Blue (Multiplay Drama)

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There will be collaborations on productions with Homotopia and Cardboard Citizens and a co-production with Talawa Theatre Company to be announced in February, and further work with Graeae on its artist development programme, Beyond. Graeae’s Crips with Chips: A Fork in the Road, a showcase of short plays by Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers written in response to a predetermined theme, will visit Liverpool (24 February). The cast for Edition 6 include Marion Bailey, Cian Binchy, Amanda Coogan, Tim Crouch, Louisa Harland, Lara Grace Ilori, Rose Lewenstein, Maimuna Memon, Rachael Merry, Nando Messias, Sule Rimi, Grace Savage, Dorcas Sebuyange, Michelle Tiwo, Alan Williams, Millicent Wong and Basil the Dog. Do you think the play will challenge what people think they know about mental-health care and mental illness? The Playhouse season also includes Unfortunate, a musical telling the untold story of Ursula the Sea Witch (5 to 9 March); Pilot Theatre's contemporary version of Orpheus in The Song for Ella Grey (13 to 16 March); Curve Theatre’s My Beautiful Laundrette (26 to 30 March); imitating the dog's Frankenstein (17 to 20 April); Tim Rice: I Know Him So Well, My Life in Musicals (2 May); Showstopper: The Improvised Musical (9 to 11 May); and Drop the Dead Donkey the Reawakening (14 to 18 May).

At the heart of the Everyman season are three homegrown productions, two of which come from writers supported through the theatres’ playwright programmes. As well as its own productions and collaborations, ensuring the best in UK theatre and entertainment comes to the city, the theatres also announce a visiting programme including the return of their co-production with Nottingham Playhouse and UK Productions of The Kite Runner (23 to 27 April), which since last seen in Liverpool has been on Broadway.The play explores how AI and automation are changing the world of work and at the heart of the play we have a “machine” with the power to choose the scenes played by our three actors. It creates a sense of ‘dare’ for the performers and the audience and I’m really excited to see it play out on stage.” Facilitators for Edition 6 include Jane Fallowfield, Grace Gummer, Lucy Morrison, Hamish Pirie, Sam Pritchard, Izzy Rabey and Anthony Simpson-Pike. The Playhouse season also includes Unfortunate, a musical telling the untold story of Ursula the Sea Witch (5 to 9 March); Pilot Theatre return with a contemporary version of Orpheus in The Song for Ella Grey (13 to 16 March); Curve Theatre’s My Beautiful Laundrette (26 to 30 March), directed by Nicole Behan from Liverpool’s Paperwork Theatre;; imitating the dog create a new Frankenstein (17 to 20 April); Tim Rice: I Know Him So Well, My Life in Musicals (2 May); Showstopper: The Improvised Musical (9 to 11 May); and Drop the Dead Donkey the Reawakening (14 to 18 May); The play isn't perfect: Simon's soliloquy on the movement of electrons feels like a piece of random physics imparted by the playwright, rather than an observation that springs directly from character. But Katie Scott's beguiling design has an underwater feel; and Lorne Campbell's jittery production puts you permanently on edge. Held introduces a talent worth holding on to.

With both the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse nurturing and developing new talent across decades, 2024 will see their award-winning Young Everyman Playhouse programme going from strength to strength, with a Young People and Community Festival in July. sees the strengthening of creative relationships with the theatres’ Associate Companies, as a springboard for fresh voices and new diverse perspectives, ensuring Liverpool’s cultural scene remains vibrant and dynamic. As well as collaborating on productions with Homotopia and Cardboard Citizens, there will be a major co-production and commission with Talawa Theatre Company to be announced in February 2024. The theatres continue to work with Graeae on their artist development programme Beyond, will support a new Liverpool-based Associate role, and welcome Graeae’s Crips with Chips: A Fork in the Road, a showcase of short plays by Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers written in response to a predetermined theme (24 February). Work experience notwithstanding, this is not an autobiographical piece and the young Ben of the story who runs away to Liverpool from London to escape we-know-not-what, is not Ward Munrow who went from London to Liverpool to study drama at John Moore's University. He remained in the area, and it was The Liverpool Everyman's young writers programme, from which he graduated last year, that fostered the development of this, his first full length play. Anyone who tries to pin down Munrow to any one category of work is doomed to failure. He is not just the crumhorn whizzkid. (Mind you, more ponderous medievalists underestimate his scholarship.) His skill as a deviser of recital programmes has stood him in good stead recently on the radio, when he introduced a series of Afternoon Sequences – two hours of records for Saturday afternoons on Radio 3. He is always on the move. His wife. Gillian, does all the planning of transport, food, and accommodation. Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse's 2024 season comprises world premières, classic plays and projects with their associate companies, celebrating 60 years since the Everyman was founded and 10 years since its current building opened.

Comedy nights include Babatunde Aleshe: Babahood(24 February), Jon Courtenay: Bigger(5 April), Griff Rhys Jones: The Cat’s Pyjamas (30 April), Tom Davis: Underdog(4 May), Rosie Holt: That’s Politainment (25 May) and Danny Davies (11 September). Plus there’s poetry from Hollie McNish: The Lobster Tour (27 June). In 1964, the Everyman Theatre became a beacon of artistic innovation, offering a stage for local playwrights, actors, and directors to experiment and create. That spirit of experimentation and creativity has been a driving force ever since, shaping the identity of Liverpool’s theatre scene and inspiring generations of artists. At the heart of the 2024 Everyman season are three homegrown productions, two of which come from writers supported through the theatres’ playwright programmes.