ACTORS at the Royal Court looked on in silent astonishment when a packed house of spirited Liverpool FC fans broke the record for noisiest crowd ever at the venue.
YNWA – The Official History Of Liverpool Football Club already has the full weight of the mighty Reds behind it, officially endorsing the play, but Saturday's reaction to the show was a seal of approval that took everyone by surprise.
Audience cheering and singing reached 120 decibels, says the Royal Court, which is the loudest since it began monitoring the levels eight years ago.
Sound Designer Kate Harvey said: “After Saturday night I’m surprised we’ve got a rig left! The audience touched 120 decibels while singing You’ll Never Walk Alone at the end of the show. To give you an idea of how loud that is, an aeroplane taking off is 140 decibels.”
Actors silenced as chanting fans take it up to 11
As well as volume, the boisterous crowd stopped the show at one point, with the actors looking on in amazement as a chorus of “We’re gonna win the league” echoed around the building.
Mark Moraghan, who stars in the show, said: “I’ve never experienced anything like it on stage. The noise is more like a rock gig or being on the Kop than a theatre show!”
The show only runs until the end of this week and with Friday night’s show and both shows on Saturday close to sold out already theatre management are expecting more of the same this weekend.
Theatre spokesman Iain Christie said: “The atmosphere in here is incredible and Saturday night was like the Chelsea semi-final all over again.”
YNWA stars Mark Moraghan (Brookside, Holby City), Jake Abraham (Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels) and Lindzi Germain (Reds And Blues, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Fazakerly).
The show tells stories of the glories on the fields of Anfield Road from Elisha Scott, Albert Stubbins and Billy Liddell to Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard. With complete access to the LFC archive, Nicky Allt has brought together every major incident in the club’s 119 year history.
It runs until Saturday (March 27) then transfers to Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre from Wednesday 2 to Sunday 13 April 2014.
