BRUTAL scenes behind bars.

It is not probably what first comes to mind when you think of a night at a musical.

But Warrington's Encore Productions are locking up audiences at 'HMP Larkhall' when they present Bad Girls at The Brindley from Thursday until Saturday.

The stage adaptation of the award-winning television drama tells the story of new, idealistic governor Helen Stewart and her battles with corrupt officer Jim Fenner and his sidekick Sylvia Hollamby.

It also tells the unlikely love story between Helen and inmate Nikki Wade.

Jane Newey, chairman of Encore Productions, said: "Bad Girls was the first musical that Encore did five years ago and so we’re revisiting it as an anniversary show.

"The Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, is also very popular at the moment.

"Bad Girls was almost the British version of that show so that’s another reason we wanted to bring it back."

The musical does not shy away from some of the troubling issues in Bad Girls either.

Jane, a former Woolston High School student, added: "There are some very funny scenes but also some really dark scenes with adult themes like drugs and rape.

"We’ve come to this after finishing Rent which is a very dark musical and the cast are very adept at dealing with those kinds of themes.

"Joe Clarke, who plays rapist Jim Fenner, has worked very hard at creating that character and his performance is very effective. It’s very creepy.

"There’s a particular song in the show which is sung by Jim Fenner and is very difficult to watch but then you’ve got the light-hearted scenes that balance it out for the audience.

"It’s very much about good against bad and the nature of revenge.

"But the theme that runs through it is how the women behind bars are all different but they all come together to challenge what is happening in the prison."

Jane, aged 31, plays Jim's sidekick Sylvia Hollamby.

The Great Sankey resident said: "She’s miserable, lazy, very mean and doesn’t like hard work.

"It is a very different to the roles I’ve played in the past.

"I’ve been Geraldine Granger in the Vicar of Dibley which was very much a comedy role whereas Sylvia has to be very hard in quite a few scenes so that was a little more challenging than usual.

"Adaptations of TV shows will always be popular but people have already got a preconceived idea about what they are going to get.

"The challenge is to keep it the characters as close to the audience’s expectations as possible."

- Encore Productions presents Bad Girls until Saturday. Visit brindley.halton.gov.uk for tickets

DAVID MORGAN