THEATRE director Jennie Fairclough knows she has got a top notch cast for her forthcoming Bury production because she taught them all she knows.

Jennie, who has been teaching drama and theatre studies at Holy Cross College for the past 17 years, recruited her former students for Mojo, which will be staged at The Met on July 17, 21 and 22.

“All six of the cast are from Holy Cross,” she explained. “One of them left nearly 20 years ago, and some of them have only just left. It just made sense to work with them.”

The play, written by Jez Butterworth, was originally set in 1950s Soho but Jennie decided to relocate it to Manchester in the era of ‘Madchester’.

“Keeping it set in London wouldn’t really resonate with northern audiences so I decided to make it more local. It’s still the same script but the music, costumes and set reflect Manchester in the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

It was her students who inspired Jennie to choose the play, which is the second to be staged by her theatre production company, Wonderlf.

“We had an end of term showcase of duologues and some of my students performed a scene from it. I fell in love with the language and the rhythm straight away so went away and read the whole play. “

Hopefully, it will be as successful as Jennie’s debut production, Airswimming, which sold out at The Met in March.

Speaking about Mojo, she said: "The Hacienda was at its peak of popularity when I was growing up and in may ways it was a rite of passage for my friends and me. But even as naive teenagers, we were always aware of a seedier side.

"As the 90s unfolded, there was a growing presence of ever angrier bouncers on doors. Clubs full of ravers, high on life and anything else they could get their mitts on and corners always crowded by gangs of blokes in bomber jackets, sideways glancing, the runt sent on surveillance missions to monitor the presence of rival gangs. This seemed the perfect parallel world to the 1950s Soho gangland Butterworth chose to set Mojo in. It's certainly immediately relevant to my northern cast and most definitely has something to say to my Mancunian audience."

As a full-time teacher and busy mother-of-one, Jennie said she had to manage her time very carefully.

"We rehearse in quite an unusual way. Instead of concentrated rehearsals in the weeks leading up to the play, we start months in advance. We have only one rehearsal a week but I think that's good because it allows us to explore character and go away and consider role and what happens and then starting the following week's rehearsal discussing our thoughts. It's very effective."

Mojo can be seen at The Met at 7.30pm on July 17, 21 and 22. Due to the language it is not suitable for those under the age of 14.