EVERYBODY

About the show

A modern riff on the 15th-century morality play Everyman, Everybody follows “Everybody” (chosen from amongst the cast by lottery) as they journey through life’s greatest mystery – the meaning of living. Updating Everyman, the quintessential Medieval morality play – a religious allegory about death and salvation performed in public places during church festivals – Jacobs-Jenkins renames Fellowship, Kindred, Goods, Discretion, Five Wits and Knowledge as Friendship, Kinship, Stuff, Mind, Five Senses and Understanding, respectively. Instead of Good Deeds following Everyman/Everybody to the grave, the role now goes to Love. As the play unfolds, pre-recorded voiceover scenes depict four of Everybody’s friends comforting them at their deathbed. Though the narrative is focused on death, the result is absurdly fun. Using small extracts and echoes from the original play alongside brilliant and original writing, Everybody highlights the paradoxes of living in the world today with its focus on the individual.