Everyman's Everyword festival returns
It's been a brilliant comeback year for the Everyman so far, with the new, improved building clinching architecture's star prize, the Stirling, last week, and following it up with a couple more accolades in the UK Theatre Awards today (Sunday). Huzzah! For a real taste of what makes the Ev tick, this week sees the return of its annual celebration of writing, Everyword. From Wednesday (October 22) until to Sunday (October 26) at the Everyman, the Playhouse Studio and across the city, there will be a series of new plays, workshops and literary happenings with contributions from city talents including Lizzie Nunnery, Jeff Young and Luke Barnes. There’s the chance to catch YEP actor Lewis Bray’s new one-man show about his family which transports us into the world created by his autistic brother: Cartoonopolis; three sisters come of age in a crumbling British Legion club in In Wonderland written by Luke Barnes and directed by Everyman & Playhouse associate director Nick Bagnall; the festival rounds off with The Sum by Lizzie Nunnery, a new political play with songs. Ray + Julie on London Road, described as 'part performance, part workshop, part installation', invites you to see London Road through the eyes of the mysterious lovers celebrated in a piece of graffiti; 10 years ago artists Alan Dunn and Brigitte Jurack sank two metal chairs into the concrete for Ray and Julie, should they ever return. Now writer Jeff Young - who's Bright Phoenix is currently on at the Ev - teams up with Alan Dunn to find ten collaborators who will create a performance in commemoration to the pair and the site. Every night of the festival the Everyman gets its own 'speakers’ corner' with Platform, curated by writers Alison Down and Paddy Hughes. On October 24, there’s storytelling over a pint or two with Liverpool Rambles, as Alan Barnes hosts eight writers with stories to spin and worlds to conjure. There are Q&As and talks with Northern Stage as they scout for shows and companies to take to their Edinburgh venue next year. Lloyd Newson of the world-renowned DV8 will give a free talk free talk about his working methods and the UK première of his new show, JOHN, which is at the Playhouse on October 23 and 24, while A Good Night Out is an exploration of popular, political theatre and the ideas of Everyman legend John McGrath. Finally on the October 23, 23 miniature events will be taking place in 23 places around the city for - wait for it - 23, which is linked to Daisy Campbell’s Cosmic Trigger in November at Camp and Furnace. They say: "In bookshops and pubs and out on the streets, in the Everyman Theatre in the bar and on the stage and in the cupboard under the stairs. Inside hidden corners and from the cracks in the walls, from the topmost window and at the bottom of your glass. 23 is utter nonsense, and the key to the universe. The extraordinary found within the ordinary. The number 23 is everywhere." For dates, times and to book tickets, visit the website.
