ENDZ on Tour in Liverpool Communities

From tomorrow (Tuesday 19th April) Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse will be touring their new show Endz - No Word of a Lie around various community centres, schools and other accessible venues across Liverpool.

Endz is a community focused piece with The Everyman and Playhouse spending two years gathering opinions and experiences from various community members. These real life experiences are then retold by the actors within the production. Issues confronted in Endz include gun and knife crime, drugs, gang life, violence and change, all dealt with a sense of humour and honesty.

The opinions and experiences on which Endz is based come from a broad cross-section of society - young people, ex-gang members and drug dealers, police, mothers, youth workers and residents. The true life which the production revolves around leads to a lively entertaining story, and should temporarily transform Liverpool's community centres into vibrant dramatic locations possibly showcasing the experiences of neighbours of some members of the audience.

The first leg of the tour takes place at 7:30pm on 19 April at Knotty Ash Youth Centre and will be performed on a further twelve dates, finishing at Fazakerley High School on 13 May. Tickets cost £3.

It is great to see another organisation using the arts as a force for good, as Endz reaches communities that may have limited exposure to theatre, potentially inspiring audience members to become more engaged in the arts in Liverpool whilst challenging stereotypes and offering uplifting messages.

Similarities could be drawn to our own Get Into Reading programme which brings people from different backgrounds within communities together, developing members' interpersonal skills and enhancing their cultural experiences; once readers have been exposed to new and exciting literature they have gone on to visit more artistic and cultural events. Hopefully Endz can have a similar impact.