The new artistic director of the Everyman, Des Kennedy, says theatre saved his life. From Twinbrook in West Belfast, an area of immense social deprivation, Kennedy (42) joined a youth theatre group at the age of thirteen which changed the trajectory of his life.
“I’m the only male member of my family who has never been to prison,” says Kennedy. “All my cousins went to prison. Finding a creative outlet, a passion, meant that I was doing youth theatre on Saturdays instead of stealing cars.”
Kennedy was instrumental in making the show, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which opened in the West End about eight years ago. As international associate director, he brought it all over the world, including Broadway, with a new local cast in each city. Kennedy also worked on the musical, Once, with Enda Walsh as scriptwriter.
This English and drama graduate of Queen’s University Belfast is in the middle of programming at the Everyman for what will be on stage from February 2025 onwards. His focus will be on “big plays, big musicals” which he believes audiences are craving, post pandemic.
“Stand-up comedy will continue but there has been a lot of comedy at the Everyman in the last couple of years. There is a place for comedy but it shouldn’t be what we’re known for. I’m looking at a mix with other partners around Ireland. We also should be making stuff that can go to Dublin and London. That’s the world I’m from. Cork artists are some of the best in the world so I’m really excited to talk to those artists who had to go away to make work. I want to bring them back to the Everyman and to also work with local artists, to give them a platform so they don’t have to go abroad.”
Kennedy, who studied international business on a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania, describes his background as being in show business. “Working in the West End and on Broadway means you have to have that killer instinct to make shows that are going to sell out.”
He agrees that middle-aged middle-class females are a sizable part of the demographic of the Everyman audience. “But it’s not the only demographic. I feel it’s my responsibility to programme a variety of work so that we’re getting students and young people coming in. I’m thinking of interesting cutting edge work. We’re partnering with the Cork School of Music.”
Kennedy is a good friend of actor and presenter Siobhan McSweeney. “She will be involved as a feature of the Everyman, not necessarily a production. But she is very much in discussion with us.”
Kennedy has also been talking to Young Offenders star, Chris Walley.
“I’ve been reaching out to all of these artists that are from Cork, asking them what they want to do? Pat Kiernan is on my list of people to meet. I’ve met Fin Flynn (ex-Corcadorca producer, now working at the Cork Arts Theatre). I’m speaking to Ger FitzGibbon and John O’Brien. There’s really a lot of exciting people around. The Everyman should exist to promote Cork talent. It should be their home theatre.”
Kennedy’s best friend is Lisa Magee who wrote Derry Girls. “Lisa is writing a massive TV show at the moment. We’re also talking about things we can develop together.”
Citing his first thrilling time seeing The Crucible at the Lyric in Belfast at the age of fourteen, Kennedy says that he always keeps in mind the teenager he was, having a life-changing experience. Such enthusiasm augurs well for the Everyman.
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