Thursday Triple Bill | LIF 2026
Thursday 7th May
6:00pm
Tales from the Armchair – Aunt Batty Knows
Step into the unsettling and absurd world of Aunt Batty Knows… as they weave dark tales of supernatural suspense.
Tales from the Armchair is an all-woman longform show which draws its inspiration from 1970s and 1980s TV drama programmes such as Play for Today and Tales of the Unexpected.
Everyday characters and situations meet a context of eerie surrealism where we wonder, is the uncanny in the mind, outside of the mind or perhaps both?
“To learn what we fear is to learn who we are. Horror defies our boundaries and illuminates our souls.”
― Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
Shakespeare on the Spot – Stephen Longstaffe
The world clearly hasn’t enough Shakespeare, so this solo show improvises some more from audience suggestions. Your host (former university Shakespeare lecturer and current idiot) will transform whatever the Liverpool muses bring into new iambic speeches and dialogues by some of the bard’s most famous characters. It could get silly. No asps, daggers, or skulls are permitted in the venue, but feel free to bring another hitherto unknown Shakespeare prop along!
Life Happens! – AnneLiina & Quitar
Life is unpredictable — and that’s exactly where the magic begins.
From Estonia’s kIMPROose collective, performers Anneli Kirotar, Liina Karro, and musician Maarius Pärn bring you Life Happens! — a spontaneous, heartfelt, and hilariously human exploration of connection in all its chaotic beauty.
In this fully improvised show, Anneli and Liina dive into the wild landscape of relationships: the closeness and the distance, the conflict and the comfort, the moments that shift us when we least expect it. Every scene is created on the spot, shaped entirely by the performers’ quick thinking, creativity, and playful curiosity.
Guiding and colouring the journey is Maarius Pärn on live guitar. His improvised soundscapes pulse through the performance — sometimes soft, sometimes bold — giving each moment its own emotional rhythm. Music and theatre weave together as the story evolves in real time.
Funny, warm, and boldly unpredictable, Life Happens! invites you to witness how we navigate each other — one unexpected moment at a time.