It was the play that inspired The Royle Family, and next month, Liverpool’s PurpleCoat Productions bring Willy Russell’s Breezeblock Park to The Lantern Theatre between the 8th and 10th August.
Set amongst the bickering families of a 1970’s Liverpool council estate, the play is said to have inspired the popular classic sitcom, The Royle Family, when it premiered at the Liverpool Everyman in 1975. Back then, it starred a young Pete Poslthwaite and Julie Walters, and went on to be Willy Russell’s first big hit. It propelled him to go on to write such landmarks as Blood Brothers, Shirley Valentine, Stags and Hens and Educating Rita.
Acclaimed PurpleCoat Productions have twice packed out The Lantern this last year, most recently with their production of The Homecoming by Harold Pinter. At Christmas, they staged their most successful production, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which gained a sweep of fantastic reviews and was loved by critics and audiences alike.
“Our last stab at Northern comedy went really well,’ says the play’s director, Karl Falconer, ‘and we’re hoping this will be even better. It’s one of Russell’s less-well known plays, but it’s easily his absolute funniest. We asked people to vote for their favourite production to celebrate our 5th Birthday this year,’ Karl adds. ‘Little Voice was the hands down winner, and to celebrate, we’re staging another Northern comedy. One of our Facebook fans described it as the funniest play he had ever seen: we can’t disagree!’
Supported by Stephen Fry and the R.S.C., PurpleCoat have gone from success to success, staging a string of acclaimed productions both in Liverpool and across the country. Their production of Romeo and Juliet played at The Rose Theatre in London as part of the International Youth Arts Festival and World Shakespeare Festival.
Tickets are available now for Breezeblock Party at www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk or by calling the box office on 0151 7030000. Tickets are priced at £10.50 with concessions available at £8.