On 28th June drama students from Stagecoach Performing Arts were rewarded with a surprise visit during their rehearsals.  Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, turned up to watch them rehearse a new play written by local playwright Ian Henery.  Also in attendance were Xin Marketing, Chinese community organisations, Birmingham Television and Mark Thompson and Stephen Hewitt from corporate sponsors Red Moon Brewery.

  "Red Moon Brewery was started in 2015 by us two friends" said Stephen "with one goal and that was to produce great beer! Mark and I both have a great sense of humour and this is evident in our beer names all inspired by our own life events.  We have won competitions with our beers from CAMRA.  They are all vegan friendly and we have 9 core beers that cover all possible tastes.  We are community-minded and we met Ian Henery at the Birmingham Vegan Festival."

  Ian Henery was commissioned to write a trilogy of plays called "Home" which explores family, sacrifice, place and time from Chinese and British perspectives in the socio-economic context of 3 significant periods of history. 

  The first play in the trilogy, commissioned by China West Midlands 2020 and supported by Andy Street, is based on the sacrifices of the Chinese Labour Corps during the First World War and continues with a second story around the 1940s/50s with the third play set in contemporary Britain.  

"It`s fantastic" said Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands "that students from Stagecoach Performing Arts are exploring the theme of home for China West Midlands 2020.  For many people in the West Midlands home is in 2 places - where one was born and grew up and where they are living and working now.  I am committed to making every community feel at home in the West Midlands and projects like this really do help in bridging the gap between different continents and cultures".  

China West Midlands 2020 explores and deepens connections between the West Midlands and China.  The key messages that China West Midlands 2020 want to convey are deeper understanding and mutual prosperity arising from cross culture and cross border collaboration.  China West Midlands hopes that the project will enable Birmingham and the West Midlands to grow trade and investment opportunity with China as well as increase visitors numbers to the region.

For further information on Red Moon Brewery:  

Email: redmoonbrewery@gmail.com  

Website: https://redmoonbrewery.co.uk