LV, known as Little Voice, lives quietly upstairs with her loud, chaotic mother Mari and spends her time listening to the records left by her late father. Hidden away in her bedroom, she has developed an extraordinary ability to reproduce the voices of famous singers including Judy Garland and Edith Piaf. When Mari’s latest boyfriend, small-time talent agent Ray Say, hears LV sing, he sees money and pushes the painfully shy young woman towards a nightclub performance she never wanted. Eventually LV must stop being everybody else’s voice and find one of her own.
All Saints Elton Theatre Company presented Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice from Wednesday 22nd to Saturday 25th October 2025, directed by Grace Young.
Set in a northern English home where the electricity is almost as temperamental as its occupants, the play moves between broad comedy and something much more tender.
Laura Thompson played Mari, who fills every available silence. Lucy Fentem played LV, who does the opposite.
The record collection she inherited from her father provides both a refuge and a connection to him. Alone, she can summon the great singers of another era with astonishing accuracy. In public, she can barely make herself heard.
Chris White played Ray Say, who immediately recognises the commercial potential of LV’s talent and becomes determined to put her on stage. Teri Edwards played Sadie.
Meanwhile Billy, played by Neill Baglin, is himself quiet and awkward and begins to form a connection with LV that asks for nothing from her.
Jim Cartwright’s play is funny, uncomfortable and deeply human. It explores grief, exploitation, loneliness and the difference between being able to make an extraordinary sound and actually being heard.
Our October 2025 production brought this modern northern classic to Bury, with a story that ultimately belongs to LV herself.
Because having everybody listen to you is not necessarily the same thing as finally having your own voice.