Twopence To Cross The Mersey at the Liverpool Empire until 17 October 2009.
Rating: 7/10
Helen Forrester's bestselling story of her poverty stricken youth in 1930s Liverpool continues to draw in the crowds at the Empire Theatre.
Written for the stage by Rob Fennah who also wrote the music with brother Alan, the show is directed by Ian Kellgren, a veteran of the Liverpool Playhouse.
Starring Pauline Daniels as Helen, it is the story of Forrester and her family's struggle to adapt to their new surroundings after her wealthy childhood in the Home Counties is decimated by her father's bankruptcy.
Daniels narrates as the younger version of herself, played by Emma Grace Arends in her professional debut, bears the brunt of the Forrester family’s desperate plight in a city hit harder than most by the The Great Depression.
Helen's father (played brilliantly by Mark Moraghan) foolishly believes he can regain his fortune where his own family once made theres. But instead the Forresters are gradually reduced to a life of squalor and hopelessness.
Daniels narrates, sings and acts throughout. She shadows her younger self and ties the loose ends of the story together. At times her presence is a welcoming aside, other times her lurking in the background is off putting.
Helen’s mother (Emma Vaudrey) is a wicked character, self obsessed and with delusions of grandeur. The reality of her new life in Liverpool never fully hits home to the detriment of her whole family.
Helen finds solace in small places, the kindness of neighbours and old men on park benches, in itself a sign of very different times.
She is determined to return to the education denied to her by her parents insistence that she stay at home and look after her younger siblings.
Visually, the show is stunning but sometimes not in the right ways. At times sophisticated lighting does not compliment the simplicity of the script and the stage performances.
Throughout the production the scenery and props are cleverly used to create many different locations including the Albert Docks, the Forrester’s attic room and the old labour exchange.
Although some of the song lyrics lack meaning the musical numbers still prove a success as the musicians succeed in creating an interesting and well-suited soundtrack to the performances.
Moraghan sheds his trademark Liverpudlian accent for a more clipped, ‘toff’ tone that draws the derision of the locals as is the case for the rest of his family.
The Scouse wit is out in force to the delight of the local audience who identify with the banter that goes on outside the labour exchange where Helen’s father is at first derided by his fellow job seekers before being accepted as one of their own.
The play is flawed in places but acting is not one of them as all parts, major and minor, are played with real conviction.
Overall, although weak in certain aspects, the play succeeds in depicting the struggle of the Forresters and so many others in 1930s Liverpool.
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