From The Artistic Team

It’s been a big month for us!

As well as opening our first piece of new writing this year, and announcing a new production of Shirley Valentine as the final part of our 60th Anniversary Season, we’re delighted to have two new people in the Artistic team:

· Erenie Mavrommatis comes back to Liverpool as our Artistic Administrator, after working away at the Royal Shakespeare Company; and

· Harriet Warnock (who when I arrived seemed to be attached to basically every theatre project in this city) joins as Producer whilst Michelle is off having a baby.

Give them a lovely welcome if you see them around the Ev! We’re super lucky to have them in the team.

Open Script Submissions

It’s nearly that time of year again… We’ll be accepting submissions of new plays throughout June! So if you’ve got a new play you’d like to send us, we want to read it.

We’re committed to thrilling, big-hearted, forward-thinking theatre that responds to its time and place, ignites the imagination and wrestles with the knotty, complicated business of being human.

That can take loads of different forms, which means there’s a huge variety of things that might excite us in a play or a writer – what’s important is clarity of intent. We should be able to read your work and really get a sense of who you are as an artist, and what’s energising you.

With two productions by local playwrights on our main stage at the Everyman this season, we’re massively looking forward to reading more brilliant stories from the city.

For more information see our website.

Writers' Room

As usual, the Writers’ Room is available for your use. With a library of fantastic contemporary scripts (and some old ones I’ve never heard of), it’s a great place to come and be inspired, do some co-working, or get round a table to read a new play.

You can either email me to book in advance (newworks@everymanplayhouse.com), or just come to the Everyman and chance your luck! If the building is open, the Writers’ Room is there for you to work in peace and quiet.

(Note that it is not a lending library! Please put scripts back on the shelves before you leave.) 

Save the date!

If you couldn’t make it down to the Freelance Mixer for Ned Ludd, book yourself into the next one – which will overlap with a preview performance of Tell Me How It Ends.

If you're a freelance theatre artist of any kind, come and connect with fellow creatives living and working in the city, as well as members of Everyman & Playhouse staff.

When?

6pm on Wed 12 Jun

Where?

EV2, on the first floor at the Everyman Theatre

What’s going on?

6pm-6.15pm. Check in & Welcome drink

6.15pm-7pm. Mingle and mix with other freelance artists and Everyman & Playhouse staff.

7.30pm. Option to see Tell Me How It Ends – with discounted tickets! Use code MIXER10 to see the play for £10.

Post-show. Feel free to stick around & get a drink with new friends in the Theatre Bar

We’ll be announcing more mixers later in the year, all coinciding with our other in-house shows: Tell Me How It Ends, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and Rapunzel.

Book your place here.

What's coming up

We’ve got a great set of workshops coming up at the Everyman this month:

Equity North West Workshops

Everyman Theatre

Fri 26 – Sat 27 Apr

We’re delighted to be partnering with Equity Northwest, running some affordable workshops and drop-in sessions for artists in the city.

Sessions include:

· The writer/director relationship, with Jim Cartwright and Nick Bagnall

· Health and well-being and the Equity Women’s Toolkit, with Sarah Lewis and Vicki Adlard

· How to produce your own work, with Natasha Patel

· A practical workshop on how to create a knock-out self-tape, with Danny Burns

For the full list, see our website.

Building Brilliant Language: A writing workshop with Joe Ward Munrow

Everyman Theatre

Sat 11 May

For writers of all levels, Joe (writer of The Legend of Ned Ludd) will guide you through the creative use of language – and the ticket comes with a free pastry! The dream.

AND – we’re so happy to be supporting various our YEP grads to put on a new show in the Playhouse Studio:

Potato Milk

Playhouse Studio

Thu 30 May – Sat 1 Jun

If you want to check out some proper homegrown talent, make sure you see this queer scouse comedy that’s written, produced, made by and starring YEP artists past and present.

Potato Milk weaves together the lives of polyamorous, queer, vegan-wannabes trying to make sense of a heteronormative, homophobic, lactose-filled world – and it’s very funny.

Also on my radar

FESTIVALS

Up Next Festival

Unity Theatre

Wed 24 Apr – Sat 4 May

Our friends down at the Unity are putting on a two-week festival celebrating Merseyside artists, selected via their Open Call 2024.

There’s huge variety – from theatre to sound installation, via comedy, cabaret and poetry – so really worth a look. There’ll be something for everyone, and you can get either single tickets or a festival pass that gets you into everything! Who needs Edinburgh, eh?

WoWFEST: Fahrenheit 2024

Multiple Liverpool Venues

Wed 1 – Fri 31 May

This has pretty much the most apocalyptic blurb I’ve ever read, so I’m just gonna copy it for you:

“The New World Order is causing disorder and destruction on an unprecedented scale, with global warming, polluted air, raw sewage poured into the sea and rivers, soil degradation, deforestation, and the loss of biodiversity all the result of the pursuit of profit over people and the planet. Forty-five armed conflicts are raging in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, with countless people maimed and killed; toxic bombs equal a toxic environment. Still the bombs keep dropping, still they turn their heads.

WoWFEST: FAHRENHEIT 2024 will unite writers, artists and audiences to highlight the urgent need for change through writing, performance and activism to fight for the preservation of our planet.”

Wow indeed.

THEATRE

Silence

HOME Manchester

Tue 30 Apr – Sat 4 May

The pioneering company Tara Theatre are bringing their adaptation of Kavita Puri’s oral history project about the 1947 partition of India out on tour.

Based on personal testimony from those who lived through the last days of the British Raj, and commissioned to mark the 75th anniversary of partition, this has been created by a brilliant team of writers and I reckon will be incredibly moving.

EXHIBITION

The Sefton Open 2024

The Atkinson

Until 4 May

This has been on for a month, but I’ve only just found out about it! A variety of works from individuals and local groups, showcasing the creativity of visual artists across Sefton borough. Looks gorgeous.

Jobs & Opportunities

Verity Bargate Award

Soho Theatre

Deadline Mon 17 Jun, 11am.

One of the big playwriting prizes, the VBA is open again! With an £8,000 prize, a full run at London’s Soho Theatre and readings in India and the USA up for grabs (!), this is definitely worth your attention.

Judges include some fantastic writers, directors and actors – plus Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem!

There’s a free online information session at 7.30pm on Weds 1 May (sign up here). More details via Soho Theatre website.

Mustapha Matura Award

Deadline Wed 31 Jul.

Open to any playwright of Caribbean or African descent, this award comes with £3,000 and a 9-month mentoring programme from a leading Black British writer.

Part of the Alfred Fagon Award, which has championed work by Black writers for years, this is a really brilliant opportunity.

EDI Consultant

Royal Court

Deadline Fri 17 May

Liverpool’s Royal Court are looking to work with an external consultant on their EDI strategy and delivery over a 6-9 month period.

Application is a CV and cover letter.

Fee: £5-6k.

For some reason I can’t find this referenced on the Royal Court’s own website, but there are details over at Uncover Liverpool.

Communications Officer

Shakespeare North

Deadline Wed 8 May

For any of you with experience in marketing, our friends in Prescot are looking for a comms person who can engage with audiences and local communities to tell the story of the work they’re doing.

Apply via the Shakespeare North website.