For the first time in the U.K., Joseph Heller’s seminal World War II novel Catch-22 comes to the stage. Explosive, subversive, wild and funny, after 50 years the strength of Heller’s story is undiminished, and his own adaptation is brought to the Liverpool Playhouse by Northern Stage from Tuesday 27th to Saturday 31st May.

Set in the closing months of World War II, a bombardier named Yossarian is trapped in the absurd world of an inescapable war. Frantic and furious as thousands of people he has never met try to kill him, Yossarian is stalked and thwarted by the merciless Catch-22.

The novel, published in 1961, has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, and is often cited as one of the greatest novels of all time, ranking 11th in the 2003 B.B.C. survey The Big Read.

Heller’s war time satire is directed by award-winning American director Rachel Chavkin. She is the founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based devising ensemble the TEAM, directing/co-authoring ten works including Mission Drift, which recently completed a sold-out run at London’s National Theatre.

Chavkin said, “Heller’s stage adaptation really captures the heart of the book, and this production will aim to further breathe that air: absurd comedy, deadpan horror, and an amazing hero/antihero at the centre. Audiences can expect period music, some jitterbugging, purgatory antics, and moments of quiet at the end of the world. And humour of course: Heller’s, and mine.”

Catch 22 is brought to the Playhouse by Northern Stage, last in Liverpool with Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills. The cast includes Daniel Ainsworth (The Magic Flute, Complicite/ENO), Philip Arditti (Sixty Six Books, Bush Theatre), Geoff Arnold (Mansfield Park, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), Victoria Bewick (Call the Midwife, B.B.C.) Simon Darwen (Mad About the Boy, Young Vic), Michael Hodgson (Noir, Northern Stage), Liz Kettle (Henry VI, RSC), Christopher Price (Blue Remembered Hills, Northern Stage), David Webber (The Government Inspector, Young Vic).

There are two matinee performances of Catch 22, On Thursday 29^th May at 1.30pm and Saturday 31^st May at 2pm. Tickets are priced at £10-£23. Tickets can be bought from the Playhouse Theatre Box office, by telephone on 0151 7094776 or online at  www.everymanplayhouse.com.