• Rehearsals began today for the opening show of our new season: A Billion Times I Love You. This tender portrait of a queer couple on the verge of breaking up is directed by Jessica Meade and written by Patrick Maguire with music from the Crawlers. We’re thrilled to have these two YEP alumni in the building to develop this world premiere, for which Patrick won the Homotopia Writers’ Award 2021. You can find out more about the play’s journey to production by reading this interview with Jessica and Patrick. The play will run at the Everyman from Tue 27 Sep to Sat 8 Oct.

• Please join us for the Freelancer Mixer on Wed 28 Sep at 6pm. You can sign up here and you can get a discounted ticket for the show that night by using the code LOVEMIX8. Please come – we’d love to meet you (times a billion…).

• Preparations for the legendary Everyman Rock ‘n’ Roll panto are in full swing. Red Riding Hood is now fully cast. I’m happy to report that the team is stretching out their puppet wrestling muscles and warming up their villainous laughs ready to thrill us all come November. Performances running from Fri 25 Nov to Sat 14 Jan.

• Applications for our Playwrights Programme will open on Mon 12 Sep. We invite up to eight writers each year to participate in this free course. Applicants must be over 18 and based in Liverpool. Talent and passion are more important than experience; the selected writers will engage in fortnightly workshops to help develop a new full-length play. If this sounds exciting, please keep an eye on this page for further announcements. If you have any questions, you can email us at newworks@everymanplayhouse.com.

• If you are interested in joining our 2022-2023 YEP Programme, applications are now open. This is a six-strand programme designed to give young people hands on experience to kick start their careers in theatre. If you are a future actor, director, technician, producer, writer, or marketer, then this is the programme for you. Please note that this opportunity is for those aged between 18-25, apart from our acting strand, for which we are accepting applicants aged 13-23. You can find out more about how to apply here. Closing date for all pathways is Tue 20 Sep.

• Stage One have just opened applications for their Stage One Autumn 2022 Bursary Award. This is a fantastic opportunity for early career producers. Recipients can apply for up to £15,000 to support new projects and will receive ongoing mentorship from experienced professional producers. The scheme is open to any age group; their only criteria is that you have a project at an early stage that you would like to develop further. And they really do mean early stage – you might just have a writer and director interested in an idea but no funds to progress it. Stage One have made a commitment to supporting individuals from under-represented backgrounds and will prioritise these applicants. More detail about the bursary here and instructions on how to apply here. Your applications need to be in by 10am on Mon 19 Sep.

• Bread & Roses Playwrighting Award is accepting submissions until Fri 14 Oct. This is a competition for full length theatre plays that have not previously been produced or published and feature at least half female, non-binary or gender-neutral roles. The winner receives a professional production at The Bread and Roses Theatre in London. More information here.

• The Palace Theatre & Opera House in Manchester are recruiting an Access and Marketing Officer. This role will sit within the Marketing & Communications team and span both venues. Applicants will need some marketing experience as the job will require liaising with visiting productions, external marketing agencies, other ATG venues, and Revenue Management. You can apply online here. £25k-30k a year. Applications in by Wed 14 Sep.

• The Unity Theatre are running their Up Next Festival over two weekends – first in Thur 15 to Sat 17 Sep and then again in October. There is a massive variety of events, which revolve around new work by Merseyside performers. You can book each show individually for £8, or buy a Festival Pass for £25, which gives you access to all events that weekend. You can read more about the festival and their line up here.

• Shakespeare North are performing a trio of new plays from writers under the age of 18. Following a national call-out for scripts on The One Show, three winners were chosen to develop their scripts, working with a professional creative team to see their productions come to life. Performances from Fri 9 Sep to Sat 10 Sep. Tickets here.