Us Against Whatever

A Karaoke Cabaret

Written by MAUREEN LENNON in collaboration with NASTAZJA SOMERS.
Music by JAMES FREWER. Directed by PAUL SMITH.

Photo by Sam Taylor

Middle Child in association with Hull Truck Theatre and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse present

An electrifying cabaret about the places we keep in our hearts

Anna is discovering that Hull is not the place she thought it is. Steph sees her city changing and misses her dad. Both are looking for somewhere to call home and something to believe in. And our MC? She’s determined to bring people together again, the only way she knows how – karaoke!

Written by Maureen Lennon in collaboration with Nastazja Somers, with music by James Frewer and lyrics by Paul Smith, this is an electrifying cabaret about the places we keep in our hearts.

From Masuria in Poland and Greenwood Ave in HU6, to a karaoke bar on the night of the EU referendum, via Deano’s volley and a decade of austerity, Us Against Whatever asks what it means to make Hull our home, together.

Us Against Whatever was developed with the support of the National Theatre, British Council and Polish Cultural Institute in London.

Guidance

Suitable for ages 14+. This production contains strong language, smoking, death of a family member and grief, incidents of racism and xenophobia, references to homophobia and a reference to the death of Jo Cox. See our content notes page for a full plot summary.

Running time: 2h with an interval.

Dates

Everyman Theatre, Liverpool

20 March-23 March 2019

Hull Truck Theatre

27 March-3 April 2019

Listen

Stream the soundtrack on Spotify

Play

Reviews

★★★★★

“I can’t help feeling that this is exactly the play about Brexit that we need right now, complex, layered and ultimately forgiving.”
A Younger Theatre

“A passionate portrait of a city and the spirit of all who live there… genuinely giving voice to the people of a Vote Leave city while being entirely non-judgemental.”
Lyn Gardner

★★★★

“Simultaneously personal and universal… a breakneck journey”
The Stage

Photos

By Sam Taylor

Us Against Whatever
Us Against Whatever
Us Against Whatever
Us Against Whatever
Us Against Whatever

Cast

Creative Team

Written by Maureen Lennon in collaboration with Nastazja Somers
Music by James Frewer
Directed by Paul Smith
Designed by Bethany Wells
Lighting by Jess Addinall
Sound design by Ed Clarke
Projection design by Daniel Denton
Movement direction by Adam Hadi
Assistant direction and dramaturgy by Matthew May
Drum supervision by Joshua Meredith
Script support by Meg Badorek-Miszczuk