Bully for former Brookside stars, Suzanne and Ann Marie
By Chris High

Bullying is a scourge plaguing many school children and adults in today’s modern world. So much so that Wirral playwright and lyricist, Brian McCann of the Active Drama Company, has enlisted television stars Suzanne Collins and Ann Marie Davies – who played Nikki Shadwick and Katrina Evans in Brookside – to help spread the word against the problem that leads to so much trauma.

Bully is being performed at Birkenhead Town Hall from April 24th until May 12th and the two principal actors couldn’t be more delighted to be performing on their home ground of Wirral. ‘Using Drama as a vehicle to get the anti-bullying message across is great,’ Suzanne said. ‘This is a cause we truly believe in, being parents ourselves, because every day you’ll look in the paper and see that someone’s child has been killed as a direct result of bullying. If something like this or the workshops Brian takes around schools can prevent that, we’ll have met our aims.’

Despite the subject matter, the musical is far from being all doom and gloom. Ann Marie said, ‘Bully is a really uplifting piece of musical drama and there are a lot of laughs. The underlying message is a serious one, but the way it’s been put across is very entertaining.’

Suzanne and Ann Marie have their own workshop group, High Horizons, which organises school holiday groups for children aged 8 to 16, using workshops that hold messages for self-improvement. ‘We did a short film recently highlighting the importance of higher education, for instance, and the kids responded brilliantly to it,’ Suzanne explained. ‘So much so that in Bully we’ve got some of our work-shoppers in the cast and it’s a real buzz to see all of their hard work paying off.’

Bully runs for three weeks at Birkenhead Town Hall from April 24th. For tickets: 0151 647 0752.

For more information on High Horizons Email: info@highhorizons.co.uk

For Information on The Active Drama Company: www.activedrama.com