Culture Diary w/c 12-05-14
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the listings from around Liverpool, the North-West and the rest of the UK…
Tuesday – Spring Awakening 7.30pm @ the Playhouse, Liverpool — £12-£21
When Frank Wedekind’s oft-censored play about the traumas of youth on the cusp of sexual maturity first hit the stage in 1906, such was its impact, Spring Awakening caused riots. Now, this new version from Headlong’s Anya Reiss (1984, Romeo and Juliet), has been brought up-to-date and has garnered five star reviews and high praise in the process.
Wednesday – Gorky Park (1983) 5.30pm @ the Atkinson, Southport — £3
“An icon of Cold War thrillers perfect for any fan of exciting, chilling action.” Selected for World Book Night 2014, this big screen adaptation of Gorky Park directed by Michael Apted (with a screenplay from Dennis Potter), was described by New York Times critic Janet Maslin as ”a taut, clever thriller”.
Thursday – Private View: 104 Duke Street Collective Showcase 6.30pm @ 104 Duke Street, Liverpool — FREE
At last, a new artist’s studio! This brand new collective (including a performance space and gallery) first formed in January 2013 with artists Cherie Grist, Colette Lilley, Laura O’Reilly, Nicola Hands and Karen O’Brien. Tonight they officially launch with a group exhibition of graphic, abstract and figurative painting. Runs until Friday 30 May 2014.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Friday – Light Night 4pm ‘til late @ various venues across Liverpool — FREE
Always worth a night out this time every year,you just don’t know what mad art project you’ll discover on a Light Night. The city’s late night highlights include Grayson Perry’s lavish tapestries at the Walker Gallery (included in our Unmissable Exhibitions of 2014), Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia at the Anglican Cathedral, and a Seismic indoor street party at Kitchen Street pop-up.
We’ve also taking part — The Double Negative have commissioned a special artwork jointly with FACT and Syndrome (Mercy and Hive Collective) from digital artist Tom Schofield! Taking over the big screen in FACT’s foyer from 7-11pm, let live interactive robot Me/easure (main picture) ’read’ you — making eerily accurate assumptions about your personality based solely on digital measurements of your face. Inspired by the 19th century pseudoscience of ‘phrenology’, biometrics, data mining, current surveillance techniques, and the gallery’s latest exhibition, Science Fiction: New Death.
Saturday – Ebb and Flow: a visual chronicle of the changes within Liverpool’s Chinatown @ the Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool — FREE
A different view of Liverpool’s Chinatown, Open Eye’s latest show explores the oldest Chinese community in Europe. Featuring documentary photography from Bert Hardy — who recorded the lives, living conditions and recreation of Chinese seamen that came from Shanghai in the ’40s — to a contemporary commission from Jamie Lau — looking at the Chinese community as it is now and themes of isolation. Check out the Artist talk from Jamie Lau at 1.30pm.
John Bramwell 7.30pm @ the Kazimier, Liverpool — £15
A stripped back acoustic solo tour from singer-songwriter and frontman of Manchester indie trio I Am Kloot. Louder Than War described Bramwell live as the perfect reinterpretation of Kloot songs: “His rough edged voice is perfect for tales of drinking and disaster, love and loss”. Expect anecdotes about the music business, festivals and the bands antics since forming in 1999, as well as classic Kloot tracks and new solo stuff.
Sunday – Last Chance To See: Ruin Lust @ Tate Britain, London — £11/9.50
Last day to see this “brilliant but bonkers exhibition” (Jonathan Jones, the Guardian) from Tate Britain; reflecting an artistic obsession with ‘derelict porn’ — ruins, broken columns, fallen temples and forgotten wastelands. Expect colourful, romantic responses from artists as diverse as J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, Patrick Caulfield, Eduardo Paolozzi, Rachel Whiteread and Tacita Dean amongst others.
