Alan Durband pounds by means of innovative seven-year tax-free covenants for the conversion of the building. It was a popular theatre specialising in local Liverpool settings & political subjects which gave opportunities to new playwrights – most famous of whom is probably Willy Russell (to whom Durband lent his Welsh cottage to write 'Educating Rita') and to actors such as: Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Jonathan Pryce & Julie Walters who joined the Theatre company around 1975. To mark this era, Willy Russell unveiled a plaque in memory of Alan Durband at the theatre in 1998 in the company of actor Pete Postlethwaite
Simon Bamford has also designed and directed several international tours including "The Big Day" in Sofia, Qatar and Dubai as well as "Educating Rita" in Kuala Lumpur. In 2004 he took a production of "Shirley Valentine" to Karachi to help raise money for a new school. He has been a theatre reviewer for "The Stage" newspaper since 2006 and is guest speaker at film conventions in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Bottrop, Münster, Orlando, Boston, London and New York. Simon Bamford Simon Bamford (born 22 May 1961 in Bedford) is an English film, television and stage actor. He is well known for playing the