In 2005 Liverpool Football Club pulled off one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time, beating A.C. Milan from 3-0 to win the Champions League. While the drama unfolds on the pitch, in the stands one Reds fan finds himself sat next to A.C. Milan owner and Italian President Silvio Berlusconi. Ten years on from those historic scenes Beating Berlusconi!, performed by Paul Duckworth, comes to the Everyman from 21st to 23rd May.

Despite threats from his wife and bank manager, middle-aged Kenny Noonan travels to Istanbul to watch Liverpool play A.C. Milan in the Champions’ League final. He carries the scars of thirty years as a Red – Heysel, Hillsborough – and of living in a city which has been demonised.

What happened to Liverpool F.C. in the second half is legend but what happened in the A.C. Milan directors’ box is stranger than fiction.

Based on the now famous true story of a real Liverpool fan who ended up sitting next to Silvio Berlusconi at the Attaturk Stadium, Beating Berlusconi! is a laughter and tears tale of one man’s attempt to re-discover his belief in himself, his club, his city and his class – and save his marriage.

In Paul Duckworth’s extraordinary, thirty-character performance, Kenny and wife Marie look back from their not so comfortable middle-age at their city’s ups and downs. As it traces Kenny’s life as a Red, Beating Berlusconi! passes through a number of political events: the 1981 U.K. riots, the Thatcher years, Heysel and Hillsborough, the Blair election and the Iraq war.

Beating Berlusconi! is written by John Graham Davies and directed by Matt Rutter. Over the last five years it has toured every corner of the U.K. and Ireland as well as a sell out production in Norway. It’s been published in Italy to rave reviews with an Italian production planned for next year. Now Paul Duckworth (Twelfth Night and Bright Phoenix; Liverpool Everyman) and his thirty characters arrive at the Everyman in this hilarious, lump in your throat comedy.

Tickets for Beating Berlusconi! are priced at £12 – £20. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre Box office, by 0151 7094776 or online at www.everymanplayhouse.com.