NO PUNCHES are pulled in Liverpool playwright Laurence Wilson’s latest creation, a tough story about drugs, parental desertion and gang life.

And the teens in the show have far more than homework to worry about.

There’s 15-year-old Kerrie, who has the daily task of preparing her mum’s heroin, 13-year-old Cameron, whose panic attacks are getting worse, and their big brother Jakey, who really should be looking after them but is caught up in a gang.

Blackberry Trout Face, which premieres at the Unity Theatre on September 29, is the latest piece from a prolific writer whose plays Spirits of the Legend and Lost Monsters saw their first outings at The Everyman earlier this year.

But it was a new experience for Wilson, who is used to handing over an almost completed script to a team of actors ready to rehearse his words.

This time round, he added ideas resulting from improvisations and brainstorming sessions with the cast to this initial plot outline.

“We did lot of workshops with the actors and the play grew out of that,” he explains.

“It’s been great because it takes lot of the pressure off and makes it much more of a collaboration. I would take an idea that came up in the sessions and then come up with characters, location and a story.”