Come Together Show Programme

COME TOGETHER

THE LENNON & McCARTNEY

SONGBOOK

WRITTEN BY AND STARRING TOM CONNOR & MARK NEWNHAM DIRECTED BY BOB EATON

Welcome To

Hello and welcome to Liverpool’s Royal Court and this performance of Come Together.

If there is one thing that Liverpool should make more of, it’s the Beatles.

Those four lads who shook the world are celebrated all around the city in bars, restaurants, hotels and museums. Every scouser has got a story about how one of the fab four was involved with a friend or family member. Showcasing their music on stage here is the least that we could do!

The writers of this show, Tom Connor and Mark Newnham, have pulled on the mop-top wigs a few times before. They first met in a production of Lennon here in 2013 playing a young Paul McCartney and a young John Lennon respectively. They hit it off immediately, sharing a love of all things Beatles and I think that they knew then that this would be a long and winding road for them. They were back as John and Paul when Lennon returned in 2014, and also in 2019s Girls Don’t Play Guitars. Last year, they headed up the band in the Beatles songbook Two Of Us.

This show came about because they had such a great time, they decided to write their own celebration of Lennon and McCartney.

When you are dealing with the work of the Beatles, there is no better man to turn to than our director, Bob Eaton. His wealth of stage musical and Merseybeat experience means he can provide incredible insight into the lives of the main men. More than ably supported by our Musical Director Howard Gray, we knew that

Liverpool’s

they would make this into something of which George Martin would be proud.

The fab two wouldn’t make much of a show and so they needed a band. Mike Woodvine is the best guitarist in the city, Greg Joy bangs the drums like no other, Adam Keast has been laying down Beatles baselines with style and aplomb for a number of years (he won’t tell us how many) and Ben Gladwin plays everything and anything else. Together, we know that we have got performers who can do the music justice.

With a show like this, sound quality is key so we are delighted to have Kate Harvey making it pitch perfect. Ian Scott and Doug Kuhrt have lit the stage up like Shea Stadium and Jamie Jenkin’s video takes us on a mystery tour that is truly magical. Some of you in the audience will have been lucky enough to see the Beatles live in concert. For the rest of you… here is the next best thing.

Enjoy the show!

Kevin Fearon Executive Producer

Liverpool’s Royal Court

Royal Court presents Come Together

by Tom Connor and Mark Newnham

Starring Tom Connor, Mark Newnham, Ben Gladwin Greg Joy Adam Keast Mike Woodvine

Directed by Bob Eaton • Designed By Christopher McCourt

Lighting Design by Ian Scott • Sound Design by Kate Harvey • Video Design by Jamie Jenkin

Royal Court Supporters

Talent Development

Liverpool’s Royal Court continues on its journey to work towards talent development across the city

There is no doubt Liverpool is renowned for its wealth of talent but we, along with the rest of our city’s theatre organisations and institutions, recognise we need to do more to ensure we are accessible, engaging and aspirational if we are to be truly representative and inclusive of the communities we serve. It is a long-term continuing process and funding is key as is working together with the theatres across the region.

Over the past three years we have laid down the foundations, initiating our plans for meaningful and real change. This includes the theatre’s programming, engagement, accessibility and relationships with artistes, communities, creatives, individuals, institutions, organisations, Schools/FE. We are working towards ensuring our talent development programmes are applicable, realistic and robust.

Listening and engaging in the first instance to a wide cross section of creatives and communities – recognising and taking ownership of our failure to be fully inclusive and to take a proactive approach to ensure there is inclusivity and diversity across the sector

A brief look at a few of our talent development projects so far:

Community

Music AAA (Access All Areas) is a partnership project together with three grassroots organisations: Positive Impact, Capoeira For All, and Catalyst performing arts supported by funding from Youth Music. Children and young people aged 6 – 25 can access free musical instruments, musical theatre, hip hop, dance, singing, drama and performance

Raw Talent

Young people from our youth theatre continue to have access to auditions and employment opportunities – during the past 3 years, 6 young people have been cast in Terriers, written by Maurice Bessman touring to schools and venues across the country.

More recently working with Fury films, 120 young people aged 15 – 25 from across the city took part in audition workshops for the film of Terriers at Fire Fit in South Liverpool, MYA’s Space in Bootle and The Vibe in Huyton. 8 young people will be working with the Director to support the script development.

