Red or Dead

'That's all I ask from anyone. That we try to make the people happy.'

Bill Shankly had one aim: to make Liverpool Football Club invincible.

As its manager from 1959, he secured the team promotion, the First Division title, the FA Cup and success in Europe. For fifteen years, he defined what it was to be a Liverpool fan, and demanded total loyalty from his players and coaches. A loyalty that Bill hoped would be repaid when he retired...

David Peace's iconic novel Red or Dead is the fictionalised story of a game, a life, and a man of two halves. This stage version is adapted and directed by Phillip Breen, and first performed at the Royal Court Liverpool in 2025, with a cast including Peter Mullan as Shankly.