Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse have announce their first season under new artistic director Suba Das – which includes a 40th anniversary production of Caryl Churchill's classic Top Girls.
The show, at the Everyman next March, will be directed by Das but otherwise has an all-female creative team and company.
Das’s first directing role will be the Everyman's famous rock ‘n’ roll panto (November 25-January 14), a new version of Red Riding Hood.
The season's first production (September 27-October 8) is award-winning queer love story A Billion Times I Love You by Patrick Maguire, a graduate of the Young Everyman
Playhouse programme. The production is supported by LGBTQI arts festival Homotopia,
Re-imagined for the Playhouse in 2023 (March 1-11) will be The Beekeeper of Aleppo, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Christy Lefteri. This story of connection between friends, families and strangers is a co-production with Nottingham Playhouse and UK Productions – the partners behind the hugely-successful stage adaptation of The Kite Runner that recently opened on Broadway.
Das, formerly artistic director at London-based HighTide, said: "The Liverpool Everyman and the Playhouse have held great reputations as powerhouses of new writing and talent development – it’s what drew me to this incredible opportunity.
“I’m blown away to have Caryl Churchill’s permission to create what we hope will be a landmark revival of one of the most important plays ever written. I’m profoundly aware of the responsibilities I have as a man leading this production.
"In the 40 years since the play was written there has been so much progress, but as abortion rights are rolled back in America, and the culture wars concerning gender grow ever-more toxic, it’s clear there are still battles to fight."
Also announced are collaborations with a range of UK theatrical organisations, who will work with local artists, share knowledge and produce work representative of the current world.
Next year comes a new musical version of Alice in Wonderland (Playhouse, summer 2023) and High Times and Dirty Monsters (autumn 2023) produced with theatre company 20 Stories High and Graeae. Full details will be announced later this year.
The Everyman will also host a mental health and wellbeing event, the State of Mind Symposium with 20 Stories High and is building a company of deaf, disabled and neuro-divergent artists.
Companies visiting the Playhouse include Frantic Assembly (Othello, October 4-8), English Touring Theatre (The Importance of Being Earnest, October 11-15) and Pilot Theatre (Noughts and Crosses, November 22-26). The Playhouse Christmas show (December 6-January 8) is SIX The Musical, about which international phenomenon little more needs to be said...
As well as the on-stage programme, the theatres are committed to opening up their spaces for people to meet, be creative and feel connected – most notably at the Everyman with the return of Life Rooms, a partnership developed pre-pandemic with NHS Mersey Care; an artist in residence programme in collaboration with dot-art, and supporting The Comedy Trust with Laughter After Loss.
With regular, comedy, music, spoken word, cabaret nights and backstage tours, the Everyman aims to be a welcoming space for all.