Mentoring

This is a pilot programme supported by PH Holt Trust and Curious Minds – eight mentors from the creative industries have been paired with mentees – providing support, guidance and shadowing opportunities in acting, marketing, production, directing, writing, set design, and music skills. This talent development initiative will support eight young black, asian and minority artistes and creatives develop their skills as they progress through the industry.

Programming

Our Boisterous Theatre strand of programming brought us a main house production of Bouncers, in August and September introducing four new actors to the main house stage – and new audiences to the theatre.

The Alternative Black Cabaret Showcase – now a regular bi-monthly show presenting some of the best black comedians and singers on the circuit and with a platform to showcase emerging and existing local talent. Co-production with Red Ladder in September/October, with a cast of professional actors and 20 members of our community choir.

Stagewrite – our new writing classes/workshops to encourage and support new writers to develop their work to full production. We continue on our journey with a number of other talent development initiatives in progress as a matter of priority to ensure we remain accessible, adaptable and continually listen and learn. It will take time and investment and with your continuing support for all we do. We will make a difference.

Boisterous Stage Write Music Access All Areas

Maurice Bessman

Peter Grant On The Beatles

They were the poets of a generation.

That’s not some latter day Beatles academic analysing the songwriting talents of Lennon and McCartney, it was an observation from Paul himself in a 1964 interview. He didn’t say exactly what generation but then again, he didn’t have to.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney - two poets from Liverpoolwrote more than 300 songs together. Two grammar schoolboys who were inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows. Just William, Dick Barton and Rupert Bear were in the literature mix, too, and throw in some Chaucer, Dickens and Shakespeare and a back-catalogue of inspirations evolves. They could not read music but that didn’t stop them. John and Paul also also shared a love of the surreal humour of radio favourites The Goons, but it was music that became their driving force.

When a mutual school pal suggested to Paul that he should see a band playing at St Peter’s Church fete in Woolton on July 6, 1957 the Liverpool Institute lad went along. There would be plenty of girls attending so that was a good enough reason to cycle over to Woolton. He was pleasantly surprised and impressed by John looking every bit like a rebel with a cause.

John was clearly the leader of the raw Quarrymen skiffle group named after his nearby school.

The charismatic John was a fan of American rock and rollers such as Gene Vincent.

Paul, having swapped a trumpet for a guitar, knew a thing or two about Eddie Cochran and Twenty Flight Rock as well as the innocent joy of pre-war musicals instilled in him by his pianoplaying dad - the leader of the popular Jim Mac’s Jazz Band. John and Paul had diverse influences from so many genres, they would go on to complement each other for years to come.

In 1957 when Macca agreed to accept JL’s invitation to join his group they knew they had got something going, it was natural to them to create lyrics and melodies that would stand the test of time. They were making history and knowing it. From Hamburg to The Cavern they went on to be global communicators because they knew and cared about their audience.

‘’Where are we going fellers?’’ John would ask his band members when fame and fortune seemed like an impossible dream.

‘’To the toppermost of the poppermost,’’ they would respond in perfect harmony.

Paul recently recalled the optimism of those early years: ‘’We

Former Liverpool Echo Beatles’ Correspondant & Author of The Fab Four

always said something will happen - and it always did.’’

As songwriters Lennon and McCartney did more than other hit-making partnerships. They didn’t just write for themselves but they inspired other musicians to start writing and owning their own material and creative output.

Apart from their own fab four hit songs they also wrote for Billy J Kramer, P.J.Proby, Peter and Gordon, The Fourmost and Cilla Black and more than 60 years on Lennon and McCartney songs continue to dominate radio play-lists.

But why?

They have not dated and they sound as fresh now as when the two pop geniuses made musical magic with original songs where no two songs were ever the same.

John and Paul were each prolific writers of both lyrics and melodies. They were the UK’s Rodgers and Hammerstein - except those two US legends wrote separately just like Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

They admired Lieber and Stoller and Goffin and King who wrote about love-gone-wrong scenarios but The Beatles took lyrical content even further especially on Sgt Pepper - breaking down barriers when writing about traffic wardens in Lovely Rita and circus performers in BEING FOR the Benefit of Mr Kite.

