everyman news issue 2

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EVERYMAN NEWS ISSUE 02 MARCH 2012 BUilding Begins

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The second issue of Everyman News, to keep you up to date with the redevelopment of Liverpool’s Everyman theatre.

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Page 1: Everyman News issue 2

EVERYMAN NEWS ISSUE 02

MARCH 2012

BU i l d i ngBeg ins

Page 2: Everyman News issue 2

NEW EVERYMAN BUILDING UPDATENEW EVERYMAN BUILDING UPDATE 0302

Front Row L-R: Ivor Wilson (Gilbert-Ash), Raymond Gilroy (Gilbert-Ash), Anthony Roberts (YEP), Whitney Suku (YEP),Kellie Smith (Writer)Back Row L-R: Steve Tompkins (Haworth Tompkins Architects), Laurence Wilson (Writer), Leanne Best (Actor)

On Tuesday 31 January the official new Everyman Groundbreaking ceremonymarked the start of thebuilding work on site and launched the Everyone forthe Everyman public appeal.

Everyman and Playhouse Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz and Executive Director Deborah Aydon on groundbreaking day, 31 January 2012. Architect Steve Tompkins sketching the plans

for the new Everyman on groundbreaking day, 31 January 2012.

The crane arrives, 17 February 2012.

View from the top of the crane.Groundbreaking day photographs by James Maloney / Liverpool ECHO

Page 3: Everyman News issue 2

Many people have already donated through this appeal, joining us on the journey and becoming an integral part of the Everyman’s future. We would like to say ‘thank you’ to each and every one of them (listed at www.everymanplayhouse.com/New Everyman Supporters) and invite others to come aboard.

Together we can create a new world of possibility for brave and brilliant theatre in Liverpool.

EVERYONE FOR THE EVERYMAN

The groundbreaking on the previous pages was a hugely important milestone in the Everyman’s journey.

Standing in the bare earth where the new stage will be; looking around at the space that will house the new Bistro; showing Young Everyman-Playhouse members where their own, dedicated space will be, made it possible to visualise the future in a new and powerful way.

With this focus on the future, we launched the Everyone for the Everyman public appeal, to raise the final slice of funding needed to make the new Everyman, and everything

that happens inside it, the best it can be.Importantly, this appeal is not only for the building: it will make it possible to establish a Talent Fund which we will invest in developing new plays and nurturing new talent in the coming years.

The new theatre is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning. It will allow us to create and present plays in new ways; to involve many hundreds of young people; to bring community groups into the heart of the theatre, and to train and support the actors, writers, directors and craftspeople who will stimulate and delight us for decades to come.

EVERYONE FOR THE EVERYMAN 0504

HOW WE’D LIKE TOTHANK YOU

•Thanks on our website and in a special Everyman launch publication

•A certificate and Everyman badge

As above, and• Regular updates on the construction of the

new Everyman• Regular updates on the impact of your

support on the development of new work and new talent

• Priority booking for the opening season at the new Everyman

As above, and•An invitation for two to an update event

in 2013 and to the announcement of the Everyman’s opening season

•A chance to explore the new building before it opens to the public and meet some of our young artists

As above, and•The opportunity to name or dedicate a

seat in the new Everyman

As above, and•An invitation for two to the official opening

party for the new Everyman•A limited edition print of the new building

Every donation of whatever size

£100+ Or £4.17/month+

£250+ Or £10.42/month+

£500+ Or £20.83/month+

£1,000+ Or £41.67/month+

HOW YOU cANPLAY YOUR PART• By making a regular gift, monthly or

annually for a minimum of two years

• By making a single donation

• By naming or dedicating a seat in the new Everyman

Using Gift Aid will increase the value of your gift by 25%, at no cost to you, and all gifts up to the first £250,000 raised towards our work will be matched by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

THe DIFFERENCE YOURSupport could make

• With 50 people giving £100 we could run a term-long schools programme and equip the new writers’ room.

• With 100 people giving £100 we could furnish the new dressing rooms and commission a new play.

• With 50 people giving £250 we could train a young technician and build the bar in the new Bistro.

• With 50 people giving £500 we could fit out the new costume workshop and create a new Young Everyman Playhouse production.

• With 50 people giving £1,000 we could support a young actor’s training and light up the Everyman with its iconic red sign.

