Made in England - AnOther England

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AnOther England

As Liverpool approaches its 800th birthday - we take a closer look at the inhabitants who have made the place so unique, diverse and creative. Three performance peices will be created.

Merseyside is an unusual geographical area in that it encompasses several tradition English heartlands, both industrial and rural, and a large urban area which emphatically does not consider its identity or reference points to be English. Liverpool has sometimes been referred to as Dublin's largest suburb – and that's before you get into the Welsh, African, Polish and other world peoples who have come through the port.

BBC Radio Merseyside and the public together create three works of performance art encapsulating these varied cultural dynamics to celebrate Liverpool's 800th birthday.

Listen to the Liverpool Saga: A Peoples Poem

AnOther England
Act One - Poem
Working with people of Wirral, an epic poem will explore the heritage and identity of the peninsula people. From the remaining Viking mitochondrial DNA in the population to the garden city of the Lever soap empire and the loss of the shipbuilding maritime heritage.

Act Two - Play
St Helens is a Lancashire town with three strong pulse points: Pits, Pilks and Penalties. It is a former mining stronghold, a glass town where Pilkingtons still define the industrial landscape and a place where rugby league is sacred. Working with local writer Angela Clarke community groups will have the chance to create a radio drama about their town.

Act Three - Anthem
Liverpool is a musical city, a port city and in the loosest sense (if at all), an English city. What better than a new "Anthem for a City" drawing on Celtic, Welsh, African and world music, as well as the traditions of recent asylum seekers. Their voices and stories form the lyrics for the soundtrack created as Anthem.

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