Causing a Scene: Liverpool’s Shiny New Festival

At Liverpool's Lantern Theatre, marketing manager Siobhan Noble and Shiny New Theatre director Peter Mitchelson are talking quietly, mirror images hunched over matching laptops and ruled paper. Their conversation is consumed by the rapidly approaching Shiny New Festival: “Next year we are thinking of beginning a process where people can apply to be involved,” explains Noble, punctuated by an enthusiastic nod from Mitchelson. “This whole thing began via word of mouth,” he interjects, “but it is beyond that now.”

Entering its third year, Shiny New Festival has indeed grown at impressive speed. An idea conceived by Mitchelson in the wake of his annual Edinburgh trip, the festival spans seven days and offers an impressive programme. “I was taking shows to Edinburgh Fringe year after year, to Brighton and Buxton – all of those kinds of places, and I loved the vibe. Liverpool had nothing. Jollyboat had just won a Musical Comedy Award, but what could they do with it in Liverpool? Shiny New was a reaction to that.”

Offering valuable exposure to both emerging artists and established fringe performers, Shiny New brings a much needed edge to Liverpool’s concentrated theatre scene, inviting local audiences to sample a taste of the fringe without the four hour train journey. “There is a huge amount of talent taking their work away from our city; why not allow them to preview it here?” Mitchelson says. 

It is a rhetorical question, and one that hopefully pre-empts the continued evolution of Liverpool’s theatre scene – and it has evolved. A mere four years ago the existence of a dedicated fringe venue within the city seemed a utopian dream to performers forced to produce their own work in often unsuitable and undesirable locations. The opening of the Lantern Theatre changed that, armed with a vision to support local artists and the perfect space in which to do it. “Shiny New is the epitome of what we do at the Lantern,” says Noble, the business brain of the family-run theatre. “It is what we are about.”

---

“There is a huge amount of talent taking their work away from our city; why not allow them to preview it here?” – Peter Mitchelson

---

“Shiny New had to happen here,” Mitchelson says, gesturing to the intimate confines of the converted warehouse. “Where else would it work?”

In many ways the festival is a nod towards the success of the Lantern: there are few – if any – independent theatres who boast the addition of an annual in-house festival. While external funding may be the elusive goal of most arts establishments, the Lantern is content with its position: there is no question of artistic compromise. “Nobody can tell us what we can and cannot put on,” grins Noble. “We like that.”

This year’s festival opens with a trio of plays – all three are examples of new writing, and one is a preview performance of a script chosen for the succeeding Manchester’s 24:7 theatre festival. These are followed by a host of Edinburgh-bound comedians, award-winning comedy rock stars Jollyboat, and a musical misadventure dubiously titled Scottie Road The Musical. “I’m most looking forward to Wednesday’s programme,” Mitchelson confesses with little hesitation. “We begin with Three Women – a pretty serious play – before moving on to Scottie Road the Musical and finishing with Jollyboat.” Now, if that’s not fringe…

Noble is keen for the festival to spread its wings, outlining an event that occupies more than one venue – “not just a Lantern thing but a Baltic Triangle thing” – though both recognise the fundamental difficulties of Shiny New’s development. “This festival can only grow if Liverpool’s fringe scene grows,” admits Mitchelson. “We essentially need to establish a scene.” A daunting task – but between them, they just might do it.