Open auditions are to be held to find a talented young actor for a new stage adaptation of Helen Forrester’s crowd favourite, Twopence To Cross The Mersey. The show will visit 15 theatres across the UK from September.
Open auditions for the role of the young Helen Forrester will take place on April 5 at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool City Centre, with registration from 10am. The actor must be available to join the nine-strong cast from August 22–November 12.
Candidates must be aged 18 or over and able to look 12/14, be under 5ft 2in max and most importantly be of petite build. She must deliver a two-minute monologue featuring a very well-spoken RP English accent. The successful actor will work alongside a well-known cast from stage and screen, to be announced soon.
The Twopence story is based on the autobiographical books of New Brighton-raised Forrester, with Twopence beginning in 1931, when Helen's spendthrift father was declared bankrupt and the family moved from a beautiful middle-class home in the south west of England.
While 12-year-old Helen's parents searched unsuccessfully for work, Helen was taken out of school to look after her six younger brothers and sisters. At 14 she had had enough of their hand-to-mouth existence and fought with her mother and father to attend evening school and make her own way in the world. Her parents had no intention of releasing their unpaid slave and considered her selfish.
Millions of people around the world know the story through her best-selling volumes, Twopence to Cross the Mersey, Liverpool Miss, By the Waters of Liverpool, and Lime Street at Two.
Co-producer Rob Fennah said: “The new Helen will be following in the footsteps of five other great actors who played the role in previous productions, so our expectations will be very high. I strongly recommend those thinking of auditioning should do their homework and read the book.”