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Pauline Daniels talks about the Actors StudioWhen Tommy Kearney wrote this play two years ago, he couldn't get it put on in his home City so, instead, turned to the carnivorous waters of London and survived its murky depths with great aplomb.

Now, with the aid of Pauline Daniels and her newly born Actors Studio, Tommy has had his dream realised and its easy to see why the good people of the Capitol took so warmly to this skillfully crafted coming-of-age story.

Pauline Daniels

A group of friends grow up together on a council estate in Whiston and share life’s triumphs and disasters as a solid unit; always there for each other and always offering advice and a willing shoulder to cry on. They are one. They are a team. Until, that is, adulthood offers temptations and trials beyond their collective resistance and things begin to implode.

James Templeton, through whose eyes the story is told as the hind-sighted narrator and character, is quite simply mesmerising in his role as Adam. His delivery, sense of timing and poignancy are exemplary, as he skillfully guides the audience through the events as though he is their mate.

Lianne Curtis, too, as the adventurous Leanne, is also intriguingly powerful, throwing her all into the part and coming across as a natural – if naïve – seductress with such creativity and style it is difficult to take your eyes from her performance.

Not least Annmarie Hodson as the troubled Paula, who grows into her part from angst-filled teenager to impatient adult brilliantly, and Suzanne Roche as the “old-before-her-time” Mandy, who one knows is always going to be in for a troubled life.

If there is one criticism it is in the dance scene at Jodie's, which is a little overplayed – if fabulously choreographed and executed – and adds little to a story that is compelling enough in any case. With that said, however, this is only a minor fault and Pearl Marsland has directed a play at Liverpool’s smallest theatre that rivals in its writing that which is currently on offer at Liverpool’s largest. 

Whiston and Merseyside should be proud of its playwriting sons – Willy Russell and Tommy Kearney – and should nurture the latter’s burgeoning talent for all its worth.

Madonna & Me, The Actors Studio, Liverpool. Runs until 2 Feb 2008.