No Picnic at Hanging Rock

Peter Weir's haunting Australian movie Picnic at Hanging Rock gets a special 50th anniversary present this year - a production of Tom Wright's stage adaptation at Liverpool's Hope Street Theatre (this Saturday and Sunday, August 9-10).

The show comes from young Liverpool company Dizzy Loves Lizzy, founded in 2024 to give professional productions to young talents.

On Valentine’s day in 1900, a group of girls from Appleyard college embarked on a trip to Hanging Rock, Australia.

Three of them disappeared and have never been found.

L-R Juliette Collins, Lucie Rose, Lucy Hickman-Germon and Hosanna Starkey in Picnic at Hanging Rock. The fifth member of the cast, not pictured, is Holly Lawless

Adapted from Joan Lindsay’s seminal 1967 novel, Tom Wright’s play follows five performers as they struggle to solve an age-old mystery. The play was first performed in Perth, Australia in 2018, and has since had successful runs in Sydney, Edinburgh and London.

Picnic at Hanging Rock has a firm foothold on Australian culture, embedding itself in folklore since its release. The story - initially announced as a true story, the truth of which has remained the subject of debate - owes some of its mystery to the author's quasi-historical framing and the novel’s ambiguous ending, which leaves the reader none the wiser about what actually happened.

"Re-examining the story nearly 60 years later, Tom Wright’s adaptation reframes the story, connecting us more closely to the history," said director Beth Frances.

More info and tickets here