James Larkin: Liverpool actor's 'huge honour' to play union leader

James Larkin is better known in Ireland for his socialist work

An actor has said it was "an honour" to play the role of a major figure in Liverpool's trade union movement.

James Larkin led strikes in Liverpool and Dublin in the early 20th Century.

Stone by Stone at Liverpool's Epstein Theatre portrays a time when Mr Larkin was jailed in the US for union activities and befriended by silent film star Charlie Chaplin.

Liverpool actor John O'Gorman plays Mr Larkin and hopes it will give his work "more prominence" in his home city.

Mr Larkin, who is also known as Jim Larkin and Big Jim, was better known in Ireland for his socialist work.

There is a statue in honour of the union leader, born in 1874, in Dublin but there is not one in Liverpool.

In 1920, Mr Larkin, the founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, was arrested during a speaking tour of America and incarcerated for three years.

Actor John O'Gorman says it was a huge privilege to play James Larkin

While at Sing Sing jail in New York state he was visited by Chaplin, then regarded as the world's most famous film star.

The play tells the story of the friendship between the unlikely pair and why Chaplin went to see the socialist in prison, said Liverpool playwright Frank Kenny.

Chaplin joined in the campaign to have him released and he was pardoned in 1923, he added.

Mr O'Gorman told BBC North West Tonight that, as someone also born in Liverpool, it was a huge privilege to play him.

"It's fantastic," he said.

"Hopefully this play will go some way to get him more prominent and more people thinking about him."

Stone on Stone is being performed at the Epstein Theatre on 24 and 25 March