The first wave of casting has been announced for Jonathan Harvey’s Our Lady of Blundellsands, as the Everyman & Playhouse announce their full 2020 spring/summer season filled with new works, big titles, family fun and re-imagined stories.
The Liverpool-born Coronation Street writer initially debuted the script for Our Lady of Blundellsands at a play reading at the Everyman in 2016. Having worked with Everyman creatives to finely tune the script especially for the Everyman stage, the hilariously twisted comic drama makes its premiere from 6th-28th March.
Performing at the Everyman for the first time since 1979, Annette Badland will play the role of Garnet – the weary sister of the unravelling Sylvie. The Birmingham-born actress recently performed in a Shakespeare’s Globe production of The Winter’s Tale that was broadcast live to over 400 cinemas in 2019. Annette also appeared as Babe Smith in Eastenders.
Joining Annette are Liverpool actors Tony Maudsley, Nathan McMullen and Gemma Brodrick. Tony is best known for his role in Benidorm as hairdresser Kenneth du Beke and Gemma makes her Everyman stage debut having appeared in the I.T.V. mini-series Cilla in 2014. Nathan returns to the Everyman, following his role as a young Peer Gynt in Nick Bagnall’s Everyman Company 2018 production of The Big I Am. The Olivier Award-winning Matt Henry is also announced for the production, who won Best Actor in a Musical for his 2016 performance in Kinky Boots.
Our Lady of Blundellsands opens at the Everyman in March and tickets are on sale from Thursday 1th4 November. Tickets are available at: www.everymanplayhouse.com/whats-on.
As the Everyman & Playhouse continues to bring audiences new works by local and regional artists, a co-production with Northern Stage sees Shandyland at the Everyman from 27th May to 7th June. Based around a family-run northern pub, Shandyland is a story about the frustration of abandoned working-class communities. The work joins I Think We Are Alone (11th-15th February) – another new piece of writing that visits the Playhouse by Sally Abbott, co-directed by Kathy Burke and produced by theatre company Frantic Assembly.
Looking into the nature of football fans, a community-led participatory project by local playwright Molly Taylor will be developed with the support of the Everyman & Playhouse’s New Works department for the Everyman stage. ROAR will culminate in a performance at the Everyman in June 2020, and the project is looking for football fans to be a part of the action in the New Year.
The Playhouse welcomes big titles with some of the very best in national touring theatre visiting in 2020. Already announced and on sale for the season is the West End smash hit SIX (3rd-7th March), alongside classic tales The Woman in Black (27th January – 1st February), An Inspector Calls (4th-8th February) and Dial M for Murder (19th-23rd May). The Playhouse also welcomes back Ghost Stories (31st March – 4th April), where the production made its world premiere in 2010.
Bold and innovative theatre companies return to the Playhouse for 2020, as well-known stories will be re-imagined on the Playhouse stage. Imitating the Dog are back following their production of Heart of Darkness, with an ambitious remix of Night of the Living Dead (18th-22nd February). La Navet Bete bring their hilarious brand of slapstick comedy to Liverpool with The Three Musketeers: A Comedy Adventure (28th April – 2nd May).
With a re-working of J.M. Barrie’s (Peter Pan) delicious farce Quality Street (17th-21st March), Northern Broadsides return to the Playhouse for 2020. New artistic director Laurie Sansom directs his first production for the company, with a playful Yorkshire show that inspired the name of the nation’s most popular chocolates!
Families once again take centre stage next season at the Playhouse. For older children, Children’s Theatre Partnership’s adaptation of the modern classic Holes (24th-28th March) by Louis Sachar features puppetry by the designer of Joey in War Horse. Julia Donaldson’s Zog (8th-11th April) and bedtime favourite Oi Frog & Friends (26th-29th February) will be brought to life for young families this spring.
The very best in comedy and one-night shows head to Liverpool, as Ed Byrne (14th May), Mark Thomas (13th & 14th March) and Adam Buxton (16th May) join the already announced John Shuttleworth (25th January) at the Playhouse in the New Year. At the Everyman, Clive Anderson (23rd May) visits with his first ever solo tour. Irish novelist Roddy Doyle (10th March) will take to the stage for a special in conversation event at the Playhouse and Stacey Dooley (20th February) also visits for an in-conversation night, which is close to selling out.
Blending folk music and theatre, an exciting production of one man’s journey from poverty and unemployment, The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff (14th-16th May) completes the season with a visit to the Everyman. Written by folk trio The Young’ uns and directed by The Last Ship director Lorne Campbell, the production follows the footsteps of a working-class hero who chose not to look the other way when the world needed his help and took part in some of the momentous events of the 1930s.
Gemma Bodinetz, artistic director at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, said, “We have an extraordinary spring season this year featuring a wealth of new writing and the very best of touring work from around the country.
We are proud to produce the world premiere of Our Lady of Blundellsands by Liverpool playwright Jonathan Harvey, directed by Nick Bagnall and featuring a stellar cast. Also at the Everyman is Shandyland – a remarkable new play by Bruntwood Prize-winning playwright Gareth Farr.
There are so many great shows to mention for young and old it’s unfair to single any of them out, but we are particularly thrilled to welcome the phenomenon that is Ghost Stories back to the Playhouse where it was first launched in 2010.”
Newly announced shows will go on sale to the general public at 12pm on Thursday 14th November. For more information and to book, visit www.everymanplayhouse.com/whats-on.