A Toxteth actress is returning home to play an iconic role in a play.
Alicya Eyo, 47, is set to star in Top Girls which has been revamped with a Toxteth setting for the 40th anniversary of the play.
Alicya plays Joyce whose sister, Marlene, played by Tala Gouveia from ITV's McDonald & Dodds, returns home to L8. There is a showdown as the sisters struggle to reconcile their differing realities.
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Alicya told the ECHO: “I initially auditioned for Marlene, which now clearly was not right for me and then I auditioned for this one, Joyce. I was six when this play was set".
With misogyny rife for women competing in the employment market of the 1980’s, Alicya said: "I think everyone who read the play would love to be in it, it's a woman's play, a power thing, but so much more.
“Caryl Churchill is a brilliant writer as well. She stood out for me when I was at school, so to be a part of one of her plays is brilliant.
"What’s frightening, when I got the audition and read the play again was just how relevant it is today and what's going on and the fact nothing has changed. 40 years on you would think things would have moved on”.
Director Suba Das said: "It’s been an unbelievable privilege to have been able to work closely with the country’s greatest living playwright, Caryl Churchill, over the past months.
“Caryl’s fire and passion for creating a fairer world remains undimmed. Our production will deliver a new dimension to the play, asking what success under a regime that measures people solely by their financial value means specifically for women of colour”.
Alicya said: "I moved to London when I was 14, just before that I went to dance school on West Derby Road. We started drama classes and I found I loved that more than dancing.
"I decided to start acting when I was 14. I knew that's what I wanted”.
By 18 Alicya decided she wanted to go to drama school.
She said: "I auditioned for a load of places, I got into a few but could not afford to go. I just went in blind to these auditions and they were paid drama courses. I didn't realise that."
Her luck changed after the intervention of an actor who later became a Labour MP. Alicya said: "My mum wrote a letter to Glenda Jackson and I ended up getting a scholarship, as I couldn't afford to go to the ones I got in.
"She wrote to a drama school, she didn't pay for it, but got me the scholarship. I never got to thank her personally for that".
Aged 19, Alicya got her first professional role at London's Royal Court in Cockroach Who, by Jess Walters. She played a 13 year old psychopath.
Alicya said: "To any aspiring girls out there who want to get into this industry, I say study hard. Back in the day it was competitive, but now it's a whole different ball game.
"Don't look for 15 minutes of fame, study for what you want to do. Learn your craft and be brave".
For ticket information visit Liverpool Everyman HERE
Top Girls is at the Everyman Theatre Hope Street from Friday, March 3 to Saturday March 25.
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