Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Will Smith, Harleyia Heffey, Adam Leyland, Chloe Ogburn, Phil Rayner, Murren McFarlane, Bryony Doyle, John Stephenson, Shannon Haugh, Dorcas Sebuyange, Ian Smith, Mikey Gordon, Jamie Forbes, Kate Bricknal, James Bibby.

There are just some people in the world to whom evil is not a strong enough word to describe them; that their very actions on this Earth are to be considered so vile, so despicable that it is impossible to show any remorse for them. To take them on as a character within a film or a play is almost to feel as if you are opening up a crack in life that should be left alone; however that then would detract from the story that must be told as a warning so others are prepared for the Footsteps In The Shadows.

When the women of the country aren’t safe on the their own doorsteps that is when radical action must be taken, that is when the sirens of a decaying society are to be heard and in 1970s Britain, no one it seemed was safe from the evil that was fermenting in the mind of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. Yet somehow this truly terrible man was able to avoid detection and capture for years and it will perhaps never be known what the true extent of his murderous spree was in the areas surrounding Bradford and Leeds.

To take on such times, to try and even attempt such gravitas in performance, especially by a group of young and very talented actors who were only born long after the nightmare had been stopped; to hold a spotlight on such terror once more is enough to feel the heavy weight of drama unfold and as the students of The City of Liverpool College allowed that period of undeniable tension to seep out into the audience, that weight grew and manifested, the monster almost seemed real once more.

Handled with extreme sensitivity but with both eyes on the truth of the danger, Footsteps In The Shadows is a play that is unavoidable if we as a society are to ever learn and understand what makes such men become the harbouring rage.

With Will Smith giving a startling performance, much of it in silence and hovering like the spectre at the feast, and joined by the entire cast in a show full of diamonds, especially from Adam Leyland as the sometimes controversial figure of Detective George Oldfield, Murren McFarlane, Dorcas Sebuyange as the mother of the murdered Jayne McDonald and Harleyia Heffey as Sonia Sutcliffe.

Stories need to be told and they need to be told accurately and with respect, especially one such as haunting as this and it is with thanks to the cast and production team at The City of Liverpool College who made this chilling true tale of despicable behaviour and human horror such an interesting play to watch.

Ian D. Hall