They were used to scouring newspaper headlines for subject matter. A Day in the Life is a classic example of their individual and collective songwriting imaginations coming together. They would also write about their formative years in Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields.

To track down where their songwriting began in earnest you only have to look at their childhood homes: Number 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton was the McCartney family homestead from 1956 to 1964. A welcoming council house where Jim - following his wife Mary’s death - allowed and encouraged the Quarrymen to rehearse and write.

Love Me Do and She Loves Me emerged from Forthlin Rd and the music hall seeds of When I’m Sixty Four were planted there when Paul was just sixteen, I Saw Her Standing There was written there, too in the front room. Originally called ‘Seventeen’ John and Paul would play truant or sag off school and treat songwriting as a job. They called these the ‘Eyeball-to-Eyeball’ sessions both sitting down with guitars and a school exercise notebook.

As each album was released it was clear they were starting to write songs on their own. They would often chip in on a composition when the other would get stuck on a lyric or middle eight section. The joint credit of Lennon and McCartney remained up until the final split.

Following the release of the 2021 Peter Jackson Get Back documentary films the world saw how John and Paul worked together in the studio. Watching them spark off each other confirmed what we knew all along - Lennon and McCartney loved each other. Now and Then - the final Beatles release - is a musical love letter. The news that four bio-pics of The Beatles will be made in 2027 by director Sam Mendes means that The Beatles are with us forever.

So why are The Beatles and the songs of Lennon and McCartney still so important to us?

I once asked Paul McCartney a question that I thought he would have no possible answer for.

‘’Paul,’’ I nervously said, ‘’in a nutshell, can you tell me what were The Beatles?’’

He didn’t hesitate for a second.

‘’Just go home and play the songs . . . ‘’

Peter Grant is a former Liverpool Echo Beatles’ Correspondent and author of the bookazine The Fab Four. He is a tour guide at the Beatles’ Childhood Homes run by the National Trust.

For information about visiting the two world famous inspirational properties contact:

nationaltrust.org.uk

Rehearsal Photos

Photographs by Liverpool’s Royal Court

COME TOGETHER SONGBOOK

THE LENNON & McCARTNEY

Tom Connor

Mark Newnham

Ben Gladwin

Greg Joy

Adam Keast

Mike Woodvine

Cast Band Company

Bob Eaton

Howard Gray

Christopher McCourt

Ian Scott

Douglas Kuhrt

Kate Harvey

Jamie Jenkin

Marie Jones

Sean Gannon

Stephen Petit

Andrew Lock

Elizabeth O’Sullivan

Alicia Southerton

Jamie Haining

Martyn Case

Director

Musical Director

Set & Costume Designer

Lighting Designer

Associate Lighting Designer

Sound Designer

Video Designer

Wardrobe Supervisor

Production Manager

Production Assistant

Technical Stage Manager

Company Stage Manager

Deputy Stage Manager

LX Programmer

LX & AV Op

Workshop

Workshop Manager

John Kavanagh

Scenic Art Manager

Jen Baron

Carpenters

Mick Gunnigle

Jonathan Defty

Mike Gray

David Davies

Thanks

Scenic Artists

Abbie Jones

Chris McCourt

Hannah Dimelow Gary

Cast Biographies

Tom Connor

Tom

Tom trained at Arts University Bournemouth Tom’s Theatre Credits Include:

Dandini, Cinderella (Leeds City Varieties); James Campbell, Maggie May (Liverpool’s Royal Court); Damage Control, Return to the Forbidden Planet (Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne); Flounder, The Little Mermaid (Liverpool Everyman); The White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland (Chester Open Air); Suki Tawdry/ Ben Budge, Beggar’s Opera (Chester Storyhouse); Sir Cyril of the Wirral, Beauty and the Beast (Liverpool Everyman); Joe Meek/Dave Cooper, Tom: A story of Tom Jones (UK Tour); Lord Alistair Banister, Rapunzel (Liverpool Everyman); Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet (Grosvenor Park Theatre); Simple/Bardolf/Robin, Merry Wives of Windsor (Grosvenor Park Theatre); Coppit/ Irvin, Wind in the Willows (Grosvenor Park Theatre); Lloyd, Eye of the Story (Theatr NaNag); Paul McCartney, Lennon, (Liverpool’s Royal Court); Vic, Carnaby Street (UK Tour); Mugsy, Mods and Rox (Ipswich Wolsey); Cecil, Yesterday (Theatr Clwyd); Rock’n’Roll Panto’s (Theatr Clwyd); Assorted Characters and Impressions, News Revue (Edinburgh Run 2010).