Call 0151 706 9124 Email [email protected] Visit www.everymanplayhouse.comOr pick up a leaflet from the Box Office

HOW TO SUPPORT

SUPPORT THE EVERYMAN

SUpporters

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED THE NEW EVERYMAN

The Monument Trust

Garfield Weston Foundation

Foyle Foundation

The Johnson Foundation

The Wolfson Foundation

J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust

The Granada Foundation

The Oglesby Charitable Trust

The Hemby Trust

The J P Jacobs Charitable Trust

The Oliver Stanley Charitable Trust

AND EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED THE APPEAL SO FARwww.everymanplayhouse.com/NewEverymanSupporters

Illustrations © Haworth Tompkins

Page 4: Everyman News issue 2

Portrait wall Portrait wall06 07

ABOUT DAN KENYONDan Kenyon was born in Hull. After studying the History of Art and Photography at Sussex University, he worked in London as a photographer and Art Director. He assisted fashion photographers such as Michel Haddi, Pamela Hanson and Mario Testino and since embarking on his own career has worked with clients such as Orange, O2, Pfizer and BT and produced editorial work for The Guardian, Waitrose Food Illustrated, Condé Nast, Gourmet, Coast magazine and more recently Very.

Dan has a number of portraits with the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Collection. His work for the 2008 book Liverpool: Sung & Unsung was showcased in the Creative Review Photography Annual. He is a visiting lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, lectured at UCLAN, and presented in photography at FOCUS at Birmingham NEC. Dan lives in Crosby, North Liverpool with his wife and two children.

www.dankenyon.com

HOW THE SHUTTERS will be madeThe images created by Dan Kenyon will be developed using pioneering technology to cut each shutter from aluminium plates. A series of test images have already been developed to manufacture sample shutter panels for a full size prototype (approx 800mm wide x 1900mm high).

Original Photo Cutting Image Shutter Prototype

the new Everymanportrait wall

Over the coming months we’ll be working on a photography project to create a portrait wall on the front of the new Everyman. The portrait wall will form the defining signature to the new building. The Everyman has always celebrated difference and individualism, and so it is that these shutters, etched with the very real portraits of very real people of this city caught in a moment in time, will be a poetic and witty expression not just of the name itself but of the very spirit of the theatre.

Liverpool-based portrait photographer Dan Kenyon was appointed last year as the photographer for the project. A visiting lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, Dan is well known for his 2008 book Liverpool: Sung and Unsung, 86 portraits of such diverse figures as Ken Dodd; former Chief Constable, Bernard Hogan-Howe; Speke Headteacher, Alan Smithies; and cultural historian of the Black Community and social campaigner, Dorothy Kuya. He said: “This is a really exciting project for me as a photographer. My job is both to draw out the subjects’ personalities but also fulfill the technical and compositional requirements of the manufacturing process for each individual shutter.”

This beautiful façade, representing the people of Liverpool, will further encapsulate a building that truly will be an Everymanfor Everyone.

Model showing the front of the new Everyman

We’re photographing 105 extraordinarypeople And we believe everyone is extraordinary.– Gemma Bodinetz

For more information call 0151 709 4776 or email: [email protected]

MORE INFO

Page 5: Everyman News issue 2

BURIED WELLTo the south east of the site on removing an old buried flagstone a brick well shaft was uncovered. Below a depth of about 6m the well was filled with rubble. The well was in exactly the position of one of the new pad foundations so we have had to amend the foundations in this area.

In 2009 a desk-based archaeological assessment was undertaken by Archaeological Research Services that examined the potential for finds and the implications of the construction using the local records office and local studies library, various local and national records and archives as well as web sources. The resulting report examines the history of the site from the Prehistoric period through to modern times. Perched up on the sandstone ridge to the east of the Mersey, it seems the site was remote from much activity until the late 17th century and the report considered there was little likelihood of finds from before this time.

The Merseyside Historic Environment Record identified a bowling green either very close to or within the actual development site in the early 1700s. A fascinating map regression taking us back from today to 1768 tells us more about the history of the site. Charles Eyes Map of Liverpool from 1785 1 actually identifies the bowling green partly within the site, to the north of a lane that bisected the site and is later identified as St Marys Lane. The 1800 Harding Map is the first to show any buildings within the site, believed in the report to be dwellings. More detail is apparent from 1803 with what appears to be a house and garden occupying the southern end of the site.

