Oh yes it will: Panto to bring curtain down on Everyman Theatre’s 120th year

Music, comedy, drama and the annual Christmas panto will bring the Everyman Theatre’s 120th anniversary celebrations to a close, the venue’s autumn/winter programme launch has revealed.

Picture:  Cormac Mohally of the Lots of Strut; David Peare of Cyclone Rep Shakespeare Sessions; Niamh O’Mahony, Everyman Panto ‘Beauty and The Beast,’; Cara O’Sullivan of ‘Cara and Majella Together’; comedian Chris Kent, Cork Comedy Festival; and the Everyman’s Laura Perrem, at the launch of the Everyman Theatre’s last instalment of its 120th birthday programme. See everymancork.com. Picture: Darragh Kane

A tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast will draw crowds to the panto, following on from the Cork Comedy Festival (September), Guinness Cork Jazz Festival (October), and Cork Film Festival (November).

Live shows and comedy acts to visit the MacCurtain St venue will include Donovan, Dermot & Dave, Cara & Majella: Together, The Illegals featuring Niamh Kavanagh, two editions of the Everyman Sunday Songbook, John Spillane, Jason Byrne, David O’Doherty, Christine Bovill’s Piaf, Keith Barry, Faulty Towers, Magical Mozart, and John Wilson’s A Taste of Rory Gallagher.

Fans of the great outdoors will have the opportunity to take in the returning Tom Crean: Antarctic Explorer, as well as appearances from legendary mountaineer Simon Yates of Touching the Void, and wildlife expert Colin Stafford Johnson.

Julie Kelleher, artistic director, thanked the public for their support of the Everyman’s programme this year.“Each of the 12 months of the year hosts a special Everyman120 show, an event that we feel encapsulates the best of the building’s past, present, or future, as we continue our mission of maintaining tradition and breaking new ground,” Ms Kelleher said.

“My continued thanks to you for your unwavering support of the artists who make and present shows here, and indeed your support of our grand old building,” she said.

Blue Raincoat’s Alice in Wonderland will offer families something to see during the October midterm, and ballet fans will have Romeo & Juliet to savour.

Theatre hits from last year’s Dublin Fringe Festival will visit Cork this season, including refugee crisis This Beach, Joanne McNally’s Bite Me, and To Hell In A Handbag, which gives a leading role to a pair of supporting characters from Oscar Wilde’s beloved The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Everyman will also host Moonfish Theatre’s adaptation of Joseph O’Connor’s bestselling novel Star of the Sea.

The theatre is also promising a ‘bonanza of Beckett’ in 2018, including a visit from Druid with their production of Waiting For Godot.