New Liverpool theatre show will spread message of kindness to kids

A new Liverpool theatre show will help spread a message of kindness to kids by bringing to life the characters of a hit children’s book.

Kindness Rocks was written by city-based author Sheryl Webster, who wanted to show young readers how little acts of compassion and connection can make a big difference.

Since the book was first published just over two years ago, Kindness Rocks has grown into a wider kindness movement, inspiring all kinds of community projects in and around Liverpool.

They’ve included RockYourSocks, where over 4,600 pairs of new socks were collected by local school children and donated to people experiencing homelessness, and a display at the Bombed Out Church of over 500 scarves created by local knitters which went on to be given to Paper Cup Coffee and The Whitechapel Centre.

Now the story, which centres around rockstar lion Jonny Heart and the animal characters he encounters on his rise to fame, is being brought to life at the Epstein Theatre this summer.

Sheryl is collaborating on a new stage show with Callum O’Brien, founder and director of Beyond the Line Theatre Company.

Kindness Rocks Live will be a fun interactive show for families, with £1 from each ticket sold donated to Cash for Kids which supports local projects improving children’s lives. Both Sheryl and Callum have done previous fundraisers for the charity and wanted to make sure the theatre production carried through the story’s giving back theme.

Former teacher Sheryl, who lives in south Liverpool, says she’s excited to see Jonny and his fellow characters in a new way, sharing kindness with even more young people.

“This is my 40^th book and the response to it has been amazing,” she says. “Over the past two years it’s evolved and just rippled out, so many children and adults have had this connection to it through our events, but this is bringing it to life in a whole new much bigger way.

“We still want to keep the same kindness message, it will just be like taking Jonny our rockstar on tour.

“Callum had been following the journey of the book and the community work we’ve done and he reached out to me back in January and said he felt it would translate beautifully into a stage show.

“We got together and from the start it felt like such a nice fit because we both had the same vision as to how it would work on stage. 

“Callum is the one who’s now writing the stage adaptation and I know it’s going to be really good fun and a very uplifting show for families, with music, storytelling and lots of interaction with the children – it would be brilliant if they came in their rockstar outfits!

“It’ll be something families can come and watch and enjoy together, with Johnny at the centre of it all.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what Callum’s done because he’s had so many great ideas, and it’s been lovely to have someone as excited and enthusiastic as I am.

“The message of the book was to empower children that we can make a difference through kindness, that’s always been at the core of it, and I didn’t want it to just be a message that lives on the page.

“From the outset this has been something I wanted to bring to life through what we do in the community and Kindness Rocks Live is continuing everything we’ve been doing but just in a different way.”

Kindness Rocks Live will be at the Epstein on Sunday August 9, with an afternoon performance at 2.30pm. 

Find out more about Kindness Rocks here.

Find more theatre shows across Liverpool on our website.

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