There are few changes until 1848 when the Ordnance Survey map2 shows St Mary’s Lane gone and the whole site developed. Although only 12 years old, the chapel building that was later to become the Everyman was no longer a revivalist chapel, but had become the Anglican church of

It goes without saying, but I am going to say it anyway, that everything is built upon something else. Take something away and it would be very surprising to find absolutely nothing underneath. So as we planned the redevelopment of the Everyman, we had to consider what we might discover along the way, not only what may be revealed as we demolished the theatre and the adjacent building, 11 Hope Street, but also things in the ground that might cause problems for construction.

St John the Evangelist. A collection of buildings occupied the southern, No.11, end of the site and a row of small terraced houses ran along what was by now Arrad Street, to the north east of the site. Apart from the church being retitled Hope Hall, then ‘cinema’, there is little change until the 1968 OS map that shows the terraced houses on Arrad Street have been demolished and that area become part of Liverpool Medical Institution’s car park.

As we got closer to redevelopment, Oxford Archaeological North were engaged to create a record of the buildings to be demolished and maintain a watching brief through demolition and ground works. OAN was tasked with recording any finds made as the 1970s changes were peeled away from the Everyman and the remains of the chapel and No.11 came down as well as anything uncovered as excavations were undertaken for the extended basement and foundations for the new building.

The demolition uncovered almost nothing of interest, the 1970s building work having very effectively destroyed so much of the old frontage. One surprise for anyone who does not remember the Everyman prior to the 1970s work and has only black and white photographs to inform them was the old frontage being painted a darkish green. The demolition workers turned up a platform shoe3 of unknown provenance as they were clearing rubble, but that really was the only ‘find’.

Excavation though has been more fruitful. A number of old walls and a V-shaped ditch cut into the sandstone bedrock were

ARCHAEOLOGY MEET THE TEAM08 09

1

uncovered to the west of the site. The ditch had different fills in it and there were finds including pottery waste suggesting manufacture nearby. Other potentially earlier pottery was recovered from the lower levels and may be contemporary with the bowling green to the north of the site. The red brick walls and ditch correspond to the line of St Marys Lane.

At the southern edge of the site a large brick structure was identified. Following careful excavation it was identified as the base for an early boiler and soot stained flue believed to be c1780. In the material filling the base a bottle dump was found and glass fragments and whole bottles were recovered. So it would appear that what were believed to be just dwellings on the 1800 map may have had industrial use.

Towards the north east of the site various sandstone walls4 and remains of structures were found associated with the terraced houses along Arrad Street that appear on the 1848 map. A number of finds were removed including some porcelain. Cellars with sandstone flag floors were uncovered, which had been filled with what appeared to be demolition waste including a number of bed springs so the waste seems to come from the demolition of a mattress factory that used to stand on the south east side of Arrad Street.

All of the structures found have been recorded and the items recovered will be analysed and documented. When the archaeologists have completed their work the finds will return to Hope Street and we are planning to display them.

MEET GILBERT-ASH THE TEAM BUILDING THE NEW EVERYMAN

We said goodbye to the Everyman last summer; by the end of 2011, there was just an eerie empty space between the buildings on Hope Street where the much-loved theatre used to be. Now the new build is underway, and with it, the excitement of starting to see the venue come to life once more.Contractors Gilbert-Ash have been on site since the beginning of December, and work officially began with a groundbreaking ceremony on 31 January. The core crew from the Belfast-based firm have relocated to Liverpool for the two-year job. Renowned for their experience of building theatres, their recent projects include the new Lyric Theatre in Belfast, Belfast’s Grand Opera House, St Andrew’s University Library and a new state-of-the-art archive facility for the British Film Institute.

Heading the team are site manager Ivor Wilson and site engineers Karl Doran and Chris Foley. Over the first months there have been some 12 people working on the Everyman on a day-to-day basis. As work progresses, this will steadily increase to around 80, as more expert tradespeople are needed on the project such as joiners, bricklayers and electricians.

Karl and Chris oversee the provision of materials and equipment to the site, as well as setting out the project plans on computer via AutoCAD. As site manager, Ivor oversees the day-to-day running of the operation. All three quickly settled in and learned how much the Everyman means to the people of Liverpool.

“It’s a very prestigious job,” Ivor says. “There’s a good team to support us here and everybody’s like a family here, wanting to get involved. There’s huge job satisfaction. Theatres are usually unique buildings, they’re not run-of-the-mill, and they’re something the community wants to get involved in. Everywhere we go here people ask us how it’s going and what we’re doing – we know there’s a lot to live up to.”

