AND now for a bit of summer escapism.
Stephen Fletcher has become one of the theatre scene’s best known names in the last few years. He pops up everywhere, from big Everyman and Playhouse shows like Eric’s and A Streetcar Named Desire and has run the whole gamut of crowd pleasers at the Royal Court.
Much the same can be said for Helen Carter (Once Upon a Time at The Adelphi, The Gatekeeper, Flint Street Nativity).
This week the pair team up at none of those venues for a multi-award winning love story that plays for the first time in Liverpool.
The Last Five Years opens tonight, described as a "heartbreaking and hilarious" one-act musical about a New York couple who fall in and out of love over the course of, well, five years.
Cathy is a vivacious, struggling actress- Jamie a hotshot up-and-coming novelist.
In this clever way of storytelling from Tony award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, Cathy’s story begins at the end of their relationship, and Jamie’s starts at the beginning.
The Last Five YearsWatch their relationship shift from tragic end to hopeful beginning and hopeful beginning to tragic end, as Jamie and Cathy share their separate tales of life and love over their last five years.
It’s produced by Life In Theatre Productions which is run by Fletcher and another Liverpool acting stalwart, Drew Schofield.
The show has got a big following around the world.
Carter says: “Stephen called me up and asked me if I’d like to do the show with him. I jumped at the chance. It’s our second time working together since we did Dead Heavy Fantastic at The Everyman just before it was knocked down. We had a ball working on that.”
Fletcher plays Jamie, an up and coming writer, whose rise to fame appears to be happening faster than Helen’s fame-starved Cathy.
Chicago
“Jamie is an ambitious man, and it’s paying off faster for him than for her. This causes a bit of friction between the two, and as their stories go on, you realize the struggle they face between being happy and content with each other without being stifled and prevented from pursuing their own dreams- the ‘I love you, but not enough to stop me doing what I want to do’ moment.
The Last Five Years premiered in Chicago in 2001, and then on Broadway in 2002, winning a number of awards and nominations in the US, before playing to audiences in over 20 countries.
Carter added: “Liverpool loves music, and musicals, and this is a really good one for people to come and see.”
*The Last Five Years: Tues 24th July – Friday 3rd August 7.30pm, (Saturday 28th July and Thursday 2nd August 2.30pm) The Actor's Studio Theatre, 36 Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4BE Box office – 0151 709 9034/07906 279258. Book Online here
