Written By Jemma Burton
‘Palace of Varieties’ – a new play about Dennis Skinner
Award winning Derbyshire-based playwright, Kevin Fegan has been funded by Arts Council England to research and draft a new stage-play about the life and times of former MP, Dennis Skinner. Junction Arts have been supporting Kevin with the engagement of local people in the constituency of Bolsover to gather anecdotes and opinions about Dennis Skinner, as well as a sense of what it is like to live in Bolsover district.
Last week we attended a ‘scratch’ performance of the first few scenes that have been written for the play. Using three actors, Derby Theatre worked with Kevin and theatre-makers to stage seven scenes for an audience of peers and partners. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance and were especially moved by how the community consultation fed into the script. As Kevin has only been funded for a research and development stage, he will be working with partners to apply for further funding to write and stage a full play. We are looking forward to what is to come with this exciting new project, watch this space for updates!
