Bus Regulation: The Musical (Merseyside), The Bluecoat, Liverpool

Bus Regulation: The Musical by Ellie Harrison is inspired by the 1980s hit musical ‘Starlight Express’, and features performers on roller skates to re-enact the history of public transport provision in the Merseyside region from the post-war period to the present day.

Beginning with the municipal ownership of buses in the 1960s, through the 1968 Transport Act which created the Merseyside PTE and the coordination of public transport across the whole region in the 1970s, Bus Regulation: The Musical takes you into the chaos caused by bus de-regulation in 1986, the numerous mergers & takeovers of the 1990s that followed, right up to the fragmented and expensive system we’re left with as a result. The Musical concludes with a celebration of Liverpool City Region’s proposals to re-regulate our region’s buses in order to create a world-class, fully-integrated and affordable public transport network fit for the 21st century.

Bus Regulation: The Musical (Merseyside) was premiered at the Bluecoat, Liverpool on 13 November 2022. It was produced by Emily Furneaux and stars Betty Beehive as ‘the bus passenger’ alongside skaters from Liverpool Roller Birds: Emilia Bona, Faye Wearing, Christine Higgins, Hannah Dickman, Shelly Salmon, Elle Jackson, Ellis Hogarth and Kate Rowlandson, and Wirral Roller Derby: Rebecca Farmer and Gemma Rigby, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was funded by Arts Council England through the National Lottery Project Grants programme and produced in collaboration with the Bluecoat, We Own It, ACORN Liverpool and the Better Buses for Merseyside campaign. Film and photos by Brian Roberts Images.