Tom’s TV Credits Include:

Paul McCartney, Scrambled Eggs - Urban Myths, SKY Arts

Tom’s Film Credits Include:

Gulag Prisoner, Muppets Most Wanted, Disney.

Twitter: @thetomcon

Mark Newnham

Mark

Acting Credits Include:

Robot’s Search for Snow (The Storeroom, Letchworth), Sunny Afternoon (UK No.1 Tour), Return to the Forbidden Planet (25th Anniversary UK Tour), Lennon, Two Of Us (Liverpool’s Royal Court), All or Nothing (The Vaults & West End), Cinderella (Medway Theatre, Chatham), Cinderella Rock and Roll Panto (New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich), Bananaman (Southwark Playhouse), Oxy and the Morons (New Wolsey, Theatre Ipswich), Cinderella and the Beanstalk (Sleeping Trees Theatre 503), Jack and the Beanstalk, Bouncers, A Passionate Woman (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch), Up in the

Attic (Floods of Ink), Horrible Christmas (Birmingham Stage Company), Last Five Years (1826 Productions, Brighton Fringe), A Real Mans Guide to Sainthood (Milk Presents... UK Tour), The Curators Daughter (Trailblaze Theatre), Moon and Genie, Scrub a Dub (Half Moon Theatre), Tiny Tempest (Mini Mall Theatre Company).

Composing and Writing Credits Include:

Cinderella and the Beanstalk (Sleeping Trees & Theatre 503), Party (Half Moon Theatre), Cat-Astrophic Adventures (Half Moon Theatre & Apples and Snakes), Robot’s Search for Snow (Singing Cactus).

Other Credits Include:

Voiceover BBC (Radio 6 Music), Eastenders (BBC), Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV).

Ben Gladwin

Keyboard

You might have seen him play keys in the Christmas shows, but have you ever seen him play harmonica, tambourine and guitar?

Past credits: Two of Us, The Scouse Dick Wittington, Celtic the Musical, The Sunderland Story, The Scouse Jack and the Beanstalk, The Scouse Sleeping Beauty, Mam I’m Ere, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Selection Box (Liverpool’s Royal Court).

Greg Joy Drums

Growing up with a father as a musician, Greg was introduced to the music industry very young, with his first live performance coming at the age of 9 alongside a 9 piece soul band.

After moving to Liverpool and refining his craft, Greg then went on to pursue a career as a Session / Theatre drummer touring Europe and performing for acts such as XAMVOLO, The Farm, China Crisis and more. With performances at Glastonbury, Uber Jazz festival and The Great Escape

Greg’s main passion is theatre, where he loves to work collaboratively to bring stories to life on stage, he has worked extensively in theatre on stage and in pit bands.

Alongside his performing career, Greg is also a visiting lecturer at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and regularly performs drum clinics across the UK. The most recent being on the GEWA Stage at the UK DRUM SHOW 2023

Training: BA Hons Music - The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (LIPA) 2016.

Theatre Credits: Scouse Of The Rising Sun, The Scouse Nativity, Royal Court’s 80th Anniversary, The Scouse Cinderella, The Scouse Pacific, The Scouse Snow White, The Royal Court Selection Box, Homebaked, The Scouse Sleeping Beauty, Mam I’m ‘Ere, The Scouse Jack And The Beanstalk, Two Of Us, The Scouse Dick Whittington (Liverpool’s Royal Court).

Other credits: The Beggars Opera (Storyhouse Chester), Celtic the Musical (SEC Armadill), Sunderland Story (Sunderland Empire).

TV Credits: Ladbrokes - This Time We Play Together (Euros 2021).

Adam Keast Bass

Adam trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Credits for the Everyman & Playhouse: Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty, The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Two Gentlemen of Verona (co-production with Shakespeare’s Globe), Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Mother Goose, Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty and Twelfth Night and A Christmas Carol, The Sound of Fury and Ferry Cross The Mersey which toured.

