'Theatre's rise is thanks to our inspirational city'

A theatre which has seen its annual attendance rise by 11% has said its success is down to being a "theatre for the people".

Liverpool's Royal Court said local-themed productions had helped establish its reputation for shows "full of relatable characters, warmth and humour".

"We've always been a Liverpool-focused theatre so the work that we create is for our audience, for Liverpool," executive producer Kevin Fearon said.

"We find writers who have got great Liverpool stories. The work we put on stage has to relate to our audience."

Latest figures released in the theatre's annual review showed 187,319 tickets had been sold. The venue hosted some 409 performances as well as 11,437 school audience members.

Mr Fearon said since 2017 all of the theatre's plays had been new writing and it had a reputation for telling local stories.

"The audience has to recognise characters they live with, or they know, or they work with - they have to be real people," Mr Fearon said.

"We have a formula for our work. It has to be Liverpool at its heart and for me that is warmth. It is a sense of humour and it is honest.

"If we get that right in a play the audience love it."

Among its shows, the theatre staged the premiere of Alan Bleasdale's Boys From The Blackstuff, which was retold by writer James Graham in collaboration with Bleasdale.

Other Liverpool-themed productions included Haunted Scouse, A Greasy Spoon and Bingo Star.

But Mr Fearon also put the venue's growing success down to adapting to a changing audience and the introduction of cabaret-style dining.

"There's 170 seats for dining where people can have a meal and a drink before the show," Mr Fearon said.

"When the rest of the audience come in later the room has already got a feeling.

"It feels like you're in a place that's going to have a good time, that helps theatre, it's not a cold space."

He said it had taken 20 years "to get it right" and constant feedback with visitors and asking them what they enjoyed.

"We listen to our audience," he said.

"Theatres across the country are finding it difficult to get audiences but we are very different to them, we write the work for our audience.

"What makes us all Liverpudlians is that we laugh at ourselves.

"A sense of humour that we have in Liverpool, that what gets us through the day and through our lives."

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