Monday 5 September 2022

A WORLD PREMIERE OF A BILLION TIMES I LOVE YOU 

BY LIVERPOOL PLAYWRIGHT PATRICK MAGUIRE FEATURES MUSIC FROM CRAWLERS

We’re confirming our commitment to young creatives and the development of talent from the Liverpool City Region with the first production of our new season, the first by new Creative Director Suba Das. A Billion Times I Love You written by Patrick Maguire and directed by Jessica Meade, both graduates of the award-winning Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) programme, currently celebrating its 10th year, opens at the Everyman Theatre on Tuesday 27 September.  The cast are announced as Mary Higgins and Melissa Lowe, with music by Liverpool band Crawlers.

This brilliant new play about finding new ways to say, ‘I love you’, when it feels like your soulmate's stopped listening, is supported by Homotopia, the longest-running LGBTQIA arts festival in the UK (happening every November), who support and platform local, national, and international LGBTQIA artists. A Billion Times I Love You won the Homotopia Writers’ Award 2021, with the Everyman and Homotopia selecting director Jessica Meade, herself a YEP graduate and alumni of Homotopia’s own talent development programme Queercore, to bring the play to life in a scripted reading at the Everyman in May 2022. 

The reaction to this new ‘queer love story’ was so powerful, it has been instantly propelled to the main stage, with Jessica Meade now directing her first main house show. Speaking about the show, director Jessica said:  “I feel really honoured to be opening the new season with this bold, brave and beautiful queer love story and incredibly grateful to be supported by Suba Das and the team at the Everyman & Playhouse in this exciting next step of my career. My relationship began with their young director development programme, YEP Directors, so this opportunity is particularly special to me. It all feels very full circle!” 

Jesse and Taylor are two young women in love. At least they think they are. But do we ever really know what love feels like for the other person? Is it real love if they don’t always say it back? A Billion Times I Love You is a rollercoaster ride through the backchat and bust-ups, kisses and cleaning products that underscore one couple's hunt for queer romantic bliss. 

Patrick Maguire’s writing credits include The Cow Goes Roar and Daddies (Manchester ADP at the Kings Arms, Salford), Killing Children, (Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool), My Sister’s Body, (The Brink, Liverpool), Moth Wing Soup (Unity Theatre, Liverpool), Two’s Up (Lantern Theatre, Liverpool) and Dirt (Liverpool Playwrights Showcase, Town Hall, Liverpool).

Jessica Meade is a director based in the North West. She studied at the University of Leeds reading Theatre and Performance. She is currently on attachment training to the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse as one of six young directors in training as part of the YEP Directors course and has recently been selected by the JMK Trust to receive mentorship as one of twenty-five directors across the UK. Her credits include Cherry Jezebel (Assistant Director), Build a Rocket (YEP Directors’ Festival 2021) at the Everyman and Nite Life (part of the Homotopia QueerCore development programme) at the Playhouse. Jessica is the co-founder of FLOOD Theatre company and is working with the Unity theatre to develop touch.

Mary Higgins plays Jesse. Mary wrote and performed in Hotter and Fitter, both of which enjoyed sold out runs at London’s Soho Theatre.  She has also appeared on screen in Traitors (Channel 4) and The English Game (Netflix). Their film credits include Philipa Lowthorpe’s Misbehaviour and Amazon’s Cinderella remake starring Camila Cabello and Billy Porter. 

Merseyside actor Melissa Lowe plays Taylor. Their theatre appearances include: Bex in Hungry (Soho Theatre/ ROUNDABOUT @ Summerhall - Edinburgh Festival Fringe); June in Gypsy (Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester); Belle in A Christmas Carol (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest (Octagon Theatre Bolton); Sally in The Cat in the Hat (Leicester Curve/UK Tour) and Me and My Girl (Chichester Festival Theatre). On screen Melissa appeared in The Midwich Cuckoos on Sky.
 

Liverpool based four-piece Crawlers, one of the UK's most exciting new rock bands set to release of their new mixtape "Loud Without Noise" on the 28 October via Polydor Records. The record provides a snapshot of what it means to traverse one’s own boundaries for the aim of gaining autonomy over your body, your sexuality and your emotions. Breaking onto the scene with their viral hit 'Come Over (again)' last year, which has clocked up over 35 million streams on Spotify, the band have created a safe space for young, queer and underrepresented people connecting fans on a mass scale. Crawlers continue to make waves having recently sold-out tour dates across the UK & US, supported My Chemical Romance and made their Reading and Leeds Festival debut this summer. Crawlers have also seen solid support from BBC Radio 1 Clara Amfo & Jack Saunders and rave reviews from NME, Kerrang!, Clash, DIY and The Sunday Times Culture.

Suba Das said, 
“I’m so proud to open my first season in Liverpool with A Billion Times I Love You, and to re-state the Everyman and Playhouse’s commitment to incredible, unexpected stories of how we live and love created by the city’s most exciting talent. Patrick’s play is the most beautifully observed exploration of the hopes and fears bubbling under any love affair, and I’m so excited that Jessica Meade’s playful, tender production will also be giving our audiences a first listen to brand new music from Crawlers, a Liverpool band blowing up around the world and who can now call the Everyman a creative home too.”