New on and off stage talent to be brought together at Young Everyman Playhouse Directors Festival

This year’s YEP Directors Festival is at the Liverpool Everyman from 4 to 14 July 2022.

The Festival is the culmination of educational courses for 18 to 25 year olds in directing, producing and marketing, part of the theatres’ award-winning Young Everyman & Playhouse [YEP]. This year the Festival includes productions of Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan, The Arsonists by Max Frisch, Shook by Samuel Bailey and Small Hours by Lucy Kirkwood.

Working collaboratively with the other training strands that make up the programme – Producers, Technicians and Marketers – each Directorselects a play to be performed in the Everyman’s dedicated YEP space EV1 under amateur rights. During the Festival, each play is performed 3 times over 2 days and all tickets are free.

This isn’t a professional showcase, but a space for the directors to apply their craft and play with freedom from external worries or judgements. The Festival is produced by the YEP Producers, supported by YEP Technicians and YEP Marketers, working with other departments within the Everyman & Playhouse, such as wardrobe, props and construction.

The first show of the Festival is The Arsonists by Max Frisch which will be performed on 4^th and 5^th July. The tale of a trusting couple who, appalled by mysterious fires starting in their town, let two strangers come to stay, it’s directed by Ella Grace Roberts. Next on 8^th and 9^th July comes Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe. Directed by Liv Stenstrom it explores the impact of depression on a family, as seen through the eyes of a seven your old. Shook by Samuel Bailey follows on 11^th and 12^th July. Isaac Nixon directs this award-winning play examines the devastating effects of a violent prison system on those entangled within it. The Festival finale is the 13^th and 14^th July with Small Hours by Lucy Kirkwood and Ed Hime with Katie Mitchell. Directed by Amber Buttery, this no-holds-barred show follows a young woman embracing the highs and lows of parenthood for the first time.

This year’s Festival is produced by YEP Producers (Erin Cluskey, Madeline Cole, Lucy Demba, Eve Mobey, Eve Sumner) with marketing by YEP Marketers (Katrin Davies, Ro Lewis, Jessica Martin and Joe Woodward).

Speaking on behalf of this year’s YEP cohort, Joe Woodward said:

“Becoming a YEP Marketer and working closely with the staff here at the Everyman & Playhouse has been a dream opportunity. From weekly meetings with industry professionals, learning how to work as part of a creative team, and getting hands-on experience with the upcoming YEP Directors’ Festival, has dramatically broadened my horizons for where a career in the creative sector may take me. With the YEP Directors’ Festival fast approaching we can’t tell you how excited we are to share all the great work the YEP team have been working so hard to produce.”

The courses are free and offer young people regular theatre trips, weekly sessions with staff and masterclasses with industry professionals to develop their skills and understanding. For all involved from the YEP strands, the Directors Festival is their opportunity to put this learning into practice in a safe environment.

As Acting YEP Director Chris Tomlinson explains:

“The whole ethos of the festival is to learn. For our young people to test their ideas around what sort of a director they want to be. Giving them a safe space in which to do this is vital for everyone involved. It’s been a successful model to date, with many YEP Directors, Producers, Marketers and Technicians now working professionally within our own organisation, in theatres across the UK and setting up their own companies.”