Liverpool’s rising theatre talent leads new play ‘Attachment’ at the Everyman

A powerful new play by Everyman Young Writers’ Programme graduate Julia Cranney, developed alongside adoptive families from Merseyside, opens at the Liverpool Everyman, on 4 June (Press night 8 June).

Attachment is a heartfelt Liverpool drama about parenthood, hope, and adoption, and the ways that relationships can grow.  often funny, sometimes poignant, and always honest. It’s one woman’s tender, bittersweet story about embracing the fragility of love. The play is directed by YEP graduate Kate Treadell and will be performed by Paislie Reid.

What does it take to become a family?  

Mat knows what you think about her. About the way she looks. The way she acts. The way she handed her son to a stranger… and didn’t even cry.

But there’s a lot you don’t know about Mat. And there’s a lot she doesn’t know about herself. So, when she gets into a car with a man she’s never met before and unlocks a new kind of life, no one could be more surprised than she is about where her story goes next.

Since 2023, The Everyman has developed a strand of programming that allows it to tell new stories, often with new artists, and explore new ways of working. Attachment is the fifth show in this strand, following Tell Me How It Ends, A Billion Times I Love You, Our Town Needs A Nando’s, and The Walrus Has A Right To Adventure, which was nominated for a Stage Debut award for both Best Director and Best Designer.  It allows The Everyman to create opportunities for graduates of its Young Everyman Playhouse programme and early career theatre makers from the Liverpool City Region, nurturing and empowering local talent and creating national impact.  The number of performances is much shorter, and the investment reflects this, helping mitigate the risk of producing new work in a climate of reduced funding.

Creative Director of Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Nathan Powell said, ‘This programme strand has opened up a space where emerging artists can explore bold ideas and new ways of working, with the freedom to take creative risks. At the same time, it invites audiences to encounter fresh voices and new stories, from some of the region’s pool of incredible talent.” 

Born and based in Liverpool, Julia Cranney is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and actor, who originally trained as a writer with the Everyman’s Young Writers Program.me  Julia’s theatre credits include: the Offie-nominated Moments (Hope Theatre, Islington) and Empty Beds (winner of the Scottish Daily Mail Award and an inaugural Eddies award, premiered at Underbelly Edinburgh before transferring to The Arcola, London. Her work for the screen includes an animated adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for BBC Teach and three original romcom features for Reel One in Canada (released internationally on Paramount Plus). Julia was nominated for the Edinburgh TV Festival New Voice Awards for her debut script for EastEnders, and she co-wrote and co-directed the short film Measure with filmmaker Helen Simmons, which won the Méliès Award for Best European Short Film at the Molins de Rei Film Festival. 

Julia said, “I’m interested in the fact that there’s a ‘Disneyfied’ view of adoption. People who adopt are often put on a pedestal, but it’s so hard to be on a pedestal when you’re asking for help, and nobody’s there on your level to help you. These people, who are so vulnerable, are picking up the pieces for an underfunded service because we assume that parents’ love will fill that gap. I hope Attachment goes some way to starting conversations around our system, and perhaps how it can be changed for the better.”

Kate Treadall is a theatre director from Liverpool. After graduating, Kate formed the company The Honest Crowd and held residencies at The Basement in Brighton and at BAC. Returning home to Liverpool, Kate became a YEP Young Director, where her credits include Blink (YEP Directors’ Festival) and Assistant Director on The Story Giant (Liverpool Everyman). Other credits include Monday… (On The Verge, Hope St, Liverpool), Karaoke Tales (The Rose Theatre at Edge Hill Arts Centre), Moments and Empty Beds (The Hope Theatre, London),  Mum Can You Lend Me £20 (a tour of UK prisons), and RISE UP (Paperwork Theatre).  

Paislie Reid plays Matt.  Paislie started her career as a lead actor in two seasons of the CITV series The New Worst Witch. As well as acting, Paislie is Associate Director at 20 Stories High, the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Black Actors Collective, and volunteers at Positive Impact, facilitating singing, dancing, drama, and personal development workshops in her local community. At Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Paislie has appeared in Alice in Wonderland (Playhouse) and Red Riding Hood (Everyman).  Her other theatre credits include work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Frantic Assembly, Open Clasp, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre/Storyhouse, Live Theatre, Contact Theatre, and 20 Stories High.  Her television credits include Special Measures (Channel 5), Unforgivable, Casualty, The Responder 2, Domino Day and Sugar (BBC), Brassic 4 (Sky), Emmerdale (ITV), and Tin Star 3 (Sky Atlantic).

As part of Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse’s continued commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, they are proud to spotlight homegrown productions under the ‘Made in Liverpool’ banner. The theatres continue to offer a broad range of ticket prices—from £11 to £46—to ensure that theatre remains open to all. The accessible performance programme includes relaxed and captioned performances.

Attachment plays at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse 4 – 13 June 2026. Tickets are available here.