willy russell

By Catherine Jones on Dec 2, 08 08:38 AM

When Noreen Kershaw stepped into Shirley Valentine's shoes for the first time she garnered rave reviews.
But despite it being such a demanding one-woman role, theatre bosses somehow overlooked the need for an understudy.
So when Noreen was carried off in an ambulance down Hope Street with peritonitis, what could the Everyman do?
Put on playwright Willy Russell to do a one-man reading of his own work on the set.
His recollections of the event formed part of a very entertaining talk organised by Liverpool University at the Philharmonic Hall last night.

Apparently he thought they'd have about three people in the audience for his reading, but when he came out on the Everyman stage the place was packed.
Although as he said, self deprecatingly, it was all coach parties that night so he had a captive audience.
In the end, he had to repeat his performance for three weeks and while Noreen won the award as "best actress" that year he said "I won best supporting actress!".
Russell, glugging back a glass of red wine, also read from his very funny book The Wrong Boy, recited affectionate-but-with-an-edge poems about capital of culture, and took questions from the audience last night.
And he revealed he is currently working on a new musical version of his early TV film about deprived Liverpool kids, Our Day Out.
The talk was part of a lecture series organised by Liverpool University as part of its capital of culture celebrations. Dr Jonathan Miller and Lord Robert Winston have also spoken this year.
And the university has pledged to continue the lecture series, first started in 2005, into 2009 with the theme of the environment, and 2010 when it will be all about innovation.