FOLLOWING a successful 2015 Merseyside tour, Twopence to Cross the Mersey is back and will be returning to Southport theatre from October 24 – 27 and the Champion has three pairs of tickets to give away.

The smash-hit play, based on the best-selling autobiography, Helen Forrester’s Twopence to Cross the Mersey opened at Liverpool’s Royal Court in September.

There are just two changes to the line-up who generated rave reviews when the show enjoyed a successful six-week tour in Spring 2015. The cast now features actors Phil Hearne and Tom Cawte as part of the eight-strong ensemble cast.

Phil Hearne will play a variety of roles in Twopence. He was part of the West End cast for Blood Brothers, and his television credits include Coronation Street.

Tom Cawte brings a wealth of experience to the role of Alan, Helen’s younger brother. His theatre credits include the 2015 national tour of The Lone Pine Club and Boys of the Empire Production Sandel at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013. Film and television credits include the upcoming BBC series Witless and London Fields.

The line-up sees the return of Emma Dears (Judy & Liza, Les Miserables) as Mother; Christopher Jordan (Moving On, Coronation Street) as Father; Maria Lovelady as Helen; and together with Tom Cawte as Alan, they make up the Forrester family.

Eithne Browne (Brookside, Brick Up The Mersey Tunnel); Jake Abraham (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Game of Thrones); Roy Carruthers (Night Collar, Tales from Haunted Liverpool); and Phil Hearne all take on lead roles, as well as supplementary characters throughout.

Helen Forrester’s Twopence to Cross the Mersey tells the true story of a young girl and her formerly wealthy family as they are suddenly thrown into poverty during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Leaving behind the nannies, servants and comfortable middle-class life in the South West of England, they uproot their shattered lives and choose Liverpool as the place to start again to rebuild their dreams and fortune. Unbeknown to them however, a terrible shock awaits them.

The play is staged by Pulse Records Ltd

To be in with a chance to win the tickets to Twopence to Cross the Mersey answer this question, who wrote Twopence to Cross the Mersey? Answers to Champion newspapers, Clare House, 166 Lord Street, Southport, PR9 OQA. The closing date is Thursday, October 20 at 12 noon. The tickets are for the performance on Monday, October 24.