A local playwright whose play, Georgina and the Dragon, is being performed at Birmingham Black Box Theatre on 13th July,  is appearing at Nottingham Poetry Festival to defend the arts.  Ian Henery  will join Poets Against Racism and AccessAbility Arts to fly the flag for accessible art, poetry and culture.        

Ian Henery wrote the play during lockdown when he and other self employed creatives were without any funding.  The play was originally planned to be performed by actors in isolation from each other, thereby ensuring proper social distancing and then all of the content would be streamed on demand internationally.    

"It never happened" explained Ian Henery "because we could not get funding.  The project was important because it kept us all connected and creative.  Although the content was relevant, featuring as it does the murder of George Floyd in America and the rise of Black Lives Matter, when lockdown was lifted everyone went out looking for work and the project was shelved."    

The play has been endorsed by Communities Against Racism Enterprise, Walsall Black Sisters Collective, Stand Up To Racism, Poets Against Racism and the Birmingham Chinatown Business Association.  There is no budget or funding and all of the team behind the play - the cast, producer, director, dancers, musicians and costume designer are working for free.    

"I have brought everything together as playwright" said Ian Henery" and there is no money in it for me.  If you asked me why I am doing all of this the answer would simply be that it`s important."    

A measure of how important this play is can be seen from the fact that the Ming Moon restaurant in the Birmingham Chinese Quarter have given the cast free rehearsal space every Saturday for 2 hours up until the performance date.    

"If it wasn`t important" said Ian "they wouldn`t be doing this because they are a business and their restaurant is designed to cater for those coming for a meal and not actors learning their lines".    

Nottingham Poetry Festival, which runs between 7th - 16th June, celebrates local, national and internationally acclaimed artists that align with their community values.  Ian Henery will join the array of performances, workshops, debates and all of the other poetry-related activity programmed together with the creative community.