Other Liverpool show credits include: The Show Must Go On (Liverpool St Luke’s Bombed Out Church), Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels, Our Day Out, Lennon, Good Golly Miss Molly, Two Of Us and You’ll Never Walk Alone (Liverpool Royal Court).

Other theatre credits include: The Crocodile (Liverpool Tidal Town), Merry Wives of Windsor, Wind in the Willows, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream and Julius Caesar (Chester Storyhouse/Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre); Midsummer Songs (New Wolsey, Ipswich); Forbidden

Planet, Wake Up Little Suzie, Sweet Charity, From a Jack to a King, Curtain Up (Oldham Coliseum); 8 Miles High, Once Upon a Time in Wigan, Looking for Buddy and Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Bolton Octagon): Pump Boys and Dinettes (Stoke New Victoria Theatre); Three Steps to Heaven (Chester Gateway and tour): Cinderella (Theatr Clywd); Elvis - The Musical and Puss in Boots (Theatre Royal Windsor): Like A Heartbeat (Leeds Playhouse Studio): Just Like That (Edinburgh/ Tour): The Buddy Holly Story (Victoria Palace, London and Toronto) and Celtic: The Musical (Glasgow Pavillion).

On tour Adam has appeared in: Timewarp, Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven, Rave On, This Lonely Heart, Itchycoo Park and Norah’s Ark

TV credits include: Emmerdale, Crimewatch, The Big Time, The Queen’s Nose and All Very Well

Film credits include: Carvery

Mike Woodvine Guitar

Mike has played guitar for many Royal Court shows including Chrimstas shows.

Company Biographies

Bob Eaton Director

In over 50 years making a living in theatre, Bob has directed something like 200 productions, and written or co-written over 50 shows, many of them involving rock & roll. In 1981, as Artistic Director of the Liverpool Everyman, he wrote and directed Lennon, the world’s first professional actor/musician show, which transferred to Off Broadway and then to the West End. Other productions include Good Golly Miss Molly, at the New Vic and Arts Theatre London, Three Minute Heroes, the Coventry Two Tone musical, and Willy Russell’s Our Day Out. For the last eighteen years he has been heavily involved here at The Royal Court, directing many shows, including Dave Kirby’s Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, Alan Bleasdale’s On The Ledge, and the musical Maggie May which he wrote with Sayan Kent. His production of Girls Don’t Play Guitars, the true story of Liverpool’s own Liverbirds, returns to The Royal Court later this year.

Christopher McCourt

Set & Costume Designer

Christopher is an innovative and creative designer based in the Northwest with a passion for new work and new ways of. He graduated from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 2020 with a first class Honours.

Christopher has previously worked with a number of companies such as The Lowry for the National Theatre Connections Festival and spent some time out in Greece as part of the Athens and Epidaurus festival.

He has also worked on a number of the Royal Courts main house shows as a scenic artist. He developed the set for a touring show with Levantes Dance Theatre which is to travel around the UK and Europe later this year. His last productions were Two Of Us in the main house and Cosmic at Liverpool’s Royal Court.

Ian Scott

Lighting Designer

Trained at Mountview.

Productions for the Royal Court include:

Scouse Pacific, Maggie May, The Miracle of Great Homer Street, The Royal, The Scouse Nativity, Lonesome West, Down The Dock Road and in co-production with Lodestar and the Liverpool Shakespeare Festival; Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Other theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Sheffield Crucible and Ramps On The Moon); ¡Carpa!, The Hooley and Xanadu (Giffords Circus); By The Waters of Liverpool (Pulse Records); Up ‘n’ Under and Frozen (fingersmiths); Reasons To Be Cheerful, Peeling and Blasted (Graeae); Duet for One (Birmingham Rep; Lee Dean & Daniel Schumann); A Skull in Connemara and All My Sons (Nottingham Playhouse); Marco Polo and Messiah (Bergen National Opera); Fish Eye (Theatre Alibi); The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae; Theatre Royal, Plymouth; National Theatre); Owen Wingrave and Where The Wild Things Are (Aldeburgh Festival); Fawlty Towers Live (Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney); Flat Stanley (Polka; West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Drummer Boy of Waterloo and The Happy Prince (Jubilee Opera); The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre); Our Friends Up North (Northern Stage); The Joke, The Summer House and The Victorian in the Wall (Will Adamsdale; Fuel); My Name is… (Tamasha); Oh! What a Lovely War and Frogs (National Theatre); Curlew River (White Light Festival, New York; UCLA Berkeley; St. Giles, Barbican); Animal Farm (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

