Liverpool’s Third Cathedral
The Liverpool Everyman Theatre

In the words of those who where, and are, there.
Compiled By Ros Merkin

By Kenn Taylor

In 1964 a group of enthusiastic Liverpool University students with the idealistic idea of opening a new repertory theatre in Liverpool wrangled enough cash out of the city council to convert the old Hope Hall - at various times a chapel, cinema and a disco - into a new arts venue, and began putting on plays to coincide with texts studied for school ‘O’ levels.

So began the Everyman odyssey, beautifully laid out with photographs, posters and drawings, it is told in press cuttings, letters and quotes from those who were there; from the cleaners to the many now well-known actors, writers and directors who served their time at the Everyman mill.

Julie Walters, Bill Nighy, Barbara Dickson and others lay down many anecdotes of a theatre which, for most of its existence, was held together only by the enthusiasm and dedication of those involved, as it struggled from one financial crisis to another with a siege mentality and a good sense of humour. There are stories of staff making props at home, rats running across the stage during plays, and method actors being drunk every night because their role required it.

What strikes you when reading it, is just how important the Everyman has been to Liverpool's cultural life; giving a voice in the 70s and 80s to the ravaged communities in the city, and tackling head-on many political issues during its more left-wing days. The theatre gave a leg up to the now household names Willy Russell and Alan Bleasedale. And there are quotes from many of today's new actors and writers, who put their chosen careers down to early visits. The sheer unlikeliness of its survival is brought out by one Conservative Councillor demanding as early as 1965: "Let this thing die now."

“If youth and enthusiasm still count for anything in this tough commercial world of ours, then Liverpool's newest theatre… should be off to a good start. This is the bravest theatrical venture in Liverpool for some years." So wrote the Liverpool Echo in 1964, when the Everyman began its difficult, but chequered history. These words could perhaps equally be applied to a re-born theatre today.