About Us

who we are

TWO GREAT THEATRES, ONE CREATIVE HEART

The over-arching mission of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse is to create theatre of the highest quality which is firmly rooted in our community, yet both national and international in scope and ambition.

Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse together make up a single engine for creative excellence, artistic adventure and audience involvement. In recent years we have been on a remarkable journey, described as “a theatrical renaissance on Merseyside” (Observer).

In 2004, with the arrival of Artistic Director, Gemma Bodinetz, and Executive Director, Deborah Aydon, an integrated programme across the two buildings was created, that has generated critical acclaim and audience growth, and been the springboard for forward-looking programmes of artist development and youth and community engagement.

 

In less than six years we have produced 22 world premières (the majority by Liverpool writers); audiences have grown by 47%; over 90,000 school and college students have participated in our work, and each year we have worked closely with over 10,000 people who had never been involved with theatre before.
 

beyond liverpool

Over the last few years we have repeatedly collaborated with partners beyond Liverpool and the UK, taking work to new audiences and putting Liverpool theatres firmly on the national cultural map.

Recent productions to have a further life beyond Liverpool include West End transfers of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker, directed by Christopher Morahan and starring Jonathan Pryce, Ghost Stories by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, which broke box office records with co-producers Lyric Hammersmith following a Liverpool world première , a co-production of The Hypochondriac with English Touring Theatre, and King Lear starring Pete Postlethwaite with Headlong and the Young Vic.

Recent collaborations include Canary by Jonathan Harvey with Hampstead Theatre and English Touring Theatre and a co-production of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists in a new adaptation by Howard Brenton with Chichester Festival Theatre.