry goat, her family are divided about what their future should hold.
The Liverpool they live in is changing too. With a block of luxury apartments about to wipe out a local Community Centre, anger’s rising and things are getting spicy.
Powell’s play is directed by Amanda Huxtable.
Book HERE
Making It – Royal Court
May 1-17
Aspiring actress Bev is backstage at a faded Liverpool social club, preparing for her final ever gig.
While she awaits a life-changing phone call, Bev takes the audience on a hilarious journey through her rollercoaster of a career, introducing some weird and wonderful characters on the way; from cameos on Corrie, Christmas with The Krankies, booze-cruising on the Mersey, and even body-doubling for a monkey – Bev has done it all.
The two-hander, starring Catherine Rice and Andrew Schofield and directed by Stephen Fletcher, was premiered downstairs in the Royal Court Studio in 2022. Now it’s heading upstairs for 2025.
Read a review HERE
Book HERE
Hamilton – Liverpool Empire
May 6-June 7
The stage phenomenon that is Hamilton finally arrives in Liverpool in 2025 for a month-long run.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop and rap infused sung-through historical reimagining narrates the life of American revolutionary and statesman Alexander Hamilton from his hard childhood on the Caribbean island of Nevis to his part in the American War of Independence, his marriage to Elizabeth Schuyler, and career as a lawyer and secretary of the treasury of the newly formed United States to his fatal duel with Founding Father Aaron Burr.
It opened on Broadway in 2015, garnering a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations – and taking home 11 including Best Musical, Book, Score and Direction. Among many other accolades, Miranda won a Pulitzer Prize for drama.
The West End production opened in December 2017, and went on to win seven Olivier Awards including Best New Musical.
Book HERE
North by Northwest – Liverpool Playhouse
May 20-24
If you enjoy the madcap nature of The 39 Steps, then you won’t want to miss this new adaptation of Hitchcock’s thriller North by Northwest, brought to the stage by Wise Children and directed by the company’s Emma Rice.
A mistimed phonecall to Roger Thornhill’s mother lands him smack bang in the middle of a Cold War conspiracy. Now he’s on the run, dodging spies, airplanes and a femme fatale who might not be all she seems.
Described as a “riotously funny reworking that turns the original thriller on its head”, audiences can expect ‘shape-shifting performers, a fabulous 50s soundtrack and a lot of hats’ in this four-way co-production which involves the Everyman and Playhouse.
Book HERE
Peter James’ Picture You Dead – Floral Pavilion
May 20-24
Roy Grace returns in the seventh Peter James stage adaptation - and world premiere of the bestselling Picture You Dead.
Back home in Brighton, DSI Grace investigates a cold case that leads him to the rarified air of fine art but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a dark underworld of greed, deception and murder.
When one unsuspecting couple unearth a potentially long-lost masterpiece, they discover that their dream find is about to turn into their worst nightmare and only Grace can stop them from paying the ultimate price.
This latest thrilling stage adaptation cements James’s best-selling Grace series as the most successful modern day crime stage franchise since Agatha Christie.
Book HERE
Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Liverpool Empire
June 9-21
Lovely jubbly! West End smash hit musical Only Fools and Horses is heading for Liverpool as part of an inaugural UK tour.
The stage version of writer John Sullivan’s classic BBC comedy stars Paul Whitehouse as Grandad who co-wrote the script with Sullivan’s son Jim.
It features all the TV series’ famous characters, from Del Boy and Rodney to Raquel, Cassandra, Boycie and Marlene and has musical contributions from Chas & Dave.
Book HERE
The Legend of Rooney’s Ring – Royal Court
July 18-August 23
Find yourself transported to the far-flung, mystical land of Liverpool this summer where you will meet the story’s hero, Wayne (“any similarities between the characters and local footballing celebrities, living or dead, is entirely coincidental”) who is as fast as a horse and as strong as another horse.
He is on a dangerous quest of heroic deeds and has vowed to fight evil through sheer force of will while wearing a fetching pair of furry undies. He doesn’t care about all that fighting though, he just wants his C’leen back.
C’leen is a humble bricklayer’s daughter from Crocky but, with her shiny caramel hair, she is the most beautiful woman in the whole kingdom. They fall deeply in love, making the sun shine and the flower. All is right with the world, until Wayne gets distracted by some lovely ladies…
Billed as the ‘ultimate Scouse sword and sorcery’ tale, it’s written by Helen Serafinowicz.
Book HERE
Romeo and Juliet – Liverpool Everyman
September 13 to October 4
The Everyman is stripping Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers back to basics at the start of the autumn season.
United by passion but forced apart by their families, Romeo and Juliet are young lovers who must transform their present to forge a beautiful tomorrow. But with their feuding households locked in a deep-rooted cycle of violence and hate, is it possible to win the loved-up future they crave?
The production is set to be directed by Ellie Hurt, a graduate of the Young Everyman and Playhouse’s (YEP) directors’ course and whose other credits include A Christmas Carol at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Hamlet at the National, and associate director on Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World.
Book HERE
The Book of Mormon – Liverpool Empire
September 30-October 18
Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s scabrous musical tells the story of two Salt Lake City Mormons sent as missionaries to Uganda, hoping for a few baptisms and a couple of conversions. Instead, they are welcomed by some very harsh realities and a particularly unpleasant warlord.
The hilarious musical breathes three-dimensional, all-singing, all-dancing life into the absurdities of Mormon dogma, while simultaneously being incredibly rude, potentially offensive and above all, unexpectedly endearing.
Since making its world premiere in March 2011 at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre, where it won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, The Book of Mormon has been performed on three continents and won more than 30 international awards.
Book HERE
Breaking the Code – Liverpool Playhouse
October 21-25
Alan Turing is famed for his wartime work behind the cracking of the Enigma code at Bletchley Park.
But when his private life was made public in a ‘gross indecency’ trial in the early 50s it destroyed his professional reputation – and led to this brilliant mind taking his own life.
A Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Landmark Theatres and Oxford Playhouse production in association with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, this new version of Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code features new material following the mathematician and cryptologist’s Royal pardon and the introduction of Turing’s Law.
Book HERE
Fawlty Towers the Play - Liverpool Empire
November 11-15
Herds of wildebeest will be sweeping majestically across the plain outside the Empire in the autumn as the West End hit stage version of Fawlty Towers comes to the Lime Street stage.
Adapted from the classic sitcom by Basil Fawlty himself, John Cleese, and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, the new play features all the show’s best-loved characters including the irascible Torquay hotelier, wife Sybil, hapless Spanish waiter Manuel and Polly the exasperates maid.
It’s 50 years since Fawlty Towers made its TV debut, and only 12 episodes were ever filmed, but it has become one of the most referenced, quoted and revered British sitcoms of all time.
Book HERE
Matilda the Musical – Liverpool Empire
December 2 to January 4 2026
The RSC’s production of Matilda the Musical arrives in Liverpool for Christmas 2025.
Matilda is the story of an extraordinary little girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.
Based on Roald Dahl’s inimitable young heroine, the musical has a book by Dennis Kelly, lyrics and music by Tim Minchin and is directed here by Matthew Warchus.
Since it was premiered 15 years ago, Matilda the Musical has won a staggering 100 plus awards worldwide, including 24 for Best Musical, and has delighted more than 12 million people across the globe.
Book HERE
Top: Hamilton. Photo by Danny Kaan.
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