Shankly show finds its star for Culture year play

Mar 3 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

THE quest to find an actor to carry a one-man show described as “epic celebration of a Liverpool hero” has come to an end after a weekend of auditions.

Dozens of actors and supporters tried out in the hope of being cast in An Audience with Shankly.

Writer Andrew Sherlock camped out at the Joe H Makin drama centre in Liverpool on Saturday to try out a number of professional actors and dedicated fans to find the right man to fill the boots of the legendary football manager, following an audition in Scotland.

“We have found our Bill Shankly – we have narrowed it down to two people, but are not in a position to announce it yet,” Mr Sherlock said.

“The guys we have in mind, you would almost swear you were in the room with Shankly. They are frighteningly close to what we imagined our Shankly would be like.

“We saw over a dozen people in the end. Some just walked in off the street, some phoned up on the day, and we had all sorts of people – one guy from the Midlands and another from London as well as local people.

“There were a couple of local actors, and a couple of football supporters who just fancied having a go. It was a great day, we had great fun and met some real characters.”

Auditionees were given the first few pages of the play to read out and asked to perform as if they were in front of thousands of fans at the Kop.

The one man show consists of two 45-minute halves tracking the life and times of the man widely considered to be one of the greatest ever football managers.

But to make sure they got a complete dead ringer for Shankly, the crew also held an audition in Glasgow.

“We were surprised with the reaction in Scotland. If anything, it was bigger than here. He is like a national hero.

“We thought there’d be some interest but it has been overwhelming. It is interesting to see how popular he still is and what he means to people. Shankly meant an awful lot as a role model and spokesperson for the city of Liverpool.

“We are going to finalise the actor as soon as possible and are organising how we will unveil our new signing.”

Rehearsals begin at the start of next month before its world premiere at Liverpool Olympia on April 24.

Ticket sales for the show have already passed the half way point.

Mr Sherlock said: “We are really putting everything into this show – as Shankly said, the people of Liverpool deserve the best we can get.”

vickyanderson