"Lazy" knicker worker sacked on TV to perform stage show (From Bury Times)

"Lazy" knicker worker sacked on TV to perform stage show

2:15pm Thursday 28th February 2013 in Bury

WHEN Lauren Warwick appeared on Channel 4’s Mary’s Bottom Line last year, she was dubbed “lazy” by the national media.

The series saw her recruited to work in a knicker factory and then sacked by retail expert Mary Portas.

But the 25-year-old was determined to prove her critics wrong and has spent the past 12 months working towards her dreams.

She set up Bravo Drama Academy, based at the ROC Centre in Radcliffe, and is now putting together a show which will be performed at The Lowry on June 29 and 30.

Tickets for the first show at The Lowry sold out in just 48 hours and will go on sale tomorrow for the second show.

Miss Warwick, who lives in Radcliffe, said: “It’s a year since I got sacked, and when I was branded lazy and gobby in the national newspapers and magazines, it was really hurtful. I knew that I wasn’t good for nothing. I knew that I didn’t want to be stuck working in a factory for the rest of my life — I’m too ambitious for that.

“I’m really excited about the show. I can’t believe the tickets sold out so quickly.”

The play, named Broken Youth, is an adaptation of the novel by Manchester author Karen Woods, who is co-directing the production.

It stars rebellious teenager Misty Sullivan, who becomes pregnant with a local gangster and soon becomes a prisoner in her own home.

Despite the betrayal of her best friend, she eventually recovers her self-belief and plots revenge on her abusive boyfriend.

More than 150 people auditioned for the production and every cast member comes from the North West, including many with little or no acting experience.

It features several local people, including Bev Green, from Radcliffe, who plays Misty’s mum, and eight-year-old Lewis Johnson, who attends Bravo Drama Academy.

And Miss Warwick already has big plans for the production, including taking it to the Playhouse Theatre, in London’s West End, in October, and turning it into a short film.

She said: ”I have always wanted to take my directing skills to the West End to show people that even though I’m just a normal girl from Radcliffe with no qualifications, I have managed to build this up from absolutely nothing.”

For tickets to the show: call Miss Warwick on 07546 612503.