TICKETS will be available from 12pm (Midday) today (Tuesday 28 September 2021) for a brand-new immersive visitor experience at St George’s Hall in Liverpool, which opens its doors next month.
The History Whisperer is the focal point of the new St George’s Hall Experience and opens to visitors on Friday 8 October, using the latest technology to plunge audiences into a world where the past meets the present and history comes alive.
It brings to life Liverpool in the 1850s and illustrates how the building represented two very different sides to the city – from the opulence of the Great Hall and Concert Room so loved by Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens to the destitution of people in the building’s prison cells awaiting sentencing in its court room.
The attraction tells the story through the eyes of a child called Livie, who finds herself all alone after her father is transported to the other side of the world after completing work on the construction of St George’s Hall, while her brother is in one of the building’s prison cells awaiting his fate.
For a limited period, tickets for the new attraction will cost just £1 per person – as the city’s way of giving something back to the people of Liverpool following the pandemic.
Behind the new addition is a team of the country’s leading tech organisations:
- Gazooky Studios – a BAFTA and Prix Europa award-winning storytelling and world class XR technology company.
- Immersive Interactive – specialists in mesmerising touch-wall interactivity
- Music in Mind – an industry-leader when it comes to creating rousing, witty and deeply moving music and sound effects.
The creators behind the experience have drawn on their international experience and accolades. They boast many international awards, from BAFTAs to Prix Europas and the Venice Biennale.
Gazooky Studios has worked with the BBC, BFI, Columbia Sony, Microsoft, Netflix, and many other world-class partners, and have been part of several world-first experiences including Kansas Sealife AR experience, Covent Garden AR shopping experience and London Bridge Station Hub.
The music has been specially composed by Music in Mind, and performed by globally respected musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
The consortium has spent the last few months devising and installing the attraction, after Liverpool City Council secured £250,000 from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as part of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
Ticket Information
- Tickets will be available to book through Ticket Quarter via The St George’s Hall Experience: The History Whisperer™ from Midday on Tuesday 28 September
at a cost of £1 per visitor from Friday 8 October for a limited period only. - The venue will be open Tuesday – Saturday from 10am until 4pm (last admission at 3.15pm)
- Tickets are limited to 15 people per time slot.
- The attraction is not suitable for children under the age of six.
Reaction
Liverpool’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Councillor Harry Doyle, said:
“St George’s Hall is a already a must-visit destination for tourists and residents alike, but by bringing on board some of the country’s leading digital and immersive technology companies, we are now offering a whole new way of showcasing its amazing history.
“We know how tough people have found the last 18 months, so when we throw open the doors it will cost just £1 per person to visit as a way of giving something back to the city.
“The story told in the History Whisperer is key to understanding the city’s past and what makes it the place it is today.”
Head of Heritage Preservation and Development, Alan Smith, said:
“St George’s Hall has always been an incredibly important part of Liverpool since it was built, and to this day it plays a role in important moments in people’s lives, whether it is hosting a wedding or by being the place you visit to register a birth, death or marriage.
“Now, using the latest technology, we are able to bring alive the sights and sounds of the city’s past in a way that has never been done before, bringing a whole new dimension to the experience of visiting the building.
“It is hugely exciting for us and is a key part of our determination to make sure the building is as relevant today as it always has been – a living, breathing part of life in the city.”
Speaking on behalf of The History Whisperer consortium, Chief Executive and Creative Director of Gazooky Studios, Dr Rose Kay, said:
“We are delighted to be given this amazing opportunity.
“Our aim has been to bring the spaces of St George’s Hall alive with an immersive, interactive storytelling attraction unlike anything else in the UK.
“It combines the latest XR technology, film, art and music which I know will move people and have them reflecting on life for the city’s ancestors.
“It has been a great privilege to be working with other Liverpool-based companies and with the community, to create a world-class experience, sharing stories of Liverpool’s rich past.”