Peggy Sinclair by Karl Leyhausen (1931)
Actor and director Adrian Dunbar and musician Nick Roth bring Beckett: Lieben 2026, an international festival celebrating the works of Dublin-born writer Samuel Beckett, to Liverpool from 17-20 September.
Delivered in collaboration with the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, festival highlights include an installation from world-renowned artist Sean Scully and a double bill of Beckett’s Play and Come and Go directed by Adrian Dunbar.
Following on from the success of Beckett: Confined in 2022 and Beckett: Unbound in 2024, the third outing of this unique biennial festival explores Beckett’s fascination with German abstract expressionism.
The full programme of theatre, music, visual art, photography, film, dance and discussion reflects the impact of German painters, writers and theatre makers on Beckett’s life and oeuvre.
Professor Mark Nixon, the director of the Beckett International Foundation and the editor of Beckett’s German diaries, published August 26th 2026, will deliver the festival keynote address at the opening event at 5pm on Thursday 17 September.
Continuing this year’s programme theme, artist Sean Scully’s steel Tree for Godot sculpture will be presented as an installation where the tree is both listener and speaker. A number of texts will respond to the rooting of the tree at the Liverpool School of Architecture, including a reading of Catherine Morris‘ Intimate Power: Autobiography of a City (2025) by students from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA).
Other works include a double bill of Beckett’s Play and Come and Go directed by Adrian Dunbar at the Liverpool Playhouse, including a post-show discussion at the end of each show, and a free performance at the University of Liverpool’s Tung Auditorium which will see renowned musicians respond to six of Beckett’s favourite paintings.
The programme presents an exciting blend of Beckett’s work, giving audiences the opportunity to celebrate one of the 20th century’s most celebrated playwrights and authors.
Adrian Dunbar said: “I’m delighted with our varied programme for Beckett: Lieben, which explores the writer’s fascination with, and love of German Expressionism. However, it’s our growing reach into the city of Liverpool itself, that I find particularly satisfying. I’m very much looking forward to welcoming audiences to the Playhouse, LIPA, the Tung Auditorium and the University of Liverpool’s School of Architecture, where Sean Scully’s Tree for Godot will be exhibited across what should be a fascinating weekend of Beckett related activity.”
Beckett: Lieben is curated by Adrian Dunbar and Nick Roth in collaboration with the Institute of Irish Studies, a hub of world-leading research, high-profile events, and studies of Ireland’s culture, history and politics.
Professor Pete Shirlow, Institute of Irish Studies said: “This is the third biennial Beckett Festival that the Institute of Irish Studies has hosted in Liverpool in partnership with Unreal Cities. Over the course of the three festivals, we have been able to bring to the city a wide range of actors, musicians, and artists of international standing, who have produced a variety of world class performances of Samuel Beckett’s works. Likewise, our ongoing association with Adrian Dunbar and Nick Roth has continued to bring much added value to the work of the Institute and the University of Liverpool, which in turn has enabled us to contribute to Liverpool’s reputation as a capital of culture both locally, and globally. I would also like to thank our partners at the Keough-Naughton Institute, University of Notre Dame and Culture Ireland for their continued support of the festival.”
Tickets are now available for Play/Come and Go via the Everyman Playhouse website https://everymanplayhouse.com/event/beckett-lieben-2026-play-and-come-and-go/ and FREE tickets for Six Paintings are available via the Tung Auditorium’s website at https://thetungauditorium.com/events/beckett-lieben-2026-six-paintings.
The full Beckett Festival programme can be found here: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/humanities-and-social-sciences/research/beckett/