New play explores what it means to live

St Anne’s Diocesan College in Hilton is stagingEverybody, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, at The St Anne’s Theatre on Wednesday, March 18, Thursday, March 19, Monday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 24 at 7pm and on Friday, March 20 at 2.30pm. What does it mean to live well? What do we carry with us when everything else falls away?

And if Death called on you today, would you be ready? These timeless questions lie at the heart of Everybody, penned by contemporary American playwright Jacobs-Jenkins. Inspired by the medieval morality playEveryman, Everybodytransforms a 16th-century allegory into a striking, urgent, and unexpectedly humorous theatrical experience for modern audiences.

The originalEverymantold the story of a character summoned by Death and forced to account for their life. In a powerful theatrical twist, Jacobs-Jenkins reinvents this journey for our own era. In a fast-paced, hyperconnected, globalised world driven by productivity, consumerism, and digital identity, this play asks us to pause.

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In a time marked by global uncertainty, climate anxiety, political division, war and widening inequality, Everybody gently but firmly asks: What endures? Who stands beside us when everything else is stripped away? The 16th-century message of Everyman remains startlingly relevant today.

The original morality play urged audiences to reflect on their lives before it was too late which is an invitation that feels even more urgent in our 21st-century global world, where distraction is constant and reflection is rare. Everybody reminds us that wealth, beauty, friendship, and even knowledge may falter, but our actions and choices prevail.

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