Shankly Show returns by popular demand
Story by Mike Chapple
THE Shankly Show, the Capital of Culture tribute to the legendary Liverpool manager, is to be resur-rected - by popular demand.
The 90-minute show, approp-riately split into two 45-minute halves, had its world premiere at a sell-out performance at the Liver-pool Olympia on April 24 with Scottish actor Alexander "Sandy" West taking on the one-man role.
Many LFC fans could not get tickets for the one-off show so the Royal Court Theatre is bringing it back for a fortnight run in October with West reprising his role as the charismatic manager who is still revered 27 years after his death.
"One night was simply not enough to celebrate someone as great as Bill Shankly - and if we can't celebrate his life in 2008 then when can we?" said theatre spokesman Iain Christie of the play written by Liverpool playwright Andrew Sherlock and which is supplemented with film footage from some of the great moments during Shankly's time at Anfield before he unexpectedly resigned from the club in 1974.
Mr Christie added: "There are 45,000 people who go to Anfield for every home game so if ever there was a ready-made audience for someone who was arguably Liverpool's greatest manager, then here it is.
"We are opening up the whole theatre to its full 1,200 capacity and expecting every night from Friday, October 3 to Saturday, October 17 to be a sell-out as this is a fairly short run for us and none of the performances clash with any big games.
"And like the Olympia show, we're also expecting very vibrant crowds. We're encouraging people to bring along their banners and scarves and to sing along with the chants if they want to. We're even considering setting up a Bovril pump on the bar to add a little match day authenticity."
The show, which features Shankly in soliloquy reflecting on his life and career while inside the Boot Room at Anfield, is essentially the same as the one performed at the Olympia "with just a couple of tweaks" involved in the dialogue and the accompanying video said Mr Christie.
He also explained that getting permission to be able to stage the show was a major source of pride for himself and the theatre's chief executive Kevin Fearon.
"I'm a Reds season ticket holder of 17 seasons' standing and Kevin's a big Liverpool fan as well so even though Evertonians are more than welcome, this one is unashamedly really for us!"
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