The Unity Theatre in Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)

'Amazing' photos tell history of one of Liverpool's most important groups

by · Liverpool Echo

The Unity's Artistic Director, Eli Randle shared some of the oldest photos on record of the theatre

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Opening in 1980, the Unity Theatre has become known as one of the city's most important cultural institutions having seen some of the city's most beloved actors taking the stage there down the decades. But, the history of the famous theatre goes back even further.

In recent months, the Unity's latest Artistic Director, Eli Randle, has been looking back over the theatre's history as part of a project called A Radical Reimagining which will see the theatre host various events involving music, theatre, community and art, ending with a new play called Stage Left.

Looking back over its long history, Eli told the ECHO that the Unity originates from a left wing theatre movement that started in the 1930s. She said: "The Merseyside Left Theatre started in the 1930s, and that was a group that then became part of the Unity Theatre movement, which was a national movement, and became Merseyside Unity Theatre. That group found its home in this building we're in now in the 1980s, the history goes back a long way, which is what we're exploring with this whole project which has loads of different aspects to it."

While a lot has changed since the theatre first started, she said that the political messages being made then are still relevant today. She said: "There's always social inequality, so much has changed, but actually the struggle and with the state of the world at the moment, it actually feels really timely to be doing a production called Stage Left."

She added: "They also actually did lots and lots of fun productions, they did Shakespeare, they had that side to the group as well. But especially in the early days there's political undertones to so much of the work and the group it's really amazing to be seeing these archives."

  1. In fitting with one of the Merseyside Left Theatre's first productions was a reaction to events which had been unfolding in Spain during the 1930s. Eli Randle said: "Their beginning was actually in a reaction to the Spanish Civil War. They wrote their own pieces about Spain, about the civil war and and how we need to do something. Lots of people obviously went and and helped the fight against fascism.
    "They didn't have a set home so they would perform in lots of different places, in the streets, in trade unions, in halls, in community centers, theaters. That was the beginning of this group and after that they were like yeah we're we're forming a left theatre group."
    1 of 6(Image: Unity Theatre)
  2. One of the earliest archive pictures shows the theatre's "aims" during its early days.
    While Unity no longer has a strict list of this sort, Eli said that the theatre still has a clear objective. She said: "I think the Unity still really wants to be a voice for people, we want to be [a place] for people to talk about what's going on in the world."
    2 of 6(Image: Unity Theatre)
  3. While a lot of her exploration of the theatre's archives provided clues and insights into what the theatre was like in its early days, photos like the one below is timeless. It shows some of the members enjoying some time away from the stage.
    She said: "I mean one thing about archives is lots of things don't actually have specific dates or anything on the back of them. But what's really lovely actually is there's a lot of these photos and members that I really like because you know not only was it a theatre group but I think it was a really really important social place for people to feel a sense of belonging.
    "I like seeing these kind of joyous photos, you get a sense of the time, with the hairstyles [that they had]."
    3 of 6(Image: Unity Theatre)
  1. In keeping with their strong political roots, one action picture that stands out for Eli was a 1948 play that focused on the political climate in Liverpool.
    She said: "The play goes through 100 years of hardship in Liverpool, it was called 100 Years Hard. There were lots of different strikes, I'm not sure which one it was in this photo, but you've got the dockers and seamen in 1889, Bloody Sunday, Liverpool police strike, first hunger march 1921, general strike."
    4 of 6(Image: Unity Theatre)
  2. The next picture comes from a 1972 production of Marat/Sade, a play from Peter Weiss. In fact, during her research Eli was able to speak to Chris Ball who was in that production over five decades ago.
    She said: "I hadn't read it before, but it's great. The people in this asylum act out the play of the Marat/Sade, so it's like a play within a play and it's got lots of songs and Chris was talking about the amazing time he had in the 70s being part of the Merseyside Left Theatre, that then became Merseyside Unity Theatre and this was one of his favorite pieces."
    5 of 6(Image: Unity Theatre)
  3. In the last photo picked by Eli, she shows two of the people who were involved in the very first days of the theatre, Graham and Joan Frow [elderly man and woman stood furthest back].
    "[They] were a married couple and were involved in the Merseyside Left Theatre from the early days, right from the 1930s. When they came into the building they were a part of it until both their respective deaths."
    "I remember Graham Frow, I performed at his memorial here at the Unity, well before I did the job that I'm currently in. I think it is incredible because they were so passionate and supportive for a huge amount of years.
    6 of 6(Image: Unity Theatre)