Joyous, challenging, anarchic… and scouse!
Nathan Powell, writer of Takeaway, spoke to Damon Fairclough about this exciting new show and his plans as creative director of the Everyman and Playhouse.
Can you give us a quick summary of what Takeaway is about?
It’s a family comedy drama set in Toxteth, Liverpool 8, about a Caribbean takeaway run by Carol Hylton and her two daughters.
Beyond their shop door, a block of luxury apartments is about to be built over a local field, but the community is fighting against it. That local conflict brings some of family’s unspoken conversations to the forefront – about what it means to be a first-generation Caribbean migrant and a second-generation Caribbean Brit growing up in this country.
But it’s also a story about Liverpool. It’s about Liverpool as a whole, how it was built, where it is now, and about the communities that make up the city.
Where did the idea come from?
The play began life about seven or eight years ago, before I moved to Liverpool. I was in a takeaway shop and I was watching the family dynamics – they were really interesting. So I just started writing this thing. It felt like a way to talk about the nation, but through the specific lens of this family in this place and time.
It’s been through a few different iterations, but when I moved to Liverpool in 2017 and became more aware of the city’s race politics, I started working on bringing it to this city.
It’s become a much more exciting play, I think, by being set in a city that’s historically a socialist, left-wing city, but that also has some tricky issues to deal with. It’s interesting to be able to explore that through these characters.
And what brings it to the Everyman?
I was talking to the Everyman about it before I became creative director here, exploring what it could look like on this stage. So now feels like the right time to do it, and I think as the first piece that I’ll be offering to the city as creative director, it’s great to present something that feels so rooted in Liverpool.
I think it feels very ‘Everyman’ in that it’s exploring a difficult question and trying to figure something out, but there are also lots of laughs, silliness and humour.
We do seem to love family stories at the Everyman.
We do! It’s such an intimate space where you feel like you’re there with those people, having conversations and tackling those issues.
Who are the play’s key characters?
Carol, who started the takeaway with her late husband, is at face value, a powerful Jamaican matriarch – it’s her way or the highway – but she’s got these two daughters who have all these fresh new ideas. They’re influenced by places like the Baltic Market, but Carol wants to stay true to the shop’s original role – she sees it as a vital part of the community.
Her two daughters live kind of parallel lives. Shelly has been away to uni and learnt all these things about business that she’s trying to bring back to the shop. She’s been travelling, she’s got a slightly different accent, and maybe there’s a part of her that looks down on the people that stay in that community. But her sister, Browning, has been happy to stay in L8, and now has a young daughter of her own.
Then there’s Chef, who came over from Jamaica and has been working with the family a long time – he’s a bit of a rock for the family. And there’s Shelly’s partner, Richard, who works helping local people, supporting them to get into social housing. He has more of that traditional socialist scouse mentality, and maybe he actually understands the community a little more than Shelly does.
What do you think are the play’s main themes?
Liverpool and its politics – social politics, racial politics, what it means to be of this city.
Also families and communities dealing with grief. While the family is dealing with the death of the paternal figure in their life, the community is also dealing with grief over the loss of a particular culture and moment in time.
And in contrast, fun and joy are also in there too. It’s about how we can find fun and joy in difficult times. We’re making a space for Liverpool to celebrate and have some joy, because there’s resilience in just being able to have fun.
You’re not originally from Liverpool, so have you encountered any challenges making a play that’s located so specifically in this city?
It’s all about having conversations with people who have grown up here all their lives, making sure it feels fair, honest, true and authentic. But it’s also about allowing myself to have an outsider’s eye on things.
I’ve been here seven years now, making this place my home and falling in love with this city, but sometimes we need to interrogate the city too. This is my way to do that!
Of course, it’ll be an all-scouse cast, so in the rehearsal room they’ll be able to pull it apart and go, “No one’s said that since 1992!”
What kind of mood are you hoping this production will create?
It’ll be funny and joyous, contemporary and challenging, chaotic and anarchic… and very Liverpool!
Who do you think this play is perfect for?
People who love Liverpool, who are from here, and want to hear stories about this city. I think they’ll have a wonderful time. There’s an initial connection to the play because of its place and location, but then you also get to know the family and fall in love with them – their flaws, their awkwardness, whatever. People will enjoy being part of this family for a moment in time.
I think Takeaway is great for people who maybe shy away from theatre. It’s accessible, it’s understandable, and you get to go on a journey with these people. There are surprises and twists and turns, but it remains accessible while still being challenging and explorative too.
We’re definitely going to entertain and deliver a really fun experience! It’ll be a fun show full of music and comedy, so I think it’s going to be great for people to come along with their mates and then chat about it after.
Takeaway is your first show as creative director here. Can you tell us a little about your hopes and ambitions for the future?
When we’re making new work at the Everyman and Playhouse, I’m hoping for stories that feel rooted in this place. Sometimes that’ll mean the locality, other times it’ll be about the theme. For instance, we could set a play on Mars, but it should feel like Liverpool’s the only place where it could have been created!
We’ve got such strong cultural capital in this city that I feel should be shared far and wide. What we produce as theatre makers in this city is brilliant and I want to share it with the world.
We’re also thinking about how we collaborate with other partners and the brilliant creatives here in Liverpool, making sure that in terms of artist development, we’re making work at excellent scale and excellent quality, so they can go on and do cool work elsewhere as well. That feels really important for us and our talent development pathway.
Takeaway feels like a great first opportunity to say, “Here are all the ways you can engage with us,” and actually make sure this is a place that feels like it’s for everyone who comes past our doors. I think it helps us say, “Our doors are open, come and work with us, come and have fun with us, and let’s see where we go from here.”
And finally… what’s your favourite takeaway meal?
Ooh… oxtail and rice and peas!
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