Douglas Kuhrt

Associate Lighting Designer

Douglas has recently lit: Unfortunate (We Are Fat Rascal); Robin Hood and the Babes in The Wood (Oldham Coliseum); Strange Tale (Imaginarium, Shakespeare North); Masquerade (Epstien) Robin Hood (Liverpool Everyman); Peter Pan (Eden Court, Inverness); Greeks (Unicorn); Bingo Star (Liverpool’s Royal Court).

Other credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Puss in Boots (CBeebies); The Pitmen Painters (The Duchess Theatre, National Theatre and Broadway); Cinderella (Eden Court, Inverness);

A Christmas Carol (Liverpool Playhouse); The Importance of Being Earnest (Lawrence Batley Theatre); Stiletto Beach (Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch); Two Pence to Cross The Mersey, Lennons Banjo (Epstein); They Don’t Pay, We Won’t Pay (Northern Broadsides); I Told My Mum I Was Going On An R.E. Trip (20 Stories High); The Broke N Beat Collective (Theatre Rites/20 Stories High); 19 × Rock N Roll pantos (Liverpool Everyman); 7 × Pantos (Oldham Coliseum);

Last Of The Duty Free, Black Coffee (Bill Kenwright Ltd); Black, Whole (20 Stories High); The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice (Hull Truck Theatre); Pinocchio (Polka Theatre); Road Movie (Starving Artists), Educating Rita (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow); Geoff Dead: Disco for Sale (Live Theatre, Newcastle); Depth Charge (Gecko Theatre); The Deranged Marriage (Rifco); Tom, Dick and Harry (Duke of York’s Theatre, London); Zipp! (Duchess Theatre, London); Fascinating Aida (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Home and Beauty (Lyric Theatre, London);

Dreaming (Queen’s Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, London) and Naked Justice (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

Kate Harvey Sound Designer

A list of sound credits include:

Corporate/Outdoor : Labour, Conservative, NUT, TUC and many more conferences. Various exhibitions. Symphony in the Park (Hoghton Tower) Liverpool Theatre Festival (Bill Elms Productions).

TV: Stan James World Match Dartsplay (Sky Sports), Strictly Ballroom (ITV), Danny La Rue (BBC), Spirit of Shankly (Granada DVD).

Cruises : P&O World Cruises, Island Cruises, Celebrity. Arena : Hot Ice (Stageworks Worldwide Productions); You’ll Never Walk Alone (Alterean Media and Liverpool FC).

Music: The Christians, Chesney Hawkes, Sinita, Slade, Bad Manners, Toyah, Limahl, Cream UK Tour, Petula Clarke, Bobby Crush, East 17, Liberty X, Jane McDonald, Coldplay.

Comedy: Jason Mansford, Peter Kay, Roy Walker, Norman Wisdom, Jim Bowen, Brian Conley, Brendan O’Carroll, Paddy McGuiness.

Live Theatre: Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty (King Georges Hall, Blackburn); Mystique (Stageworks); Original TV Comedians (Blackpool Opera House); Paul Zerdin (Paradise Room Blackpool); Flags (Manchester Exchange); Mam I’m ’Ere (Life in Theatre); Eight Miles High, Council Depot Blues, Bouncers, Night Collar, Our Day Out, Shirley Valentine, Reds and Blues, Lennon, Noises Off, Canoeing for Beginners, Lost Soul, Golden Oldies, The Royal, Scouse Nativity, Girls Don’t Play Guitars (Royal Court Liverpool); Twopence To Cross The Mersey and By The Waters of Liverpool (Pulse Records); Shout! (Max Emmerson Productions); Out of Order and It Runs In The Family (Ray Cooney Comedy Company); Bang Bang (A production for John Cleese at Mercury Theatre, Colchester); Omnibus (Unity Theatre); Judy & Liza National Tour (Produced by Royal Court Liverpool); A Midsummer Nights Dream (Filter Theatre Company/Lyric Hammersmith); Grimm Tales (Dukes Theatre Lancaster).

