The first UK national tour of Helen Forrester’s Twopence To Cross The Mersey opens in Wirral on September 6, prior to a tour of 14 other, mostly northern, venues up to November.
Wirral features heavily in Forrester’s million-selling books; it was where the author spent some of her childhood.
The revamped and updated prodution's premiere tour opens at New Brighton's Floral Pavilion (until September 11) before visiting Rhyl, Stockport, Crewe, St Helens, Blackpool, Warrington, Darlington, Halifax, Croydon, Coventry, Lichfield, Bolton, and Southport, and closes in Liverpool.
The new touring production has a nine-strong cast – Mark Moraghan, Daniel Taylor, Parry Glasspool, Jenny Murphy, Lynn Francis, Lynne Fitzgerald, Robert Hudson, Roy Carruthers and Chloe McDonald – who between them play more than 40 characters. Five of the cast members – Mark, Parry, Lynn, Roy and Chloe – have appeared in its sister show By The Waters Of Liverpool - based on another of Forrester's autobiographical novels. Millions around the world know Forrester’s story through her best-selling volumes of autobiography, Twopence To Cross The Mersey, Liverpool Miss, By The Waters Of Liverpool, and Lime Street At Two.
The popular stage adaptation of the book has been updated by writer Rob Fennah, who enjoyed a long friendship with Helen Forrester. Fennah adapted Twopence into a stage musical in 1994, then went on to develop it as a straight stage play, which opened in Liverpool in 2015. Helen - who saw the early productions - died in Edmonton in 2011.
This tour of Twopence To Cross The Mersey will be followed by a tour of the next instalment in Helen’s life story, By The Waters Of Liverpool, in Spring 2023.
Information and tickets here