Everyone at The Everyman is tying off ends and sweeping up confetti, so to speak, as we end the year on what really is a big high! It’s always good to take stock, so let’s do just that…
We’ve had rooms full of laughter, with comedians such as David O’Doherty, Chris Kent (8 shows due to popular demand!), Neil Delamere, Vittorio Angelone, Emma Doran and DirtBirds. We’ve had music – Bonnie Prince Billy! Ye Vagabonds! Camille O’Sullivan! Lisa Hannigan! We’ve had a programme of mind-blowing films with Cork International Film Festival and Banff Mountain Film Festival.
And, the theatre. The theatre! We put on some treasured shows for Cork Midsummer Festival, including our own production, The Summer I Robbed a Bank – did you catch it? Then there were sold-out nights of The Shadow of a Gunman by Druid, Masterclass by Brokentalkers, Mother of All the Behans starring Imelda May (!!), GATMAN! starring Tadhg Hickey (our own production), The Mysterious Case of Kitsy Rainey and the huge success of Tuesdays with Morrie, amongst others.
We had the mighty Kabin Crew in the auditorium with The Sound of the Northside, an inspired showcase of some seriously talented kids (they “blew off the roof!”), there was circus (shout out Circus Factory), there was dance, there was tribute music and even a Mockie Ah drag show thrown in for Culture Night!
Our Community and Education department were buzzing with their theatre-making programmes for young people and older adults, and we once again collaborated with Cork Midsummer Festival, Bristol Old Vic and MAYK on Tales of Two Cities, a programme for early-career theatre artists in Cork.
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival kicked off with Mary Coughlan, Seun Kuti, Orchestra Baobab and Luke Thomas and Úna Healy (something for everyone!). We loved our Music Of… series of concerts – it’s wonderful to be in a room with musicians as passionate about what they do as John O’Brien, Karen Underwood, Molly Lynch, Niamh O’Sullivan and the Ora Quartet.
We had our first ever late-night music and comedy programme: After Dark, and our Artists in Residence Theatre Lovett enchanted the young and the old with The Maestro and The Mosquita.
Finally, we’ve had our spectacular Pantomime, Red Riding Hood, which we and CADA Performing Arts are very, very proud of (running until 12th January, FYI!) in all its sequin-glittered, hot-to-go glory! What a team! We were delighted to once again host an ISL-interpreted performance, audio-described performance with touch tour and relaxed performance of the Panto.
On top of our shows and activities, we have had a new CEO, Anna Marie Coughlan, and new Artistic Director, Des Kennedy, joining our ranks; very exciting things being actioned and percolating in that department! Our new Communications and Marketing Manager, Ciara O’Riordan, has been injecting new energy into our marketing, and the tech team got a brand new, state-of-the-art sound system. Additionally, we’ve continued to host Artists Afternoons in our lovely bar, for that essential networking and down time for Cork artists and arts workers.
Thank you to you, our audiences, for coming along, buying tickets, donating, having a laugh, shedding a tear, having a drink, chatting to our cleaners, maintenance staff and front of house team and supporting what we believe is one of the finest artistic institutions in Munster.
What has 2025 got in store? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out!
By Marketing Executive Úna Hennessy