The first job was to dig the foundations of the theatre and the extended basement.

As a matter of course, archaeologists have been on site ready to investigate any unusual objects found during the digging. Only one discovery has stopped work so far, and that turned out to be the remnants of an old boiler dating back to the 1780s. Work has also uncovered the old street level and paving stones of Hope Street.

A 36 metre crane has arrived on site, and work is underway on laying the concrete and bringing the basement walls up to ground level. Once work on the perimeter walls begins, the brickwork will incorporate 25,000 bricks from the original Everyman building, and the public will be able to see the build start to appear over the hoardings now in place.

The tower crane is positioned to reach every point of the site, and the new theatre will actually be built around it. The crane will later be hoisted out of the near-complete building, leaving its 2 metres square footprint as a hole through every floor. The roof will then be completed, with the subsequent holes in the lower floors filled in after.

As the job progresses there will be more to see and group visits will be possible on site.

“A job like this is a joy,” Karl says. “No two

days are ever the same. Every day presents new problems, and solving them is what makes the job so good. Once more bodies are on site it becomes more exciting. That’s when you start to see what the architect is looking for, and once you get a grasp of those finer details, that’s when you get a real feel for it.”

Because of noise restrictions, building work must only take place between the hours of 8am and 6pm. Ivor stays in regular contact with the Everyman’s Hope Street neighbours by email and face-to-face visits, to make sure people know how the project is progressing or if there’s anything to be made aware of, such as any unexpected disturbances.

“You do get to thinking of a place as your own,” he smiles. “On previous jobs like the Lyric, even a few weeks after handing over you have to remind yourself to let go, and let the people who run it, run it.”

The brand new Everyman is scheduled to open to the public in late 2013.

1

3 4

5

By Vicky Anderson

ON SIte FINDSBy Robert Longthorne Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Building Development Director

2

Maps © Archaeological Research Services Ltd

L to R: Karl Doran, Chris Foley and Ivor Wilson

Page 6: Everyman News issue 2

“Morrissey’s each and every word and nuance near perfect.” The Stage

PricesOnline Rental £5.99Download £8.99HD Download £10.99

www.digitaltheatre.com

YEP OFFERS

In 2009, Jonathan Pryce returned to theEveryman to play Davies in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker. The performance was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. After sell-out success in Liverpool, the production transferred to Bath Theatre Royal and then to London’s Trafalgar Studios. This spring Christopher Morahan’s production is on an international tour of Australia, and the USA.

“Jonathan Pryce is the most powerful of Caretakers I have seen.” The Sunday Times

Theatre Royal Bath presents the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse production of The Caretaker by Harold Pinter, directed by Christopher Morahan and starring Jonathan Pryce.

YEP IS HERE!YOUNG EVERYMAN PLAYHOUSE

YEP LAUNCH THE EVERYMAN BEYOND LIVERPOOL10 11

What is YEP?YEP or Young Everyman Playhouse will nurture the writers and actors, the technicians, the audiences and the cultural leaders of the future. The new Everyman will include a dedicated space for youth and community work, but before it opens the theatres will grow the YEP programme before developing it further with the new possibilities that the new building brings.

• £5 tickets to see shows• Regular info on all the

activities for young people• Opportunities to work

on projects as a Young Actor, Writer, Technician, Programmer Communicator or Director

•The chance to help shape the future of the theatres

• Guidance on careers in theatre

• A chance to meet new people and try new things

ON TOUR: THE CARETAKERFROM LIVERPOOL TO THE WORLD

DIGITAL THEATRE: MACBETHAVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

Macbeth was our last major production to be staged at the Everyman in 2011 before its current redevelopment. With David Morrissey in the title role and Julia Ford as Lady Macbeth, Gemma Bodinetz’s “striking production” (Observer) was a sell-out success. A filmed version is now available to download from www.digitaltheatre.com.

Digital Theatre works in partnership with Britain’s leading theatre companies to capture live performance authentically onscreen. Using multiple camera angles and high-definition technology, they bring the drama and emotion of each production to audiences online.

“Rarely have I been so thrilled and moved by this play” The Express

On the 24th January 2012 the Playhouse was invaded by young people celebrating the launch of YEP. YEP member Peter Greggs is 18 and part of the Young Communicators programme. Here he talks about the launch and how it all went:

“Our job is to talk to press, design logos, posters, flyers and organise events. Since October we have been working on the launch and it was so nice to see our ideas come to life.

