A scene from Little Boy
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Liverpool’s Homotopia presents Little Boy

Whiston-born playwright Tommy Kearney has his latest play Little Boy appearing at the Contemporary Urban Centre in Liverpool city centre next week.

Following its debut in London's Union Theatre in April/May this year, Little Boy arrives in Liverpool as part of the Homotopia queer festival.

Set in St Edmund Arrowsmith’s School in Whiston, during 1982, pop band Madness are riding high in the charts and Lisa and Paula dream of marrying frontman Suggs, as Michelle struggles with her identity and Suzanne’s life falls apart.

Miss Clemson is their RE teacher and tries to inspire the class as they reach adulthood through their rites of passage, confirmation service, whilst Mrs Riley remains the strict disciplinarian.

The tale takes in a trip to Woodcote Hall in Staffordshire with Father Nick and Peter the instructor. After a discussion with Miss Clemson about a simple paper bird the girls follow in their teacher’s footsteps to Berkshire, where their lives change forever.

The cast includes Jan Hirst (Caught in the Net, Windermere) as Miss Clemson, Pearl Marsland, (Windermere, Maggie) as Mrs Riley, Duncan Armitage (Mary Queen of Scots) as Father Nick, Iain Hoskins (Coronation Street, Hollyoaks) as Peter the instructor, Siobhan Doyle (Playing Life, Touched) as Suzanne, Jemma Hines (Daziel and Pascoe, The Bill) as Lisa, Lianne Curtis (Madonna and Me, As it seems) as Paula and Victoria Denard (Madonna and Me, Windermere) as Michelle.

Steve Miller (Windermere, Babes In Arms) is directing.

Kearney’s work makes a return to Liverpool after his third play, Madonna and Me, appeared at Pauline Daniels’ Actors Studio in Liverpool in January 2008, during the city’s year as European Capital of Culture.

During the autumn of last year, Kearney returned to the Actors Studio with his play Windermere, his first full length play which was staged at the Clerkenwell Theatre in April 2006.

Little Boy was his second play to premiere at the Union Theatre in London, following Madonna and Me in April/May 2007.

Liverpool’s annual Homotopia queer festival is now in its sixth year.

Little Boy is being produced by Kearney’s London-based company Scouse Productions and appears at the Contemporary Urban Centre, located at 41 Greenland Street, from Tuesday 17 November until Saturday 21 November. Tickets cost £12 (£10 concessions). Call the box office on 0151 708 3519.

- by Michael Hunt

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