It’s the summer of love!
(and also of ancient feuds, but let’s not dwell on that bit)
Yes, it can only mean one thing: Romeo & Juliet starts rehearsals this week! And we’re buzzing that YEP grad Ellie Hurt is back with us to direct a fast-paced version with gorgeous live music – not to mention your favourite panto baddie in a slightly different role…
You might also have seen that our Seed Commission prompts are now on the website! Applications for these will open in September, but we wanted you to have some time to get thinking in the meantime...
Otherwise, the theatres are dark over August, so normal service will resume from Tue 2 September.
When we come back, we’ll have the usual monthly Meeting Points for our creative community, including Creative Co-working (with free tea and coffee!), Production Process workshops and Freelancers’ Mixers – plus the Writers’ Room will be back open!
Elsewhere, it’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! So I’ve got a few recommendations for local artists who I know how have shows on there, in case you happen to be making the journey up.
Finally, a few opportunities on offer as well!
Have a great summer, and see you in September.
Tommo
New Works Associate
Since the last newsletter, we’ve had three shows at the Everyman! After Billie Collins’ luminous The Walrus Has a Right to Adventure (“pure theatrical alchemy”, according to The Stage), we staged two YEP Actors’ productions:
the 14-17s brought us The Snow Dragons by Lizzie Nunnery, a musical about young people caught in the middle of a war – and, as the complete opposite, the 18-25s devised The Joy Shift with All Things Considered, which gave an hour of blissful, gloriously daft escapism. A huge well done to everyone – brilliant work.
We’re also having a great time reading all the plays sent in through Open Script Submissions window. Thanks to everyone who shared their work with us!
Loads of reasons to come and hang out with us at the Everyman over the coming months:
Creative Co-working.
First Thursday of the month (4 Sept, 2 Oct, 6 Nov, 4 Dec), from 11.30am. Drop into the Writers’ Room for chats, advice and free tea and coffee!
Production Process.
Confirmed workshops so far this autumn are:
- Fundraising beyond the Arts Council, with Ros Gordon (Development Manager) and Ros Thomas (Finance Director). Thursday 25 September, 1-2pm.
- Working with young people, with Hayley Lindley-Thornhill (Head of Young People & Community). Thursday 23 October, 2-4pm.
Registration is via our website. If you sign up for a place, please let us know if you can no longer attend. Places are capped, and we want to make sure that no-one misses out who wants to come.
Freelancers’ Mixers.
The next Mixers will be Wednesday 17 September (Romeo & Juliet) and Wednesday 19 November (Jack and the Beanstalk). Register here.
Loads of reasons to come and hang out with us at the Everyman over the coming months:
Creative Co-working.
First Thursday of the month (4 Sept, 2 Oct, 6 Nov, 4 Dec), from 11.30am. Drop into the Writers’ Room for chats, advice and free tea and coffee!
Production Process.
Confirmed workshops so far this autumn are:
- Fundraising beyond the Arts Council, with Ros Gordon (Development Manager) and Ros Thomas (Finance Director). Thursday 25 September, 1-2pm.
- Working with young people, with Hayley Lindley-Thornhill (Head of Young People & Community). Thursday 23 October, 2-4pm.
Registration is via our website. If you sign up for a place, please let us know if you can no longer attend. Places are capped, and we want to make sure that no-one misses out who wants to come.
Freelancers’ Mixers.
The next Mixers will be Wednesday 17 September (Romeo & Juliet) and Wednesday 19 November (Jack and the Beanstalk). Register here.
Jobs & opportunities
Apart from the ones listed here, you can find loads of great opps elsewhere
- Uncover Liverpool’s monthly newslette
- the Open Hire mailing list (where you can also post job opportunities)
- Linda Bloomfield’s Opportunity Tuesday Substack, and
- for writers specifically, London Playwrights newsletter (which, despite the name, includes opportunities all over the country)
New Earth Theatre Makers Academy
Deadline: 10am, Friday 15 August
1-week full-time course in October 2025 for 18+ year old North West based East Asian and South East Asian creatives and artists who are interested in creating their own work for live performance.
During the academy, participants will learn a range of theatre making skills including performing, devising, producing and fundraising so they are equipped to take their creative projects from first idea to final performance.
Dates: Mon 6 Oct to Fri 10 Oct
Location: Liverpool Everyman
Course Leader: Jennifer Tan
No previous experience required. Open to all interested artists and creatives.
