PurpleCoat's Little Voice

It's been a busy year for Liverpool based PurpleCoat Productions, following on from their collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the CUC last year. Their production of Titus Andronicus prompted none other than Stephen Fry to donate to the company, and secured the theatre group a slot at the Rose Theatre in London as part of the International Youth Arts Festival, where they staged Romeo and Juliet this summer. They also performed a revival of their production of Midsummer at the RSC, and took Titus Andronicus to Manchester. And now they're returning home for their fourth production of 2012, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which arrives at the Lantern Theatre this Christmas. Jim Cartwright's northern comedy, which was turned into a film in 1998 with Michael Caine and Jane Horrocks, tells the story of the painfully shy Little Voice, growing up in a run down estate under the spell of her trashy mother, Mari. Locked away in her room, Little Voice blasts out pitch perfect impersonations of her favourite divas, from Garland to Bassey. One evening LV is overheard by one of her mother’s boyfriends, the disastrous dead-end talent scout Ray Say, who recognizes her innate talent and realises this is his last big chance for the glittering prizes.  The Rise and Fall of Little Voice runs at The Lantern Theatre from December 20 to 22. Tickets are available now at www.lanterntheatre.co.uk or by calling the box office on 0151 703 0000.