Liverpool Playhouse

Since its opening in 1911, Liverpool's Playhouse has been inextricably linked to the history of the city in which it was built. The impetus to create it, Ros Merkin reveals in this chronicle of the oldest surviving repertory theater in Britain, grew out of the city's new sense of civic pride and largesse in the early twentieth century. Her book asks both how the city has shaped the theater and what the theater has brought to the city, and along the way she dispels the myth that the Playhouse is Liverpool's conservative theater, revealing that from its inception it was breaking new ground and issuing challenges.

Between 1979 and 1997, a quarter of Britain’s regional theaters closed their doors forever. Those that survived found themselves constantly on the brink, forced to radically reduce their programs and shut down for extended periods. Bringing Down the House examines how and why this crisis occurred, from the British government’s scant regard for the arts after World War II to the onset of Thatcherism and its long-lasting effects on the theater industry. This timely read for theater and cultural history scholars unearths a catalog of recurring problems that ensured the fragility of the British regional stage.

Educating Rita, about a working-class Liverpool girl's hunger for education, is 'simply a marvellous play, painfully funny and passionately serious; a hilarious social documentary; a fairy-tale with a quizzical, half-happy ending.' Sunday Times Educating Rita premiered at the RSC Warehouse, London, in June 1980. Voted Best Comedy of 1980, it was subsequently made into a highly successful film with Michael Caine and Julie Walters.

Pocket Rough Guide British Breaks Liverpool Make the most of your time on Earth with the ultimate travel guides. Entertaining, informative and stylish pocket guide to the best British break destinations. Discover the best of Liverpool with this compact and entertaining pocket travel guide. This slim, trim treasure trove of trustworthy travel information is ideal for short-trip travellers and covers all the key sights (including Tate Liverpool, the Three Graces and the Cavern), restaurants, shops, cafés and bars, plus inspired ideas for day-trips, with honest and independent recommendations from our experts. Features of this travel guide to Liverpool: - Compact format: packed with practical information, this is the perfect travel companion when you're out and about exploring Liverpool - Honest and independent reviews: written with Rough Guides' trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, our writers will help you make the most of your trip - Incisive area-by-area overviews: covering everywhere from the regenerated Albert Dock and museum-decorated Waterfront to the buzzing Ropewalks area and more, the practical 'Places' section provides all you need to know about must-see sights and the best places to eat, drink and shop - Time-saving itineraries: carefully planned routes will help inspire and inform your on-the-road experiences - Day-trips: venture further afield to Crosby's beach or across the Mersey to the Wirral peninsula. This tells you why to go, how to get there, and what to see when you arrive - Travel tips and info: packed with essential pre-departure information including getting around, health, tourist information, festivals and events, plus an A-Z directory - Attractive user-friendly design: features fresh magazine-style layout, inspirational colour photography and colour-coded maps throughout Looking for a comprehensive travel guide to England? Try The Rough Guide to England for an informative and entertaining look at all the country has to offer. About Rough Guides: Rough Guides have been inspiring travellers for over 35 years, with over 30 million copies sold. Synonymous with practical travel tips, quality writing and a trustworthy 'tell it like it is' ethos, the Rough Guides list includes more than 260 travel guides to 120+ destinations, gift-books and phrasebooks.

First produced in 1673 and Molière's final play, The Hypochondriac is a scathingly funny lampoon on both hypochondria and the 'quack' medical profession. Argan is a perfectly healthy, wealthy gentleman, convinced that he is seriously ill. So obsessed is he with medicinal tinkerings and tonics that he is blind to the goings on in his own household. However, his most efficacious cure will not appear in a bottle or a bedpan, but in his sharp-tongued servant, who has a cunning plan to reveal the truth and open her master's eyes. Adapted by Roger McGough The Hypochondriac was produced by the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and English Touring Theatre and premiered on 19 June 2009.

Roger McGough, Levi Tafari, Willy Russell, Terence Davies, James Hanley, George Garrett, J.G. Farrell, Brian Patten, Adrian Henri, Beryl Bainbridge, Jimmy McGovern, Alan Bleasdale, Helen Forrester, Lyn Andrews, Margaret Murphy, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell... no matter what the genre Liverpool seems to have generated some of the most provocative and interesting writers of the last seventy-five years. Intended to mark and celebrate Liverpool’s 800th birthday in 2007 and its status as European City of Culture in 2008, this collection of essays and interviews addresses the wide range of writing that has emerged from Liverpool from the 1930s to the present day. It asks if there is a distinctive Liverpool voice, and if so, how it might be identified. Featuring interviews with Liverpool-born film director and novelist, Terence Davies, (Distant Voices, Still Lives, The Long Day Closes and The House of Mirth), Roger McGough, Willy Russell and Levi Tafari along with contributions from leading cultural critics such as former NME journalist and Mojo magazine founder Paul Du Noyer and award-winning poet George Szirtes, Liverpool Writing will be of interest to readers fascinated by the influences on and of the city dubbed ‘the Centre of the Creative Universe’.

Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards 'Significantly more engaging and inspiring than the rival Rebel Girls' GUARDIAN 'It's hard to imagine any group of primary-aged children who wouldn't be inspired' BOOKSELLER 'An absolute must-have for every young person's bookshelf' HUFFINGTON POST Now a stunning hit musical! Kate Pankhurst, descendent of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, has created a wildly wonderful and accessible book about women who really changed the world. Discover fascinating facts about some of the most amazing women who changed the world we live in! · Fly high with incredible explorer and pilot Amelia Earhart · Discover the Wonderful Adventures of medical pioneer Mary Seacole · Fight for your rights with legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks · Change the face of books forever with superstar novelist Jane Austen Bursting full of beautiful illustrations and astounding facts, Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is the perfect introduction to just a few of the most incredible women who helped shaped the world we live in. A fantastic gift for girls and boys alike! List of women featured: Jane Austen, Gertrude Ederle, Coco Chanel, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, Mary Anning, Mary Seacole, Amelia Earhart, Agent Fifi, Sacagawea, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, Anne Frank

Liverpool has been the birthplace or home to literally hundreds of extraordinary men and women. In this book Christine Dawe features a great many of them - from all eras and walks of life. Locally noteworthy figures, such as Kitty Wilkinson, who started the first public wash-houses in the city, Father Nugent, who rescued hundreds of starving orphans after the Irish Potato Famine, and Teddy Dance, who played a grand piano outside Marks & Spencers for many years and raised over £16,356,000 for Cancer Research, appear alongside some of the more famous faces from the past, including Rex Harrison and Bessie Braddock, as well as more contemporary figures, such as Ken Dodd, Cilla Black, Carla Lane, Ricky Tomlinson and Sir Simon Rattle. This book contains more than a hundred mini-biographies of Liverpool's famous sons and daughters - all of whom are illustrated. A perfect souvenir for visitors to the city, this is also essential reading for Liverpudlians everywhere, and is sure to appeal to those wanting to know more about these people's contributions to the great city we know today.