Blackberry Trout Face returns

Following an acclaimed debut in 2009, Liverpool theatre company 20 Stories High will tour Laurence Wilson’s award-winning play Blackberry Trout Face to national venues, schools and communities throughout September and November. Directed by the company’s co-artistic director Julia Samuels in association with the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Blackberry Trout Face is described as a bold, gritty and funny play which explores universal themes of family, loyalty and ambition. The story follows three young people as they struggle to cope in exceptional circumstances.Kerrie prepares mum's heroin...Jakey has had enough of life in the crew...Cameron is too scared to step outside...One morning, the three teenagers discover a note in the Frosties. Mum has abandoned them: they have been left home alone... Samuels said: "We had incredible responses from our audiences the first time we toured and 20 Stories High are very excited to be teaming up with the Everyman and Playhouse to bring it to life once again; this time taking it to audiences up and down the country." Established in 2006, this year 20 Stories High became one of Arts Council England’s new NPOs. Aimed at audiences aged 13 to 30, their work is devised from on-going conversations and workshops with young people from excluded communities in inner city Liverpool. Artistically, socially and politically engaged with issues surrounding young people their work mixes drama, music, movement and puppetry. They perform their work in schools, youth clubs and community centres as well as small to mid-scale theatres. Laurence Wilson’s first plays, Urban Legend and Lost Monsters were produced by the Everyman and Playhouse. A former Pearson Writer in Residence at the theatres, Wilson’s recent plays include Spirits of the Stone, Cardboard Guitar Man (part of Slung Low’s Anthology) and Tiny Volcanoes.  Artistic director of the Everyman and Playhouse, Gemma Bodinetz added: “20 Stories High are one of the nation's most innovative and inspiring theatre companies specialising in work for young people. They are a real Liverpool treasure. Laurence Wilson is a fantastically imaginative Liverpool writer whose work the Everyman and Playhouse have produced on several occasions. It is hard to think of a more sparkling combination of talents and we are very proud to play our part in helping this moving and magical production reach a wider audience.”  Blackberry Trout Face opens at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool from September 21 - 23, and then goes on to Whitby Hall, Ellesmere Port on September 29 and Huyton Youth Zone, on September 30 before touring nationwide.