Hurricane blows on to stage

Alex Higgins won the Embassy World title in 1982

Alex Higgins' re-emergence on to the snooker scene, has coincided with a Belfast theatre production based on the life and times of the player.

Entitled 'Hurricane', this fast paced one-man play includes music and movement, with Richard Dormer, one of Ireland's finest actors taking the role of Higgins.

Michael Longley who chairs the new theatre company, Ransom Productions, emphasised that 'Hurricane' celebrates the life of an extrovert figure who lived in conservative times.

"Alex Higgins is an emblematic Ulsterman. Who will ever forget those final frames and the finale of the 1982 World Championship when he gestured wife and baby onto the stage?

"And then who was looking after this genius in the most solitary of games."

The production begin its month-long run at the Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast on 18 October. It then moves across Northern and the Republic of Ireland.