At 5:30pm, over 200 people took to Williamson Square to flash mob their socks off! The Samba band added to the effect and the parade of six foot lanterns spelling out YEP created the festival feel we were going for, and I think it’s fair to say we launched LOUD. One by one people entered the Playhouse auditorium, using their wristband as a pass of entry.

Amy Horne and I MC’d the night, first showing an amazing video followed by extracts from performances written by Graduate Young Writers performed by the Young Actors. A speech by the Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz moved us all and the Young Everyman Playhouse Director Matt Rutter took to the stage shortly after. An after party followed where we got to talk to other members from different strands.

February saw the first YEP production as Intimate a site-specific promenade performance featuring scenes and snapshots of what war means to young people, took place at Camp and Furnace. Intimate was devised and created by YEP Young Actors with YEP Young Technicians also working on the show.

“Both theatrical aplomb and a deep and lingering (and unexpected) emotional resonance.” 8/10 Liverpool ECHO

For more information please visit www.everymanplayhouse.com oremail [email protected]

COmING SOON

HHHHH The Times

HHHHThe Daily Telegraph

HHHHThe Daily Express

HHHHThe Sunday Times

HHHHH Liverpool Daily Post

HHHHThe Times

HHHH The Guardian

HHHH The Express

HHHHWhatsonstage.com

We’ve been working with Uniform and Liverpool John Moores University students on the artwork for the Everyman building hoardings. Look out for the hoardings as they go up!

The next morning, we all gathered in the festival themed stalls bar to greet the press, and tell them our exciting ideas! They were allowed to circulate, speaking to the young people to show the press our enthusiasm for the group. 11:10am, time for our BBC Radio Merseyside interview, nervous being on radio I think we’d all agree but never the less an exciting experience.

It was really heart-warming reading all of the Press’s reactions to YEP, we all feel so passionate about the programme and to hear other people responding so well was amazing.

I’m proud to say I was involved in a landmark in the theatre’s history, and even more proud of my peer’s and the professionals we work with for making it unforgettable!”

Peter Greggs, Young Communicator

YEP YoungActors Season

MORE INFO

Her Majesty’s TheatreAdelaide8 to 23 March 2012

The Curran Theatre San Francisco28 March to 22 April 2012

Southern TheatreColumbus Ohio26 to 29 April 2012

Brooklyn Academy of MusicNew York3 May to 17 June 2012

Follow the Deputy Stage Managers backstage tweets @dsm_standingby

Page 7: Everyman News issue 2

“The Everyman provided me and manyothers with the courage to follow ourdreams and pursue a career in thetheatre. Now it can do the same fora whole new generation and act asa creative heart in the city.” David Morrissey

Messages o f

Suppo r t

Find out more AND SUPPORTFor updates on the redevelopment of the Everyman please email [email protected]

Follow us on twitter www.twitter.com/LivEveryPlay

Join us on www.facebook.com/LivEveryPlay

Watch videos on www.youtube.com/everymanplayhouse

To see the redevelopment as it happens, watch our live stream on our website www.everymanplayhouse.com (Sponsored by NW Systems)

View our photo gallery at www.flickr.com/LivEveryPlay

Call 0151 706 9124 Email [email protected] Visit www.everymanplayhouse.comOr pick up a leaflet from the Box Office

HOW TO SUPPORT

“As an actor what mattered most about the Everyman was the soul and spirit of the place, which gave you the ability to be right – or wrong. I would not be as brave as an actorif it were not for being here.” Pete Postlethwaite

“It’s a vibrant, living thing this theatre: full of stories old and new, big and small and like the sign says above the door it is, and always has been, there for everyone, for the people of its city.” Leanne Best

“I am so excited about the Everyman’s new incarnation. Together with the Playhouse, Liverpool will have a new home for theatre that will rival any being produced throughout the world. Les Dennis

“The Everyman was to become the centre of my creative and social life for decades.” Roger McGough

“The continued evolution of the Liverpool Everyman makes the world a better place.” Bill Drummond

“We know the Everyman will be a place where impossibility is not an answer.”YEP Members

“The evenings I spent hosting the young writers’ workshops always left me wondering how people so young could write so well, watching their faces as that magic tatty space turned their angst-ridden teenage prose into Theatre was a rare privilege. This is I believe the most important work to be continued and developed at the new Everyman.”Simon O’Brien

Find out more about the new Everyman

Support the new Everyman