Everyman & Playhouse Associate Director Nick Bagnall will direct his first play for the company this spring with a dark, contemporary telling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Everyman. Mr. Bagnall’s previous interpretations of Shakespeare include Henry VI Trilogy for Shakespeare’s Globe which also toured to battlefields around the country. The cast features Cynthia Erivo as Puck and Dean Nolan as Bottom, while Andrew Schofield returns to the Everyman stage for the first time in ten years. The production runs at the Hope Street venue from Saturday 21st March to Saturday 18th April.
The rebellious spirit synonymous with the Everyman’s thrust stage will be accentuated in Shakespeare’s most magical play a year on from its triumphant reopening. The autocratic Athenian world of order and manners is brought crashing down when four mismatched lovers stumble into the murky woods where balaclava-clad fairies cause chaos and delusions. A riot of mischief and wonder, circus and vaudeville create transformation everywhere and, as walls and traditions come crashing down, a ragged company of labourers deliver a play fit for dreamers.
Bagnall joined the Everyman & Playhouse last year following the success of The Last Days of Troy at Shakespeare’s Globe and Britannia Waves the Rules at Royal Exchange, Manchester. His other directing credits include Betrayal (Sheffield Crucible), Billy Liar (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Entertaining Mr Sloane (Trafalgar Studios).
The ensemble cast includes Cynthia Erivo as Puck, Dean Nolan as Bottom and Andrew Schofield as Peter Quince. Cynthia starred as Celie in The Colour Purple at Menier Chocolate Factory and will reprise the role on Broadway later this year. Her other acting credits include the all-female production of Henry IV at Donmar Warehouse and I Can’t Sing! Dean recently appeared in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore and Knight of the Burning Pestle at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and in Steptoe and Son for Kneehigh. Andrew was last at the Everyman in On Tour in 2005. A favourite of Liverpool audiences, he has a long history with both theatres, including No Holds Barred and Dr. Faustus at the Everyman and Blood on the Dole and Flint Street Nativity at the Playhouse.
Nick Bagnall said, “I am thrilled to be directing this extraordinary ensemble of actors in the most beautiful of Shakespeare’s plays as my first show as Associate here at the Everyman and Playhouse. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that evokes mischief, mayhem, joy and anarchy. All the vital ingredients that the Everyman space demands.”
Game of Thrones’ Charlotte Hope (Theory of Everything, Working Title Films) will portray Hermia, while warring fairies Titania and Oberon are played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Cucumber and Top Boy, Channel 4) and Garry Cooper (The Last Days of Troy, Shakespeare’s Globe). The cast also includes Young Everyman Playhouse graduate Lewis Bray (Cartoonopolis, Playhouse Studio), Emma Curtis (Hamlet, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Michael Hawkins (Cilla, ITV), Alan Stocks (Twelfth Night, Liverpool Everyman), Tom Varey (The Village, BBC), Matt Whitchurch (Call the Midwife, BBC) and Ozzie Yue (Kensuke’s Kingdom, Bloomsbury Theatre).
The production will also include a relaxed performance suitable for people with autism. The Everyman & Playhouse have previously had success with relaxed performances of its rock ‘n’ roll panto. The performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be the first relaxed performance of a Shakespeare production by a regional theatre, marking the company as a leader in this area.
Tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream are available to purchase from the Liverpool Everyman/Playhouse Box offices, online at www.everymanplayhouse.com or by telephone on 0151 709 4776. Tickets for performances are priced between £12 and £20*.
*A single transaction fee of £2 applies to all phone, counter and internet bookings. Cash payments are exempt from any transaction fees.