Everyman director picks top 3 ‘must see’

The outgoing artistic director of Cork’s Everyman Palace picked his top three choices for this season as he launched the theatre’s Spring programme.

Number One was Der Vampyr which will see the MacCurtain St venue transformed into a vampire’s pit later this year.

Michael Barker-Caven is leaving the Everyman to become a freelance director and this is one of his first shows. He described Der Vampyr as an “extraordinary piece of romantic opera”.

Sung in German, the production will see Barker-Caven co-direct with John O’Brien. Recent stagings of Pagaliacci and Orpheus at the Everyman were highly successful.

Number two on his must-see list is Jim Nolan’s Birdsong, based on the bestselling Sebastian Faulks novel. This is being staged to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

Coming fresh from the West End, Barker-Caven describes the play, rewritten for stage by Rachel Wagstaff, as an “exquisite, haunting and very romantic tale for people who love a good story”.

The third show is Jim Nolan’s Dreamland. Set in the 1930s, it chronicles the post-civil war rise of the Blueshirts in Ireland.

Next Spring at the Everyman will also see Keith Barry back at the venue with his mind-melting Brain Hacker as well as Faulty Towers — The Dining Experience. International smash hit Potted Potter, a show that condenses the seven Harry Potter books into 70 minutes also features.

Irish Examiner court reporter Liam Heylin will bring his latest play, Love, Peace and Robbery to the Everyman later this year, while after a sellout run in Dublin, the New Theatre’s take on Joyce’s A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man will also come to Cork.

Mr Barker-Caven leaves the theatre this month after two-and-a-half years at the helm. Executive director, Eimear O’Herlihy is also leaving at the end of March.

“The last two-and-a-half years have been a challenge with less funding but it would be too easy to hide behind that. Recession or not, people still want to be entertained and are willing to pay for it if the quality is good enough. We just had to get tougher but also bolder and braver. The Everyman is still a very healthy organisation and we look forward to its continued renewal,” he said.

Replacements for Mr Barker-Caven and Ms O’Herlihy have not yet been confirmed.