Liverpool Everyman reopens in March with Twelfth Night starring Matthew Kelly

The Liverpool Everyman, which has been closed for over two years, will "reawaken" in March with artistic director Gemma Bodinetz‘s production of Twelfth Night.

The theatre closed in July 2011 and has been rebuilt at a cost of £27million, the majority of which (£17million) was provided by the National Lottery.

Twelfth Night, which runs from 8 March 2014, sees the return of two members of the celebrated Everyman company of 1974 with Nick Woodeson playing Malvolio and Matthew Kelly as Sir Toby Belch.

The cast also includes Neil Caple, Pauline Daniels, Paul Duckworth, Adam Keast, Adam Levy, Jodie McNee and Alan Stocks.

It's followed by the world premiere of Hope Place (9-31 May), a special commission by Birkenhead-born playwright Michael Wynne (The Priory, Royal Court).

The season concludes with a collaboration with Kneehigh on a radical new version of John Gay’s musical satire The Beggar’s Opera, titled Dead Dog in A Suitcase (and other love songs), which runs from 21 June to 12 July.

Written by Carl Grose and directed by Mike Shepherd, the production has its world premiere in Liverpool before moving to Kneehigh’s home performance space, the Asylum, in Cornwall.

“After ten years’ planning and two years’ construction we are thrilled to be able to announce the Everyman’s reawakening," said executive director Deborah Aydon. "We have a very busy few months ahead, getting ready for that extraordinary moment when the people of Liverpool can take possession of their beautiful new theatre."

Meanwhile, the Everyman's partner theatre the Playhouse opens in April with a revival of Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge directed by associate director Charlotte Gwinner.

The production features Lloyd Hutchinson (Collaborators, National Theatre) as Eddie Carbone and Julia Ford (Mogadishu, Royal Exchange/Lyric) as his wife Beatrice.