Make Your Own Myth

AN hilarious and chaotic stage show that allows children to make their own myths is coming to Southport with no 2 performances ever the same!  Are your ready for:- The Story Forge - Make Your Own Myth?'

Who is the God of dog poo bags? How did the microwave get its ping? What ancient crime was Yorkshire the punishment for… And why was it inflicted upon us?

Senior professors of history, and rather silly men, Lee Hithersay and Robert Rhys Bond, forge 3 new myths from the unhinged minds of their audience; and a boatload of cardboard props!

Will it be Greek? Viking? Ancient Babylonian? They haven’t a clue! That's all up to you. Help shape the stories, and even become the hero yourself (if you want, no pressure) in this EPIC interactive experience.

The renowned Rubbish Shakespeare Company and Silly History Boys present a hilarious hour of high-octane adventure for children and childish adults.

Featuring clowning, storytelling, live music and more. You'd be mad to myth it!

Reviews for the show have described it as:- 'Horrible Histories on Steroids.'

Lee Hithersay, 1 of the performers and the Artistic Director for the Rubbish Shakespeare Company, said:- “The tour has been going really well! We have had some great reviews, and we’re really excited to be bringing this show to Southport. People have been calling it 'bizarre, controlled chaos!' It's all down to the children in our audience to make their own myths. You can never trust or guess what children are going to say or do! We have had some amazing children in our shows. 1 girl in a recent show put up her hand and told us she was a giraffe, with her hand as the giraffe’s head. We were only allowed to talk to the giraffe. If we tried to talk to the girl, she wouldn’t reply. No 2 shows are ever the same; definitely not! It is constantly taxing the limits of our ingenuity, and it’s so much fun to be part of. It is all very much in the moment and that’s what makes it so special. I last played at The Atkinson in 2019, with A Rubbish Midsummer Night’s Dream. We had the debut for the show at The Atkinson before we took it to the Edinburgh Festival. I'm really looking forward to going back, it's a brilliant space and a great Town. We do Make Your Own Myth in 3 parts. The 1st part is about creating the myth for the place where we are; what are the origins of Southport? The children will help us to find out! Next is the origin of an object, and we’ll need the support of the audience to find that. We'll choose whenever we come across that we find interesting! The final 1 is the hero’s story, when we invite a child to come on stage and we’ll make them into their own hero. Usually it turns out to be hilarious chaos! All our props are made from cardboard; we have cardboard shields, cardboards spears, cardboard swords, and a live musician who likes to interject in our stories, as well as leading some singalongs with the audience. During the school Easter holidays, everyone needs to get out and enjoy days out! This is a great way of bringing children into the theatre, making them involved and allowing them to shape their own myths. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

'The Story Forge - Make Your Own Myth' by Rubbish Shakespeare Company is at:- The Atkinson, on Lord Street, Southport, from:- 2.30 pm, on:- Thursday, 17 April 2025.  Tickets are £13 plus booking fee.  Book tickets online now.

Young people launch pilot to tackle waste in their local area

7 Schools in the North of the City have banded together to launch:- 'Keep North Docks Tidy,' a 4 month pilot project to clean up their local community.

To mark the start of the project, 99 young people took to the streets to take part in this year's Great British Spring Clean litter picking campaign.

Together the schools collected over 90 bags of litter, some of which will be returned to the pupils to be recycled into different art pieces.

The pilot is a partnership between:- Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Streetscene Services, Onward Homes, Keep Britain Tidy, Veolia, and Primary Schools based in the North Docks neighbourhood.

The Council introduced a neighbourhood model in 2023 to be able to identify and address the unique issues that areas of the City face.

North Docks is 1 of 13 neighbourhoods in Liverpool, including the:- Kirkdale East, Kirkdale West, County, Vauxhall, and Waterfront North wards.

Keep North Docks Tidy was started to take place at the same time as Onward Homes' retrofitting project in the area, to make households more energy efficient and sustainable.

Local Schools and the Council looked at other ways to improve the neighbourhood at the same time and decided to launch a project to tackle the area's low levels of recycling and high rates of fly tipping.

The pilot will last for the remainder of the academic year and is centred around the key message of:- 'the environment belongs to everyone.'

Over the next few months, young people will discuss ways to reduce litter and waste, get hands on lessons with a recycling wagon, and visit Gillmoss Recycling Centre to learn about the journey of recycling.

Pupils will also have the chance to design posters encouraging positive behaviours for their community and present their ideas to Cabinet Members and Council staff at a special event at:- Liverpool Town Hall.

Councillor Laura Robertson-Collins, Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Communities, Neighbourhoods and Streetscene said:- "The pupils taking part in this pilot are incredibly proud of their communities and want to work together to make a lasting impact, a vision that's shared by the Council and our partners. The enthusiasm and creative ideas already shown by our young people are exactly what's needed when it comes to influencing positive behaviour change. I can't wait to hear the ideas that they come up with at the Town Hall and work with them to help make change happen. They are the leaders of the future and it's fantastic to be able to show them how services work and give them a platform to have their voices heard."

Fikrim Haxhifazliu, a member of the Senior Leadership Team, at Gwladys Street Primary School, said:- "We're really happy to be part of this project because we want our young people to feel proud of their community and understand the importance of looking after the environment. At Gwladys Street, we believe that even small actions, like keeping our area clean and being mindful of waste, can make a big difference. Caring for the environment is something we talk about a lot in School because it's about more than just keeping things tidy; it's about responsibility, respect, and making sure we leave the world in a better place for future generations. This project is a great way for our pupils to see that their efforts matter and that they can have a real impact on the world around them"

Joanne Danaher, Director of Housing and Home Ownership at Onward said:- “We are now well underway with our community led regeneration project in Kirkdale, with decarbonisation works making over 400 homes warmer, quieter and more comfortable for customers. As part of this, we are also investing into the community here through initiatives that share our commitment of enabling people to be their best, in a home they love and place they are proud of. Our work with local partners is already making a meaningful difference to the lives of the people living here and we are delighted to be supporting these young people in their efforts to improve the environment."