By the Waters of Liverpool – Floral Pavilion

Pulse Stage Productions in association with Bill Elms bring the follow up to Twopence to cross the Mersey, By the Waters of Liverpool, to the Floral Pavilion for its final date of the UK tour.  By the Waters of Liverpool continues to tell the story of Helen Forrester (Emma Mulligan) and her family in the 1930s as they have been forced to leave behind their nannies, servants and middle-class life as Helen’s father went bankrupt during the Great Depression.

The story is told through narration by the actors themselves, talking to the audience to set the scene or tell you how their characters are feeling, which is where, at points, it became a little confusing as there is no separation from dialogue to narration, the actors just continued talking within the scene, feeling quite disjointed. It is set pre and early World War two in a time where the world changed for everyone.

We are introduced to an array of characters throughout the piece, all played by a small group of actors who deliver multiple roles, some of which are delivered impeccably and others who seemed a little rushed and difficult to understand.

Adapted from the original books, this piece is written by Rob Fennah and although in parts there are snippets of a good storyline, overall, I feel like the piece is missing some cohesion. Characters come and go too fast, and some parts feel much too dragged out where some important parts of the storyline feel rushed.

I’m unsure if it was a deliberate directorial decision made my Gareth Tudor Price, but the majority of dialogue seems to be delivered extremely slowly and dragged out, sometimes painfully so. This was especially noticeable from Mulligan, making the role of Forrester seem unemotional and at times detached from the piece, sounding more like they were delivering the news rather than an emotional story. It felt like it was directed this way to stretch the time of the piece out, but it made it feel too long.

There are some great pieces of humour, most noticeable in the salon scene with Lynn Francis, Samantha Alton and Lynne Fitzgerald, but again the scene felt like it doesn’t belong and is only there to cater for a costume/wig change for a character.

Fitzgerald kept the piece alive in my opinion, delivering multiple characters to a high standard but as with a lot of the characters we are introduced to, they are never delved in to, so I felt no connection to them.

Lighting for the piece is extremely well used throughout, picking out characters that need highlighting, creating great ambience especially during the party scene and the final bit of Act One, where the lighting was phenomenal and gave a great sense of danger and emotion. Well done to Lighting designer Ian Scott and Production LX Joe Sanderson. The lighting gives a little bit of life to the static, empty looking stage which stays the same for the full piece with the occasional table and chair brought on to try and depict that we are somewhere else. Sound levels were fine, and it is refreshing to watch a play where the actors wear microphones so they can be heard, it is more the diction of some characters where we lose what is being said.

We had an announcement before the show to tell us that this evening’s performance was dedicated to the much loved producer, Bill Kenwright, who we discovered had sadly passed away and Daniel Taylor added a lovely tribute to Kenwright at the end of the play which is a genuinely emotional end to the night, and you could feel the respect from the whole audience.

By the Waters of Liverpool is running at the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton until Sunday 29^th October 2023. Tickets are available from https://www.floralpavilion.com/event/by-the-waters-of-liverpool/

Reviewer: Damian Riverol

Reviewed: 24^th October 2023

North West End UK Rating: