A celebration of the rich variety of local, national and international contemporary physical work, brought to audiences by Liverpool’s own Tmesis Theatre, Physical Fest will take over the Unity Theatre from 10th-15th June, as well as venturing out further afield to The Capstone Theatre at Liverpool Hope University and the Royal Albert Dock.

Following a break last year, Physical Fest returns as an officially bi-annual event from 2019, featuring a range of performers from across the globe.

Highlights include Izumi Ashizawa, who incorporates traditional Japanese performance styles and puppetry into her hauntingly beautiful show I Cried Because I Had No Shoes Until…, as well as the American sensation of gender trickery and audience immersion, Butt Kapinski who will invite Liverpool audiences to co-star in a choose-your-own-adventure murder mystery.

Further highlights from the performance programme come from the two winners of Physical Fest’s Female Artist Bursary Award.

Manchester-based Meraki Collective will showcase their new visually captivating and belly laugh inducing dance theatre work Kill a Witch or Die Trying, whilst Liverpool’s own Rowena Gander explores the extrinsic value of sexualised and exaggerated femininity in her new piece The Ten Inch Heels.

A new outdoor performance featuring a cast of 14 women from Tmesis Training Company – a professional performance project for emerging physical performers – entitled Wicked Women also features in the eclectic summer line-up.

Another coup for the festival, Herald Angel award winners Gandini Juggling will bring their mesmerising mix of circus and theatre to the festival with their global hit, SMASHED. Liverpool audiences will not want to miss this rare opportunity to experience a theatre company at the forefront of contemporary circus for over two decades.

In addition to the packed line-up of performances, Physical Fest will also feature an exciting programme of workshops, with amazing practitioners from Japan, U.S.A., Finland and the U.K. providing training on a variety of physical theatre disciplines, as well as giving attendees the chance to meet new people and see some incredible physical performance work up close and personal.

The festival will also feature a Devoted & Disgruntled Open Space event with an invitation from Claire Bigley, Producer of Physical Fest, “I believe we need to make sure there are ways into the sector for female, working class, artists. We need people in leadership roles; ADs, CEOs, board members, Venue Managers. So how can we, together, fundamentally change the make-up of those making and watching theatre for the better? Come along to this event and let’s do some work. See you there!”

Tickets and information for all the performances at this year’s Physical Fest can be found online.