THEATRE REVIEW: Twopence To Cross The Mersey - The Albert Halls, Bolton.

In a stage adaptation by Rob Fennah of the novel by Helen Forrester, the current tour of 'Twopence To Cross The Mersey' was at Bolton's rather resplendent Albert Halls.

The play tells, through a confusing and obfuscating mix of both narration and acting, the true story of the writer, Helen Forrester; of her and her family moving away from their comfortable upper-middle class existence in the Home Counties after her father was declared bankrupt, and their moving up to Liverpool in only the clothes they stood up in, in the hope of finding a more favourable work climate. The story covers the years 1931 - 1933, the between-war years when the country as a whole was in a huge economic downturn which was years later to be called, 'The Great Depression'. Our protagonist at this time is just 12 - 14 years' old.

What should have been a gripping kitchen-sink-esque 'period' drama, in the hands of director Gareth Tudor Price, this play was less than impressive in almost every respect sadly. Perhaps the adaptation itself is to blame here, as a cast of only 9 are required to multi-role throughout, whilst sometimes narrating their thoughts, feelings, or even how they were dressed, directly to the audience and then interact on stage with the other characters. Some of the characters were meant to be at least in part, humorous, in order to inject a differing dynamic into the show, but, this evening's audience rarely smiled, let alone raised there voices into a titter at these vignettes. 

On a composite set, using a backdrop of some of Liverpool's more iconic buildings, the acting area of the stage is given over to flats of dirty brown and is intended to give the impression of the grimy, working-class, backstreets, but even here, perhaps due to the stage size and overall cleanliness of the set and costumes, it failed to make the correct impression. I did however, like the idea of the family's clothing becoming more and more tattered as the play progressed.

The only character to remain constant throughout, is our protagonist, Helen, played with unwavering earnestness by Jenny Murphy. And although the change in her costume suggested the passage of time, I could see no other change to her character from a posh nannied 12 year old, to her being forced to integrate with and adapt to her 14-year old surroundings. It was a rather plaintive and monodimensional portrayal, but it did highlight undertones of equality and suffragettery in her constant fight for her right to education.

The play hardly ever moves out of first gear, and when it does, it reverts to caricature; whilst there is little in terms of both plot and character development to sustain the interest. What could have been a riveting drama about the depression in Liverpool, was, this evening at least, a rather depressing affair for the Bolton audience, some of which left at the interval never to return.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 25.10.22