THE largest brick warehouse in the world is to become a giant theatre to mark Liverpool’s 800th birthday.

The Wall Talks production will take place throughout June in the Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock.

Producer and director Jen Heyes has been commissioned by Liverpool Culture Company to create the massive promenade performance in the Stop the Rot landmark.

She is appealing for Liverpool people to get involved in the project.

She said: “I was looking at a site to do something about the development of the city, and this seemed to be the obvious place to search for a cultural identity.

"Live music is fantastic in the warehouse and we’ll be using features already in there.”

Characters portrayed in the production, where ghosts unleashed from the walls retell events they witnessed in the city’s past, include dock engineer Jessie Hartley, Lee the Chinese sailor and Maisey the female Liverpool docker.

Ms Heyes, who has teamed up with stage and screen writer Andrew Sherlock and a Liverpool cast, said: “The play asks questions about how our cultures, our ethnic and class backgrounds have evolved over time and how can we use this heritage to understand our roots and our own sense of being.”

The play is also an exploration of genealogy, and ECHO readers are being asked to send in photos and stories about how their families came to live in the city and what they did when they got here.

The best will be collected as part of a wider Wall Talks legacy project.

Anyone who wants to take part should send their tales to info@walltalks.com or by post to To Cut to the Chase Productions, Parr Street Studios, 3345 Parr Street, Liverpool L1 4JN.

catherinejones@liverpoolecho.co.uk

Wall Talks is a new production journeying through Liverpool's last 150 years using the imposing location of Liverpool's Stanley Dock as its setting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/f/t.gif
http://www.bbc.co.uk/f/t.gifWith Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture year fast approaching, and with this being the city’s eight hundredth anniversary, Cut To The Chase productions could hardly have timed their latest venture more appropriately.

Set in the largest, freestanding brick building in the world, the Stanley Dock tobacco warehouse home of the city’s Heritage Market, Wall Talks is a site-specific journey through the last 150 years of Liverpool’s history, with an emphasis on those who have given the city its identity.

"We knew we wanted to go into somewhere unusual, somewhere with atmosphere, to underline the whole Capital of Culture experience," explained playwright, Andrew Sherlock.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/images/2007/05/25/chains_at_dock_mid_200x150.jpg
A scene from Wall Talks

"We thought it was an interesting angle to give the people of the past a voice, so that as 2008 approaches, and after some difficult times for the city, the lessons of history have been learned and the diversity of the city is something to be embraced."

The play takes the audience, literally, from generation to generation, as different stages and different rooms inside the warehouse offer completely contrasting atmospheres and experiences. At 80 – 90 minutes in length and with water on the floor in places, sensible shoes are recommended.

Director, Jen Heyes, said: "As a writer and a director working in the city, Andrew and I wanted to create something with a heart and a beat to it that really represents the vibrancy of Liverpool and, with the help of the Culture Company, we’ve managed to achieve that and more. What will drive and feed the play, however, is the audience and its the input from them, just by their being there, that is going to make this such a unique theatrical experience."

With previews running from June 5 to June 9, the play then runs from June 12 to June 30, with audiences limited to a maximum of 150 per performance.

"The script came entirely from the surroundings," explained Andrew.

"When I saw the site, I immediately wanted to write something to express the emotion of Liverpool’s past, through the people who had lived it. There are so many contrasts with this play, it spans the arts in a way that’s rarely been done before. Intimacy is key to that and we wanted to keep the audience numbers down, turning them in a way into extras, so that everyone who attends can share the same feelings as the actors."

With Liverpool’s links to slavery, its ship building renown and the civil unrest and disquiet of the early eighties, the city is now being rejuvenated and stepping once more into the sunshine. Wall Talks covers all of this in its telling and promises to be one of the most memorable theatrical events of the year.

Performances take place at the Heritage Market Site, Stanley Dock, Liverpool from June 5 – June 30. For tickets and more information call 0870 787 1866.

source (http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2007/05/25/theatre_stanley_dock_feature.shtml)

I went to see a LIPA performance held in the Tobacco Warehouse a couple of years ago and it was amazing. We all had to hold onto a piece of rope and got lead round the different performances. It was quite surreal, and really well put together.

This one sounds good too, and I hope to get to it. It's about time they did more with that warehouse, especially before it gets converted. It's so unique and interesting in there.

And wasn't it there where you were exploring up above as shoppers down below went about their business oblivious to your whereabouts?

I agree it's a great place and I can't believe the thinking behind some people who have advocated its demolition when there's plenty of abandoned places with a lot less history attached to them.

It certainly was! But I paid to see the LIPA performance, and I'll pay to see this one. In fact, I'd pay for a tour of the warehouse if they did them...

Thankfully from what I've seen the warehouse is structurally in very good condition, so hopefully plans to convert it will go ahead. Of course, I'd love it to stay as it is, but that's not a very realistic proposal!

I went to see this on Saturday and it was fantastic. Its a walk about production within the part of the large warehouse. The water leaking into the building and the space makes wonderful echo sounds which add to the atmosphere. I believe it continues until next saturday. It did not seem necessary to prebook. Performances start at 7.30pm and last just under 2 hours.

Munchkim

Not content with closing the heritage market down, the owners have now pulled the plug on this performance!!!

Here (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolecho/news/echonews/tm_headline=plug-pulled-on-walking-drama%26method=full%26objectid=19364277%26siteid=5 0061-name_page.html)

Dear all,
I am an architecture student and I am doing a research about industrial heritage in Liverpool and especialy about the Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Docks. I am looking for old dockers who could tell me there memories about this place.
thanks for yours answers
Magalie