Playwright thrilled to be back in city

Sep 8 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

LONDON-BASED playwright Tommy Kearney is returning to his home turf with his very own season of plays.

Tommy will be taking over the Actors Studio with two of his works – his much-loved Madonna and Me, and the northern premiere of new work Windermere.

The former runs from September 9 to 20t, while Windermere runs from September 23 to October 4.

The acclaimed Madonna and Me was first performed at the Actors Studio, in January, after successful performances in London.

The show is a coming-of-age tale set in Whiston, and follows a group of friends as they grow up to the soundtrack of the iconic American pop star and has been described as “Friends meets Brookside”.

It is directed by Pearl Marsland, another Liverpudlian with an established stage career outside of the directors’ chair. She has previously performed in two of Tommy’s plays.

Tommy said: “Madonna and Me was my very first stage play, and it will be the first time Windermere has been seen in Liverpool.

“It was my ambition to bring them to my home town in 2008 – so I am really pleased.”

Windermere opened at the Clerkenwell Theatre in London, in April, 2006, headlining the theatre’s first new writing festival.

Again set in Whiston, this time during the late seventies and eighties, it is a play about a group of kids following their dreams and trying to leave their world on the council estate behind.

Ben wants to be the new Ian Rush and Robbie pines to be an artist. His sister Jayne, a “Duranie”, and her mate Lisa, a Spandau Ballet fan, dream of marrying pop stars, while Eric is out “on-the-rob” on the Wirral.

Ben gets a trial for Chester City and Robbie is offered a course at college. Will they both succeed, or will the events in Windermere change their lives forever?

The Liverpool run is directed by Steve Miller.

Tommy himself was born and bred in Whiston.

Now living and working in London, he set up his own Scouse Productions, which he describes as “a new company of Liverpool performers dedicated to bringing an entertaining and true reflection of Liverpool life and people to the capital, the UK and around the world”.

TICKETS are £12, with performances daily except for Sunday and Monday.

vickyanderson@dailypost.co.uk