Finally, a play for ‘anybody who is going to die’
Pulitzer Prize finalist, ‘Everybody’ takes on the meaning of what it is to be alive, and why it must come to an end
Evanston, Ill --- Northwestern University's Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts presents “Everybody,” a modern riff on the 15th-century morality play “Everyman,” for two weekends beginning May 19.
Audiences will experience a different “Everybody” in each performance. Five of the roles, including the title role of the character Everybody, are drawn by lottery every night. Everybody goes on a journey to find what it means to be alive and why life must ultimately end.
Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, “Everybody” was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Katie Lupica, an MFA candidate in the School of Communication, directs the play.
After directing “Men on Boats” at Northwestern last spring, Lupica said she wanted to direct this play at this moment because “death is something we often experience at a distance through headlines, in private with our families, or alone with our fears of what could come of our own lives.”
“This show is for anybody who is going to die,” Lupica said. “I hope audiences will take away what it’s like to come together in a room of people who hold different ideas about what happens after we die and think about it together as a community. The emotional journey of the play starts with humor. Through that humor, we can explore fear, sadness and anger. All of that comes together in a celebration and a surrender."
“Everybody” will be performed in the Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, on the Evanston campus, May 19 through 28. Tickets are available online or in-person at the Wirtz Center Box Office, Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., located in the Barber Theater lobby or by calling 847-491-7282.
The Wirtz Center is a member of the Northwestern Arts Circle, which brings together film, humanities, literary arts, music, theater, dance and visual arts.