It's exciting to take it back to Liverpool say Mark Womack & Jay Johnson from Boys From The Blackstuff

Boys From The Blackstuff is on at the Liverpool Empire between Tuesday, March 25 and Saturday, March 29.

The play, which is James Graham’s adaptation of the Alan Bleasdale TV series, features a stellar cast including George Caple (Boys From The Blackstuff) as Chrissie, Jurell Carter (Emmerdale) as Loggo, Jay Johnson (Adolescence, Boiling Point) as Yosser, Ged McKenna (The Tower) as George and Mark Womack (The Responder, Route Irish) as Dixie.

Before their opening night in Liverpool - the city where the play is of course set - scousers Jay and Mark sat down for a chat with our celebrity reporter so take a look below at what they had to say.

How are you feeling to be bringing Boys From The Blackstuff to Liverpool?

Jay: “Nervous. I am - Mark’s done the show there before.”

Mark: “I have done the show there but I'm still excited, because it's a different theater and that'll bring in a different audience. The Royal Court Theatre’s got their own kind of loyal audience so will the Empire, where we're taking the show... It'll be a different audience so it'll be great just to share it again with a bunch of Liverpool people- and for you [Jay], it's great because you've got all your family coming.”

Jay: “Yeah, I've got all my mates and my family coming which would be nice. But I think as well, as I did say, I was nervous about taking it there. I think that's a good thing as well because if we went nervous or apprehensive about taking it there -whatever the word is that you want to use- I don't think we're in the right job. Because this is a story that can resonate throughout the country, and it has done in the places that we've been previous... but I think the people of Liverpool hold this story so close to their heart and the characters, because it is a story about Liverpool, about Liverpool people, about the heart, the passion, the defiance, the humor that we have. It's an exciting opportunity to take it back to Liverpool. So a brand new theater, as Mark said, but it's telling that same story in a slightly, maybe a little bit of a different way than what you've seen before so looking forward to it.”

Have either of you peformed at the Empire before?

Mark: “No, I’ve never performed there!”

Jay: “I have, yeah, I've performed there a couple of times, to be honest... The last time was maybe like 16 years ago so probably back then, I was a bit more carefree, and, some might say, arrogant than what I am now. So probably now I’m a bit more nervous thinking ‘oh, my, god, 2,500 people can fit in there whereas when I was in my late teens, that was sort of water off a duck spot. But now it's coming back with an older head on my shoulders and I'm like, wow, this is an amazing opportunity.”

Will perfroming in your hometime make you more reflective, not jusy about the show but also your own careers?

Mark: “Maybe, yeah. I think it will be interesting as far as the show goes, just to get that feedback that I remember we got last time, because you're telling their story. A lot of the people that will be seeing the show- obviously there'll be younger people as well,- but a lot of the people that remember the TV series will be of a certain age group, and you’re really telling their story. So the feedback was fantastic because they're recognizing all of those people, it's almost like it's part of their life, they remember it so well, it was so iconic when it when it came out.”

Jay: “Yeah, I agree with what you've said and I think from a personal point of view to play this character in Liverpool, the struggles that Yossa has with mental health and everything in his world falling apart around them, I think for me now at the stage I am in my career, but also at the stage I am at in life, it's perfect timing. The first time I was on at the Empire, I think I was like 11 so yeah to come back now as a 33-year-old man will be a really nice experience, and for my friends, my family, to see me play this role at that theatre at this point in my life will be a nice thing for them.”

For people who don’t Boys From The Black stuff can you explain what it’s about?

Jay: “Yeah, Boys from the Black Stuff was originally a BAFTA winning TV series by Alan Bleasdale, who is an amazing writer from Liverpool and it tells the story of men who have fallen upon hard times basically through the unemployment crisis that was happening in Liverpool and throughout the country in the 1980s. It tells the story of their struggle but also it shows the heart and the defiance that they had in order to fight back against the system in many ways. It's a story about human connection, community and survival in difficult times - sprinkled with a little bit of humor in there as well, which Scousers were sort of known for, having that get up and go attitude but also for finding comedy even in the most difficult of times.”

Mark: “It does touch on men's mental health as well, which, back then, was a bit of a taboo to even talk about. It was very ‘don’t say nothing, stiff upper lip and all that, and just carry on and crack on’. So it does touch on that because all of these men, it's powerful stuff what they're going through and particularly with Jay's character, you see this person just unravel throughout. And I think with the play, James Graham… has taken Alan's six hours and condensed them into two hours, brilliantly, but where James has made changes, he’s really looked into that side of it - men's mental health and what's happening to these men - and that gives it another dimension that maybe was not at the forefront when it originally came out in the 80s.”

What is it about the show that you think still resonates with an audience in 2025 versus back then?

