Taking a trip back to a time of peace and free love

Jul 11 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

Vicky Anderson travels back to the Sixties with a new production at the Royal Court Theatre

IF YOU can remember the Sixties, you weren’t there, so the saying goes.

Writer Jim Cartwright didn’t, so took the matter into his own hands and invoked the spirit of the decade of peace and love to create a play that would capture just what he’d missed.

“I’m old, but I’m too young for the 1960s,” he laughs. “So this was my attempt to get into the party.”

He refers to Eight Miles High, which comes to the Liverpool Royal Court next week and by its premise alone promises to be another successful ensemble piece for the venue.

The play, which Cartwright is also directing for the first time, brings the outdoor festival indoors, and aside from its storyline is crammed with hits from the era, played by the actors themselves.

The cast includes Eithne Browne, Paul Broughton, comedian Keith Carter and Andrew Schofield.

“The Royal Court approached me and asked if I’d be interested in reviving the play and directing it, and it’s so nice to get out from behind the typewriter,” says Bolton-based Cartwright.

“The play is almost in the spirit of the Sixties, about having a really good time. It’s a really good vibe and the music is incredible.

“It is like going to a pop festival in the summer of love, with various people there like Hell’s Angels, hippies, a housewife who is experiencing it for the first time – like the people in the audience will be.

“Hopefully there’ll be something for everybody. It’s a chance to experience the Sixties, whether to revisit it, or find out about the music and all the great songs – Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Bob Dylan.

“There are some poignant moments in it, things to make you think. The 1960s was an era of massive social change, so there’s music and poetry and lots of stuff within it, it’s not just one level.”

A “GRASSY knoll” area at the front of the stage will mean some of the audience will be sitting on the set as if they were part of the festivities, and picnics will be available before the show.

“It’s not just watching a festival, you’re almost in it,” says Cartwright, who is encouraging people to dress up in full 60s garb when attending the show.

“The band is the actors, too, that’s another amazing thing.

“With Liverpool being a music city, hopefully people will go for it. I just call it a good night out.

“I love the North, and the thing I like about Liverpool is that it’s true there is a real energy in the air.

“This is going to be the best production of the show,” he said, praising organisers including the producer and musical director.