A brand-new stage adaptation of Helen Forrester's Twopence To Cross The Mersey opens at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton next month.

Based on the former Hoylake resident's million-selling autobiography, the play written by Rob Fennah, chronicles Helen’s early life during The Great Depression in 1930s Liverpool.

The tour opens at the Floral Pavilion on Tuesday, September 6. It will then visit venues in Rhyl, Stockport, Crewe, St Helens, Blackpool, Warrington, Darlington, Halifax, Croydon, Coventry, Lichfield, Bolton and Southport, before closing in Liverpool.

The new touring production of Twopence is produced by Rob Fennah and Lynn McDermott for Pulse Records Limited in association with Bill Elms. It is directed by Gareth Tudor Price.

Rob (pictured, below) told the Globe this week: "This show has tons of provenance.

"Helen was hands-on during the writing process so her army of loyal readers will get to see a true and honest representation of Twopence To Cross The Mersey. Along with the many hours of telephone conversations I had with her from her home in Canada, I have a stack of letters and faxes from her, crammed with little gems that never found their way into her books.

"On many occasions, Helen would travel to the UK and we'd get together to talk about the stage adaptation. It was fantastic to have her there, in person, to help me flesh out some of the lesser characters in the books, but ones I felt would help bring the story to life on stage."

Wirral Globe:

"Over the years, Helen and I became firm friends and I feel very privileged to have been entrusted with her most famous work".

Featuring a cast of nine playing more than 40 characters, the period drama is set in the early 1930s in the midst of the Great Depression.

Wirral Globe:

Production picture from original show

Helen's spendthrift father was declared bankrupt forcing the family to leave behind the nannies, servants, and beautiful middle-class home in the gentler South West of England.

With nothing more than the clothes they stood up in, the family of nine took the train to Liverpool where they hoped to rebuild their shattered lives. It came as a terrible shock to find the thriving, wealthy port Helen's father remembered as a boy, the place his own father made his fortune, had long since gone.

While 12-year-old Helen's parents searched unsuccessfully to find work, she was taken out of school to look after her six younger siblings and the full burden of keeping house fell on Helen’s young shoulders.

Wirral Globe:

Having never had to manage a family budget in their previous life, the Forresters found themselves relying on meagre hand-outs from the local parish, charity organisations, and the kindness of strangers.

At the age of 14, Helen had finally had enough of her miserable existence and so began a bitter fight with her mother and father to attend evening school in an effort to educate herself and make her own way in the world. But Helen's parents had no intention of releasing their unpaid slave. They had other plans for their selfish daughter.

Wirral Globe:

Production picture from original show

Rob continued: "Helen and I would often meet in places that were significant during her early life in Liverpool; places that were close to her heart.

"The Palm House in Sefton Park is case in point. Readers of Twopence To Cross The Mersey will know how she used to take refuge there as a child during the freezing winter months.

"The Kings Gap Hotel in Hoylake was another of her favourite meeting places; she was born at her grandmother’s home, just around the corner, in Warren Road."

Helen's literary achievements were celebrated in 2020 when an iconic Blue Plaque was unveiled at the late author's family home in Warren Road, a place which featured heavily in her work.

Wirral Globe:

Rob Fennah and Helen Forrester in 1992

Rob concluded: "I remember the last time we met; we were standing outside her old family home in Hoylake. Helen was telling me about her grandmother and how she had fallen out with her father after a huge family row over money.

"He had borrowed heavily from the family but was unable to repay his debts when the depression struck. Condemning her son as a 'worthless spendthrift' she would have no more to do with him.

"Helen went on to tell me how, in the depths of their plight, she longed to visit her grandmother to beg for her to come to their rescue. But living on the other side of the River Mersey she needed tuppence for the ferry boat ride. This was something she didn’t have, and so her struggle continued for many years.

"When she began writing her memoirs, Twopence To Cross The Mersey was the obvious title for the first book. As we stood outside that house in Hoylake, it never struck me that this would be the last time I would see my friend in person and, more poignantly, the last time Helen would set eyes on her family home."

Helen Forrester's son Robert Bhatia said: "The partnership between playwright Rob Fennah and my mother Helen, and her legacy, has been outstanding. I saw the play during its last tour and the portrayal of my mother was utterly convincing."

This year’s nationwide tour of Twopence To Cross The Mersey will be followed by a tour of By The Waters Of Liverpool in Spring next year.

For tickets and more details, go to www.twopencetocrossthemersey.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TwopenceThePlay