Jay: “That struggle that people still have today in order to survive, really, I think, you know, back then there was an unemployment crisis, there was no jobs, whereas now there seems to be jobs out there, but the jobs that are available to your everyday person simply don't pay enough for people to survive in the modern world. So what you will find is people that are working two, three, sometimes even four jobs in order to support a family, in order to survive, which is a slightly different problem, but it's still a massive problem that's affecting people today. Mark’s mentioned austerity previously and stuff like that. so there's, there's definitely still parts of the story that we can relate to.”

Mark: “Yeah, definitely. As Jay said, my sisters got a really good job but she's having to take on another job because the cost of household bills are going through the roof, interest rates on mortgages have gone up crazy. I remember it then and it was pretty bleak, but it's just as bleak now, but in a different way so there are definitely parallels between then and now, a million per cent.”

Who do you both play and do you relate to them?

Mark: “I'm playing a character called Dixie Dean. He's the foreman of the group. He's a bit of a steady Eddie, slightly old fashioned, a little bit older than the younger ones. He's always cracking jokes and they’re not very funny-”

Jay: “Unlike Mark, he’s very funny!”

Mark: “-But yeah, he's basically found himself in a situation not because of anything he's done -he's lost his job because of the lads- and now he's having to claim benefits and walk around and be a security guard on the docks at night. He's kind of being bullied in a way, and told to take back handers, to turn his back to the people coming in and taking things from the docks like booze and trainers so he's found himself in a position where suddenly he's being dishonest and and it's taken his toll on him and his family.”

Jay: “I'm playing Yossa Hughes, and Yossa is struggling massively with mental health problems, and, as Mark mentioned earlier, throughout the story, we see His world slowly unravel. What Yossa does bring is a lot of moments of comedy as well, even with the struggles that he's going through, which is a really interesting thing as an actor to play, because one minute, I'm making the audience laugh - hopefully - and then within the blink of an eye, he's got them crying. That's the aim for me as an actor with the words and the dialogue that we've been given on the page, which has been so beautifully crafted by Alan Bleasdale, originally, and then James Graham for the stage adaptation. But yeah Yossa is a man who's desperate. He's desperate to get a job, first and foremost, and look after his family - hs wife has left him and stuff like that... He's literally on his knees so that's a really interesting role for me as an actor to take on.”

If readers know you best from your TV work, what is different about performing in a stage play like this?

Mark: “I don't know what the difference between stage acting and TV acting is. I think you just try to be truthful. The difference, I guess, is you've got to try and reach the back of the stalls or the circle, whatever, with this performance. But fortunately for us, we're miked so we can actually play almost like there's a camera in front of us. And I think that, for this particular play, works really well, because it is a very grounded, truthful - hopefully truthful - piece of theatre.”

Jay: “I think for me, as Mark touched on, the technical aspect is slightly different, obviously when you're on stage to when you're on a TV or film set, but the process as an actor, it always has to remain the same. You have to be truthful to the material you've been given, to the story that we're trying to portray and the effect that we're trying to have on an audience still must remain the same, in my opinion. But yeah, it's just a slight technical thing that you have to adapt for the different mediums and but, there's a very famous acting practitioner called Meisner who said, basically, acting is telling the story truthfully in imaginary circumstances, and that's basically what we're doing. So as long as I'm feeling like I'm doing that, there should not really be much of a difference in working in TV or film.”

Finally, why should the people of Merseyside grab tickets to see you?

Mark: “In saying everything we've already said, it is really funny as well. You've got everything in this play, you've got humor, it's thought provoking, it's heartbreaking at times. There's an amazing sequence -it's a fight scene, I won't tell you anymore - it and literally will break people's hearts when you see it. It always does. It never fails. So it's really got everything. You know, put that TV remote down, come out and see a proper play with good acting and songs, humor, you'll laugh, you'll cry.”

Jay: “I agree, I think we live in an age now where entertainment is so accessible, it's at our fingertips, whether it's Netflix, Instagram, reels, tiktoks, YouTube, Amazon, whatever it may be, that we can get lost in that as well. It's very easy to get lost in that world, and it's very easy to start something, pause it, go the toilet, make a cup of tea, whereas when you come to the theater for those two hours, your phone's off- hopefully- and you're just engrossed in what's going on on the stage. And, it's in touching distance: we have cups of tea and stuff in the show, and you can see the steam coming off them. We have food, there's the black stuff, which is the tarmac that's in, like a big bucket and the smoke coming off it. These things that you can smell. Someone's having a cigarette in the scene, you can smell it. It allows your imagination to be fully invested in it, and there's no distractions. And because it's so close, I think those emotional moments and the moments of comedy sort of hit more because, as I say, hopefully you're more invested because you're there, you can almost touch it, you can smell things, you can you can see it, and it's much more of a an experience, I think. So, yeah, come and see us!