Physical Fest is Liverpool’s international festival of contemporary physical theatre, celebrating some of the world’s most exciting visual and movement-based performance. The week-long celebration brings bold new work from across the globe to the North for the first time, and is produced by Tmesis Theatre – a female-led company from Merseyside, with a diverse international ensemble, passionate about physical theatre.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT UNITY THEATRE’S WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT’S ON
As part of the vibrant seven-day schedule of performances, workshops and events, Tmesis will also be sharing a first-look at their new show, Demonology – a collaboration with acclaimed Liverpool-based writer Lizzie Nunnery, set in in a remote village in 1590 beset by witches.
Launching on Monday 7th September, Physical Fest 2026 will occupy Liverpool’s home of radical theatre – the Unity – for a full week of performances, whilst workshops, talks & debates will take place at Arts Bar Studios on Hope Street. Established in 2005, Physical Fest is one of only two dedicated physical theatre festivals in the UK and attracts participants from all over the world with it’s diverse programme – shining a light on physical theatre in all its forms.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT UNITY THEATRE’S WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT’S ON
The performance programme begins on Tuesday 8th September in the company of renowned director, performer and theatre maker, Peta Lilly. Their show Ungirlfriended is full of poignant moments, hilarious twists and snazzy outfits – as wannabe woke ‘cis-het-straight-white-man’ Parker Dee battles back from heartbreak with quirky takes on pop standards and killingly witty original songs.
The following night brings Japanese visual artist Izumi Ashizawa to the Unity stage for “Kurogo Me, Together!” – a piece of participatory performance art where the audience is invited to make the performer “invisible” by putting on the Kurogo costume pieces.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT UNITY THEATRE’S WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT’S ON
Thursday sees a Double Bill of Clowning, whilst on Friday local playwright Lizzie Nunnery and Tmesis Theatre themselves present Demonology – a powerful new exploration of the stories we inherit and the ones we tell, set in in a remote village in 1590 beset by witches.
The programme at Unity is brought to a fitting close on Saturday 12th September with a Double Bill of pioneering physical theatre shows – a kinetic, cinematic storytelling performance from Zoe McWhinney, Upon A Stale Sun – followed by Pesadilla, a visually breathtaking fusion of dance, circus and physical theatre choreographed by Italian-Belgium choreographer Piergiorgio Milano, that follows an ordinary man trapped inside his own dreams, desperately fighting to stay awake.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT UNITY THEATRE’S WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT’S ON
Running concurrently is Physical Fest’s programme of Learning and Participation, taking place at The Arts Bar Studios on Hope Street and packed with energy, mischief and world-class talent. From Commedia and Clown to Ensemble work, Japanese performance and even stage diving, this year’s line-up invites artists to get stuck in, take risks and rediscover the joy of physical performance. This is a rare chance to train, play and connect with some of the most exciting practitioners around, happening right here in Liverpool from 7th – 12th September.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT UNITY THEATRE’S WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT’S ON
Ungirlfriended | Peta Lilly
Tuesday 8th September | 7:30pm Tickets Here
It’s drag, it’s comedy, it’s cabaret, it’s clown. Parker Dee is a wannabe woke ‘cis-het-straight-white-man’. His girlfriend taught him how to be a sensitive guy, but when she dumped him, he found himself teetering on the edge of the Manosphere!
What’s a guy to do but write a deeply moving and fearlessly exposing cabaret show? Watch him battle back from heartbreak with quirky takes on pop standards and killingly witty original songs – the bluesy ‘Manspreading’ and the heartrending Brel-like ballad ‘Ow, Baby’. Ungirlfriended is full of poignant moments, hilarious twists and snazzy outfits. Anyone with a heart should see it.
“Kurogo Me, Together!” | Izumi Ashizawa
Wednesday 9th September | 6:00pm Tickets Here
This is participatory performance art. The audience is invited to make the performer “invisible” by putting on the Kurogo costume pieces. Kurogo is a figure on the stage dressed in black in the Japanese traditional theatre genres of Bunraku puppetry and Kabuki. Kurogo signifies “invisible”/ “ non-existent”, functioning to support the on-stage characters. In both of these 400-year-old Bunraku and Kabuki, women have not been permitted to perform professionally on the stage.
