By The Waters Of Liverpool: We meet the cast of stage play about incredible woman Helen Forrester

By The Waters Of Liverpool tells the life story of best-selling author Helen Forrester. It is set in the 1930s after Helen’s father went bankrupt during the Depression and the family were thrown into poverty. The Forrester’s chose Liverpool to rebuild their shattered lives. Leaving behind the nannies, servants and a comfortable middle-class life in the South West of England, they were in for a shock.

The team behind the production announced the new tour will be the last one telling the story of her fascinating life. The nine-strong cast will play more than 50 characters between them during the production

Emma Mulligan plays the lead role of Helen Forrester. As well as mastering the accent, Emma, who hails from Northern Ireland, said she feels honoured to take on the title role. Emma told LiverpoolWorld: "As soon as I got the role, I was just doing so much research into her life. The other week, I went down to Hoylake to see her granny's house and her plaque. It's just been really informative, and the thing I've loved the most is doing the research into her actual life. Then, when you're acting through all the scenes, you see an actual woman lived this life. It's iconic, really."

A dance teacher is among the host of different characters Daniel Taylor takes on for the production. We asked if his partner, Strictly Come Dancing Head Judge Shirley Ballas, had been giving him any lessons for the role.

Daniel said: "During the lockdowns, we were living together in London, and we did a thing called 'Rise and Shine with Shirley B'. We'd get up each morning at 7:30, and we'd teach people to dance over Instagram. I was obviously the guinea pig, and I've got to learn an awful lot."

See it: After its premiere run was cut short in March 2020 due to the pandemic, the production was struck with another blow when the theatre it was supposed to open in during this tour, The Epstein, suddenly announced its closure in June. By The Waters Of Liverpool will run for eight weeks, visiting 13 venues across the country, starting at opens at the M&S Bank Arena Auditorium, Liverpool, on Monday, 4 September.

Watch the video above for more from the cast and director.