Documenting the early life of best-selling author Helen Forrester, By The Waters Of Liverpool goes back on tour this autumn after the 2020 premiere run was halted at the start of the Covid pandemic.
Adapted from the original novel, the play opens with a 10-day run at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre (from September 6) and ends with six days at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton in late October – just a few miles from where Helen Forrester was born in Wirral.
Playwright Rob Fennah said: “When By The Waters Of Liverpool was forced to close back in March 2020, we all thought it was a setback and we’d be back on the road within a few months. It never occurred to us that it would be over three years before the show would hit the stage again.
"As with everyone working in the arts at that time it proved to be a very difficult period but in true Helen Forrester style, we managed to survive and now want audiences to know that By the Waters of Liverpool is coming back, bigger and better than ever.”
The adaptation also features sizeable chunks from Helen’s earlier book Liverpool Miss, together with flashbacks to Twopence to Cross The Mersey and elements of Lime Street at Two, to give audiences a complete picture of the author's life.
Fennah enjoyed a long friendship with Forrester after adapting her first book, Twopence to Cross the Mersey, into a stage musical in 1994. That show premiered at the Liverpool Empire and Helen travelled from her home in Edmonton, Canada, to see her story brought to life on stage.
Rob later went on to develop Twopence into a straight play, which has toured successfully since 2015.
Since the author’s death in 2011 Rob has remained friends with Helen’s son Robert. The productions are fully endorsed by the Helen Forrester Estate.
Tour dates include: Epstein Theatre, Liverpool (September 6-16); Sale Waterside (September 22-23); Pavilion, Rhyl (September 26-27); Theatre Royal, St Helens (October 9-11); The Atkinson, Southport (October 12-14); Victoria Theatre, Halifax (October 16-17); Lowther Pavilion, Lytham (October 19-21) and Floral Pavilion, New Brighton (October 24-29).
More info and tickets here