The Show

The Musical is set on the night of Nov 28-29^th, 1940, in the early phase of the Liverpool Blitz.  The events of that night were, later, described by Winston Churchill as “the worst single (civilian) incident of the war“.  They involved a direct hit by a parachute bomb on the Durning Road Air Raid Shelter, close to Edge Lane, which killed 180 people, many of them scolded by boiling water from a fractured cistern.

It was an event that became etched into the Wartime memory of Liverpool and which is commemorated 75 years on.  Although the Musical is entirely a work of fiction, it is based on the facts of that night and the presence of women (Liver birds) from Britain’s largest wartime munitions factory.  This was constructed, at Kirkby, to the east of Liverpool, as the main replacement for the Woolwich Arsenal.

This seems an unlikely subject for a comedy.  Nor is this musical exactly that.  Liver Birdsong is an emotionally-charged heart-warming show, that combines broad comedy, poignant tragedy, shocking action and the musical styles of 1940, into a compelling mix that will have the audience, at times, roaring with laughter and, moments later, aghast, or searching for their hankies.

But, then, that is the reality of life in the midst of War.  And, even more that is the story of hope and triumph in the face of attack and devastation.  It’s the story of Liverpool and, especially, its women.  Some Liver birds fly, others fall, but everyone has a song to sing.