Alfred Fagon Award and Mustapha Matura Award & Mentoring Programme
Deadline: Sunday 31 August, 5pm
Two playwriting prizes for new work by UK writers of Caribbean or African descent: the AFA has a £6,000 bursary, and the MMA £3,000 plus a 9-month mentoring programme.
You just have to upload a play (for stage, not screen or radio)! Easy!
503Five
Theatre503, London
Deadline: Sunday 31 August, 12am midnight
The 503Five is an 18 month residency, offering five writers the opportunity to develop work and find their creative home at Theatre503 by experiencing being at the heart of a new writing theatre.
This scheme is designed for writers who have developed their craft to a high standard but are not yet professionally produced, and gives (amongst other things) a £2,000 seed commission.
Writers’ LAB
20 Stories High
Deadline: Mon 1 September
Our friends down the road are putting together a 6-week programme for playwrights, writers, poets, rappers and lyricists aged 16-30, focussing on writing for young adult audiences.
You’ll be guided to write a new short play through weekly sessions with 20 Stories High Artistic Director Keith Saha and award-winning writer/dramaturg Lin Coghlan – finishing with a professional showcase.
On my radar
WORKSHOP
Dramatising Lost Broadcasts
The Proud Place, Manchester
Saturday 16 August
Two unique free workshops for writers, theatre makers and performers on adapting archival broadcast material for live performance and radio: Playwriting from Archives, and Co-Creating Scripts from Archive.
EDINBURGH
Jack is autistic and on the cusp of his 18th birthday, and Cartoonopolis is his rest from reality – an imaginary world of cartoon capers, amazing adventures and villainous villains. But back in the real world he and his family prepare for change, navigating overstretched services and a system not fit for purpose.
Performed by Jack’s real-life brother, Lewis Ian Bray, I saw a snippet of this a few weeks ago and loved it. If you aren’t going to Edinburgh, it’ll be at the Playhouse on Weds 10 September!
Hairy B*stard
theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall
18 - 23 Aug
Meet Magenta. This 20-something icon is confident, creative and incredibly hairy – particularly on her face. Tonight she's going on a date – perhaps he'll be the love of her life! Or perhaps he'll just stare at her moustache. Either way, its time to pop a pill (birth control), wax ya eyebrows and throw on a primarni dress, because tonight – this hairy bastard is hitting the town!
This semi-autobiographical play is based around the writer's experience with hirsutism and PCOS. Full of lots of interactive, challenging and comedic moments – this one woman show is hair-raising and just enjoyed a 5-star preview show in Liverpool before it heads up to Edinburgh.
Jade Franks (Playwrights’ Programme) has written a hilarious, incisive one-woman show about class, power, and leading a double life as a cleaner and student at Cambridge University.
This is taking the Fringe by storm, with a 5* review in The Guardian and a Fringe First under her belt already – beg or steal a ticket. (If all else fails, the script’s in the Writers’ Room!)
Director Julia Samuels (ex-AD of 20 Stories High) draws together writer and performer Afreena Islam-Wright’s skills as a pub quiz host with the details of her life growing up in Old Trafford, navigating what it is to belong without fitting neatly into either ‘British’ or ‘Bangladeshi’.
It’s interactive! There’s a quiz! And Afreena is such a charming host – I had a lovely time with this.
Director Amber Buttery is working on a comedy about growing up queer in Louisiana – the heart of America’s Bible Belt, and home of Mardi Gras, Southern hospitality and purity culture.
Ongoing offers at the Everyman
Writers’ Room
For those who haven’t spent time in it, the Writers’ Room is available for your use during open hours. With a library of fantastic scripts, it’s a great place to come and be inspired, do some co-working, or get round a table to read a new play.
For quiet working: just drop in! We encourage artists to work alongside one another – but, if the room is booked for a group, you’re welcome to work in the Theatre Bar.
For group reading or discussion: email me to book in advance.
Note that Fridays are currently booked by regular groups. If you want to check availability on a particular day, feel free to email me or call Box Office.
Street Café discounts
Did you know we have discounts for theatre professionals in the Everyman Street Café? Well, we do!
You can get 10% off food and non-alcoholic drinks if you’re:
- a paid-up union member of BECTU, Equity, Independent Theatres Council, Musicians Union, Stage Directors UK or the Writers Guild,
- having an Arts Emergency mentoring session, or
- participating in New Works activity (e.g. Production Process workshop, Creative Co-working, etc).
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