Company Biographies

Jamie Jenkin

Video Designer

Jamie is the in-house graphic and video designer at Liverpool’s Royal Court. Starting as marketing assistant at the theatre in 2005, he has been part of the Royal Court since it’s rebirth as a theatre in 2006. He now designs artwork for all Royal Court productions alongside working on video content for the Royal Court stage and beyond.

Video Designs for Theatre include:

Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff by James Graham, A Thong For Europe, Willy Russell’s Our Day Out - The Musical, Haunted Scouse, A Fistful Of Collars, Lennon, Ladies Day, Hitchhikers Guide to Fazakerley, Ladies Night, Canoeing for Beginners, The Scouse Nativity, Father O’Flaherty Saves Our Souls, A Miracle On Great Homer Street, Home, Going Halves, The Royal, The Scouse Cinderella, My Fairfield Lady, Bingo Star, Two Of Us, Royal Court Selection Box, Macca & Beth, The Scouse Sleeping Beauty, The Menlove Avenue Murder Mystery, The Scousetrap, The Scouse Jack & The Beanstalk, The Scouse Dick Whittington, Haunted Scouse and Girls Don’t Play Guitars (Liverpool’s Royal Court); Masquerade, Knee Deep In Promises, Hey Bunny Get Loose, Stocking Fillers and Cosmic (Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio); Cured (Liverpool’s Royal Court in association with DaDaFest & Unlimited); The Dream Team and VR Family (Liverpool’s Royal Court Youth Theatre); Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Shakespeare Festival); Scouse: A Comedy Of Terrors (Dome Liverpool); Judy & Liza (National Tour); YNWA (Alterean Productions, international tour); The Big I Am (Liverpool Everyman); Celtic The Musical (Alterean Productions, Pavilion Theatre Glasgow and SEC Glasgow); Something About George (Something About Productions, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and national tour); The Salford Docker (Salford Community Theatre, Lighthouse Salford); Our Country’s Good (Hope St Theatre); and Peter Pan (Storyhouse Chester). Jamie was also Sound Designer on Hey Bunny Get Loose, Offered Up, Stocking Fillers and Cosmic (Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio) and Our Country’s Good (Hope St Theatre).

Marie Jones

Wardrobe Supervisor

Marie studied fashion and then moved on to theatre costume interpretation at Mabel Fletcher College. Marie’s work as a freelance costumier has included costumes for Oldham Coliseum, The Royal Exchange, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Jimmy McGovern’s film Liam, Beyond Friendship for Mersey Television and the many pantomime dames who have appeared on the Everyman stage.

She has worked extensively at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and has recently been employed as full time Wardrobe Supervisor at the Royal Court. Most recently Marie’s work at the Everyman and Playhouse has included: Much Ado About Nothing, The Electric Hills, The Flint Street Nativity, The Tempest, Unprotected, Billy Liar, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe, Urban Legend, Fly, Breezeblock Park, The Entertainer, Still Life And The Astonished Heart, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Anniversary, Dr Faustus, The May Queen, Cruel Sea and All My Sons

Marie’s other credits include: Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, Lost Soul, Good Golly Miss Molly, Stags and Hens - The Remix, On The Ledge, Misery, Eight Miles High, Council Depot Blues, Night Collar, Dirty Dusting, Shirley Valentine, Our Day Out - The Musical, The Salon, Funny Money, Merry Ding Dong, A Fistul Of Collars, Lucky Numbers, Lennon, Scouse Pacific, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Little Scouse on the Prairie, Reds And Blues - The Musical, Ladies Day, Bouncers, Scouse Of The Antarctic, Pharaoh ‘Cross The Mersey and Down The Dock Road for Royal Court Liverpool, Brouhaha International Street Festival, Working Class Hero on the recent Imagine DVD, Costume Supervisor for many shows at LIPA, The Splash Project at MYPT and Twopence To Cross The Mersey at the Liverpool Empire.

