Blue (Multiplay Drama)

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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).

You have only to attend one of the hundreds of lecture-recitals on early woodwind instruments which Munrow gives up and down the country, and abroad, every year to realise how much his playing has caused such instruments to be taken seriously – to be thought of not merely as musical fossils, but as a range of sonorities that hold unlimited delights for the listener, and which today’s composers can find an invaluable stimulus. If you can’t get to one of his lecture recitals, then his exciting new demonstration disc, The Medieval Sound on the Oryx label, will serve the purpose: though seeing him play these colourful instruments inevitably adds further dimension. Medieval music has never for him been a dead art exhumed by scholars. It is alive and well and flourishing world over. D sits in meetings. On the outside she feigns interest in the office politics. On the inside, questions gnaw away at her as she tries to work out what to do with her life and the new one she’s carrying. It will be directed by Chris Sonnex, Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens (an Associate Company at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse): We tell the tales that need to be told now, by the people that need to tell them, in the places they need to be heard. 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.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);

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. Do you think the play will challenge what people think they know about mental-health care and mental illness? However, it’s important to stress that Blueis a play and not a documentary, it doesn’t need to be as there are loads of brilliant documentaries about the state of mental health services in the UK. In BlueI was trying to get closer to the feeling, the emotive content of what modern mental-health care can feel like, rather than a factual recounting of a specific mental-health unit. 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. Perhaps but generally I don’t start writing a play with an intent to be educative or to change people’s minds. I try and follow what I find interesting, or upsetting, or moving and hope that it might do the same for an audience. However, the research I did for the play definitely gave me a greater understanding of how difficult, and how much sacrifice there is, in working in a mental-health setting. There’s a growing awareness of the stigma around mental health conditions but I also think that attitudes toward professionals who care for people with mental-health conditions are not as appreciative or as positive as they could be. It’s a job that involves caring for people under very difficult, emotive and complex circumstances. I think that can go unnoticed and so if Bluedidgive an audience a greater awareness of this then that would be great. However, it wasn’t my primary aim, my main aim was to try and immerse the audience in the world of mental-health care rather than give them my opinion on that world.For younger children there’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea (12 to 17 February), Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book (9 to 13 April) and Tom Fletcher’s There’s A Monster in Your Show (28 May to 1 June). Munrow challenges the assumption that dementia is worse for those close to the patient than the sufferer themselves. "If someone broke their leg, they would be in pain," Simon reasons. "If someone's mind breaks, wouldn't you think they're in pain as well?" The short, staccato scenes seem to echo the distortions and disorientation of the disease: conversations are generally held at cross-purposes, or directly contradict each other, reminding us that collective truth is rarely more than an aggregate of fallible reminiscences. 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), R osie Holt: That’s Politainment (25 May) and Danny Davies (11 September). Plus there’s poetry from Hollie McNish: The Lobster Tour (27 June). Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse today announce a 2024 season which boasts world premieres, classic plays and projects with their Associate Companies, with the development of new talent at the fore. It’s a year that sees the Everyman celebrate sixty years since it’s foundation and ten years since the Stirling Prize winning new building opened. Facilitators for Edition 6 include Jane Fallowfield, Grace Gummer, Lucy Morrison, Hamish Pirie, Sam Pritchard, Izzy Rabey and Anthony Simpson-Pike.

I’m excited to direct this incredible play that is full of McDonagh’s trademark dark, violent and hilarious dialogue. But also explodes the ever-relevant theme of revenge. I can’t wait to see how the audiences of Liverpool react to it at the iconic theatre space of the Everyman.” For younger children, there’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea (12 to 17 February), Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book (9 to 13 April) and Tom Fletcher’s There’s A Monster in Your Show (28 May to 1 June). 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 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);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. 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.