Izumi Ashizawa is a Japanese performance and visual artist, born/trained in Tokyo, based in New York. Rooted in her deep study/training in Japanese culture, she specializes in transmedia performance art, particularly keen on reinterpreting male-only-permitted Japanese traditional cultural codes, and places them in a different context to give a new meaning.
Clown Double Bill
Thursday 10th September | 7:30pm Tickets Here
All of Us | Jamie Wood & Dan Lees
Two ordinary clowns look out at the horizon, both with different goals. The sun shines on their behinds as metaphors nip their ankles. Will they stride fearlessly towards the unknown or sheepishly head back to shore? Perhaps rivalry will ruin everything?
Marie Chou-Fleur | Natalie Bellingham
Meet Marie Chou‑Fleur: a gloriously absurd, big‑hearted guide to being human. Part clown, part confidant, she arrives with joy, foolish wisdom and an unshakeable belief in you. Speaking straight from the heart, Marie celebrates who we are, who we might become, and the stories we tell ourselves along the way.
Funny, stupid and deeply heartfelt, this playful show invites you to laugh, dream bigger, and feel truly seen — leaving with a lighter spirit, a fuller heart, and the sense that maybe, just maybe, everything is possible.
Demonology: Tmesis Theatre and Lizzie Nunnery
Friday 11th September | 7:30pm Tickets Here
We are in a remote village in 1590. And also in a folk tale. Gelly needs a love spell. Euphemia needs her child. Agnes needs only freedom from men. But a wind is blowing. King James’s ship is hit by a storm, and he blames witchcraft. Soon witches are everywhere: in dreams and thoughts and prison cells and court rooms. Gelly, Euphemia and Agnes find themselves caught in a whirlwind of fantasy and fear, and their only hope is to take control of the story.
A powerful new exploration of the stories we inherit and the ones we tell, combining Tmesis’ trademark blend of striking physicality, original songs and evocative text by writer Lizzie Nunnery. A work in progress performance.
PESSADILLA | Piergiorgio Milano
Saturday 12th September | 7:30pm Tickets Here
A Tragicomic history of a burn out… Nominated as Best Belgium Contemporary Circus Show 2017. PESADILLA (Spanish for nightmare) is a visually breathtaking fusion of dance, circus and physical theatre that follows an ordinary man trapped inside his own dreams, desperately fighting to stay awake.
Funny, tender and profoundly moving, the story unfolds through the unlikely relationship between a lonely man and his imaginary alter ego: a giant panda. With grotesque humour and striking visuals, it reflects on the pressures of contemporary life, our growing isolation, technological overload, relentless urban pace, and the quiet unravelling of a society on the brink of hysteria. Dreamlike, exhilarating and deeply human, this unforgettable production invites audiences to ask: do our truest selves emerge with our eyes open… or closed?
Upon A Stale Sun | Zoe McWhinney
Saturday 12th September | 6:30pm Tickets Here
A VV story, in three acts. (15 minutes). I : THE HORSEFLY… The flow of one shot cinema (pretty much), this is the beginning like when you open the book and start reading the words – except visually. II : THE CITY… The story of the four towers. III : THE CAFE… Someone was sitting in the cafe. There’s a zenith television flickering up under the ceiling corner. And then, the ending.
Zoë McWhinney, have recently won the internationally renowned festival Clin d’ Oeil’s Sign Slam championships in Reims, and as a British Sign Language (BSL) poet, was shortlisted in the nationally prestigious Forward Poetry Prize 2026. The brainchild between Mime and Sign Language, Visual Vernacular (a.k.a. VV) is a kinetic, cinematic storytelling performance involving everything from the knee, waist and up. VV needs only a small area of the stage to perform great silent visual epics, akin to sign language.
Physical Theatre Festival / 7th-12th September / Unity Theatre
CLICK HERE TO VISIT UNITY THEATRE’S WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT’S ON