Royal Court Staff

Executive Producer Kevin Fearon

Chief Executive Gillian Miller

Head of Finance & Administration Gary O’Connor

Creative Producer Jess Bolger

Head of Marketing Iain Christie

Executive Chef David Assall

Finance Officer Alison Ward

Graphic Designer & Brand Manager Jamie Jenkin

Assistant Producer Clare Carlucci

Marketing Manager Kofi Ohene-Djan

Workshop Manager John Kavanagh

Social Media Officer Clara Mbirimi

Head of Technical & Production Sean Gannon

Resident Stage Manager Andrew Lock

Scenic Art Manager Jen Baron

Chief LX Jamie Haining

Box Office & Sales Manager Lauren Macauley

Assistant Box Office Manager Laura Lees

Head of Theatre Engagement Miriam Mussa

HR & Wellness Officer Maria Schumann

Participation Project(s) Manager Uma Ramanathan

Costume Supervisor Marie Jones

Finance Administrator Izzie Litwin

Venue Administrator Phil McLoughlin

Production Assistant Stephen Petit

Youth Theatre Leader Zain Salim

Youth Theatre Coordinator Vannessa Park

Later Life Coordinator Jay McWinen

Assistant Producer - Talent Development Harvey Robinson

Daytime Technician Gary Currin

Studio Technician Phil Dickinson

HR & Payroll Administrator Abishek Devadas

Box Office Assistants

Erica Drummond, Finn Goulden-Jennings, Carl Lees, Scarlet Lees, Amelia Maguire, Anna Miller, Joe Morris, Pat O’Neill, Susan

Segar, and Angela Simms

Fire Officer Sven Key

Stage Door Allan Dodd & John Evans

Kitchen

Head Chefs Kyle Wardale, Daniel Awotwi

Chefs Thomas Alexander, Daniel Ambrose, Billie Chisam, Jay Quinn, Josh Eglin, Harrison Mclaughlin, Jake Stephenson, Jack While and Nick Watson

Kitchen Porters Hezekiah Abramson, Ryan Charnock, Debbie Chisam, Louise Dodd, Luke Dunn, Jackie Kirton, Harry Lawlor and Ellis McNeil

Front of House

House Manager Kathryn Heffron

Assistant Manager Kathy Hutson

Supervisors Megan Franey amd Calum Norbury

Bar Supervisor Joe Woods

Courtyard Manager Emma Keig

Assistant Courtyard Manager Paul Imrie

Courtyard Supervisor Aimee Kelly

Front of House Staff Beth Baccino, Nicola Barnes, Hazel Bawden, Jacob Bee, Salem Blata, Cameron Brown, Natalie Brown, Colette Burgess, Denise Byrne, Louis Carney-Smith, Abbie Caskie, Madeline Cooper, Azize Dia, Paige Dunne, Holly Evans, Kieran Foster, Charlotte Freyne, Bethany Fry, Michael Hall, Michael Hardy, Jennifer Heffron, Lauren Heywood, Aisling Jenkin, Leighton Jenkins, Callum Johnstone, Dylan Jones, Jake Jones, Oliver Kelly, Elizabeth Kendrick, Charlotte Kendrick Jones, Abbie Kenworthy, Raia Kiernan, Cherry Kim, Takunda Kudzunga, Julia Kustosz, Phil Lyne, Amelia Maguire, Sam Massen, Amy McCutcheon, Faye McCutcheon, Phil McLoughlin, Eve Mobey, Alison Myers, Brea O’Donnell, Matthew O’Keefe, Joseph O’Neil, Kayleigh Oulton, Jamie Peacock, Jake Pendleton, Emma Phythian, Simone Reddington, Declan Redmond, Sally Robinson, Katie Sherman, Charis Stead, Millie Tucker, Annie Wardale, Leah WhittyMassey, Amy Wright and Hannah Wright

Courtyard Staff

Jordan Barkley, Challen Bellamey, Macy Burns, Sinead CullenBarret, Stephen Dixon, Faith Dawson, Olivia Harrison, Bradley Richards, Chloe Thorpe, Millie Quayle, Keira Tann and Jasmin Ward

Cleaners Cleaning Supervisor: Debbie Chisam, Billie Chisam and Joanne Kinsella

And a big thank you to all of our security staff for their hard work throughout the year.