The Playhouse Studio will host a short season of three plays. From 27th September to 1st October, Shakespeare, His Wife and the Dog is written and performed by former Everyman Company member Philip Whitchurch and imagines Shakespeare’s marriage in a present-day setting. Just An Ordinary Lawyer is a new play by Tayo Aluko, the man behind Call Mr. Robeson, tells the story of Britain’s first black judge from 4th to 8th October. The award-winning Spine charts the explosive friendship between a ferocious, wise-cracking teenager and an elderly East End widow from 11th to 15th October.

Former Everyman Company member Philip Whitchurch (Lennon, Liverpool Everyman; My Hero, B.B.C., The Bill, I.T.V.) returns to Liverpool with Shakespeare, His Wife and the Dog, which was a real hit with Edinburgh Fringe audiences in 2014. Set in April 1616 – Shakespeare has returned to Stratford a rich and famous man but all’s not well. He is unhappy, can’t sleep and his wife furious with him. The secret, lies, resentments and passions of a marriage laid bare.

Tayo Aluko developed Just An Ordinary Lawyer while he was a writer on attachment with Everyman & Playhouse. The one-man show which is written and performed by Aluko tells the story of Britain’s first black judge, Nigerian-born Tunji Sowande. Also a fine concert singer and keen cricket lover, Sowande muses on international politics and history as they affect the Black world from Africa to the U.S.A. and Britain, from the point of view of one who would rather watch sports, and spread love and peace through the medium of song.

Written by fast-rising Channel 4 playwright Clara Brennan, comes the Fringe First and Herald Angel award winning Spine, a hilarious and heartbreaking call to arms for our modern age. The production explores the relationship between mischievous activist pensioner Glenda, who is hell-bent on leaving a political legacy and teenager Amy, who she is trying to save from the Tory scrapheap because ‘there’s nothing more terrifying than a teenager with something to say’. In an era of cuts and disillusionment, has politics forgotten the people? Can we really take the power back? Amy is about to be forced to find out.

Bated Breath presents Shakespeare, His Wife and the Dog.

Dates: Tuesday 27th September to Saturday 1st October

Times: 7:45pm (Except 29th Sep), Twilight: Thursday 29th September at 5:30pm, Matinee: Saturday 1st October at 2pm.

Tayo Aluko & Friends presents Just An Ordinary Lawyer.

Dates: Tuesday 4th October to Saturday 8th October.

Times: 7:45pm (Except 6th October), Twilight: Thursday 6th October at 5:30pm.

Soho Theatre and Francesca Moody presents Spine.

Dates: Tuesday 11th October to Saturday 15th October.

Times: 7:45pm (Except 13th October), Twilight: Thursday 13 October at 5:30pm, Matinee: Saturday 15 October at 2pm.

Tickets are priced at £12 – £16* and are available from the Box office, by telephone on 0151 709 4776 or online at www.everymanplayhouse.com.

*A single transaction fee of £2 applies to all phone, counter and internet bookings. Cash payments are exempt from any transaction fees.