Beautiful Thing joins Kite Runner in Liverpool Playhouse new season

Following the recently announced adaptation of the Kite Runner, the Liverpool Playhouse are also staging A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and housing a touring production of Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing starring Suranne Jones.

Gemma Bodinetz said: “This season includes a rich variety of premieres that will see our productions reach many audiences around the country as well as at home in Liverpool. We are tremendously excited about our collaborations with English Touring Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse and the Rose Theatre on some brave and courageous new work on the Playhouse main stage.”

Roger McGough’s previously announced adaptation of The Misanthrope is first up in February before a 9 month tour. Then in April, the Playhouse collaborates with the Rose Theatre Kingston on a new production of Peter Nichols’s black comedy A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, directed by the Rose’s Artistic Director Stephen Unwin. 

The Kite Runner, adapted for stage by Matthew Spangler from Khaled Hosseini’s international bestseller. First produced by The San Jose Repertory in 2009 the play received of five San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards. This epic tale follows two young boys from Kabul charts a friendship that spans cultures and continents and follows one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. The Everyman and Playhouse will join forces again with Nottingham Playhouse in this co-production directed by Nottingham Playhouse Artistic Director Giles Croft. The production premieres at Nottingham Playhouse in April before arriving in Liverpool in June and July.

The Playhouse will also stage work on tour including Jonathan Miller returns to the British stage for the first time in five years to direct Northern Broadsides’s production of Githa Sowerby’s Rutherford and Son, while Northern Stage present Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills directed by Psyche Stott.

Liverpool writer Jonathan Harvey, whose career began at the Playhouse 25 years ago, will see a revival of his celebrated play Beautiful Thing on the Playhouse’s main stage – starring Suranne Jones. This production follows a recent adaptation by the Royal Exchange in Manchester.

For further details on the new season, visit the Playhouse website.