Liverpool Everyman continues to launch, establish, and sustain careers for the most exciting talent from Liverpool City Region and beyond. Takeaway confirms Liverpool Everyman’s dedication to producing local stories with a national reach. Tickets are priced from £11, aimed at making live performances accessible and encouraging audiences to explore new plays.
Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse presents Takeaway, written by Nathan Powell and directed by Amanda Huxtable. The production features set and costume design by Georgia Wilmot, lighting design by Laura Howard, and sound design by Ernest Acquah. Scarlet (Red) Robinson Stanley joins as the trainee assistant director.
The cast includes Adi Alfa, Bill Caple, Phina Oruche, Wayne Rollins, and Bene Sebuyange.
Takeaway will run from Saturday, April 26 to Saturday, May 17, with the press night on Wednesday, April 30 at 7:30 pm. Special performances include a captioned performance on April 24, an audio-described performance on May 2, and a BSL performance on May 9. Tickets are available from £11.
Takeaway, written by Nathan Powell and directed by Amanda Huxtable, is a vibrant new family comedy-drama of community struggles and generational clashes. The story is set in a Liverpool restaurant packed with big laughs, family tensions, and pumping tunes. The cast includes Adi Alfa, Bill Caple, Phina Oruche, Wayne Rollins, and Bene Sebuyange.
Hylton’s Caribbean takeaway is a much-loved restaurant at the heart of Liverpool 8. Built by Carol and her late husband into a bustling hub with a mouth-watering menu, it serves great food with a huge side-order of love. But in a world of delivery apps, street-food markets, and gourmet curry goat, her family is divided about what their future should hold.
The Liverpool they live in is changing too. With a block of luxury apartments about to be built over a local playing field, anger’s rising, and things are getting spicy.
Phina Oruche plays Carol. Oruche began her career as a model before appearing in television and film productions, including Footballers’ Wives (ITV), for which she won a Screen Nation Award for Favourite TV Star, as well as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Mutant Enemy) and The Unit (CBS). Her one-woman show, Identity Crisis, debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was subsequently performed in London, New York, and Shakespeare North.
Carol’s eldest daughter, Browning, is played by Adi Alfa, a multi-award-winning actress whose credits include Dark Star Rising (20 Stories High), The Gathering (ITV), and the film Saved. Carol’s other daughter, Shelly, has recently returned to Liverpool from London, eager to make a change for the family. She is played by Bene Sebuyange, a North West-based actor and spoken word artist. Sebuyange is a two-time slam champion with The Poet Society. Shelly’s boyfriend Richard, a housing officer who grew up in Toxteth, is played by Bill Caple, a 2022 graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, whose credits include Dear England (National Theatre), Doctors (BBC Studios), and The Responder Series 2 (BBC). The restaurant’s cook, who has a deep care for the family, is played by Wayne Rollins. Rollins’ theatre credits include the National Theatre tour of Sucker Punch and Nine Night at Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse.
Writer Nathan Powell is the Creative Director for the Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. Previously Artistic Director of the National Student Drama Festival (NSDF), Powell has championed emerging talent and forged groundbreaking partnerships, showcasing some of the most exciting new work from across the country. He was the Creative Producer and Associate Artist for 20 Stories High (an Associate Company of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatres) and is co-founder of New Step Theatre with writer Joe Ward Munrow. Their production of DOGS sold out the Playhouse Studio in 2022.
As writer and adapter, Nathan’s credits include Pleasant Land and Homegirl (Derby Theatre). As a director his recent credits include Sucker Punch (Queens Theatre Hornchurch in association with the National Theatre) and A Play for the Living in the Time of Extinction (Headlong and The Barbican in association with Shakespeare North). He recently directed The Mountaintop for Leicester Curve and on a national tour, and Alice in Wonderland for Shakespeare North.
Nathan Powell said: “This is a play made for the Everyman — joyous, challenging, anarchic, and has Liverpool at its core. It’s about family, about community, and about finding joy and resilience even in difficult times. I want Takeaway to feel like you’re sitting in the restaurant with these characters, laughing with them, arguing with them, and ultimately rooting for them. It’s the perfect first show for me as Creative Director here, because it’s a story that could only come from this city, told in the unique way only incredible performers from the city can, but also a story with relevance throughout the country.”
Takeaway is directed by Amanda Huxtable (Nine Night, Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse; Everything I Own, Hull Truck Theatre). Joining the creative team are set and costume designer Georgia Wilmot (Elephant, Bush Theatre), lighting designer Laura Howard (The Legend of Ned Ludd, Liverpool Everyman) and sound designer Ernest Acquah (Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in The Willows and A Christmas Carol, all at Shakespeare North Playhouse). Scarlet (Red) Robinson-Stanley, from Young Everyman and Playhouse (YEP) joins the production as a trainee assistant director, working alongside director Amanda Huxtable.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
