From the Ashes is a satirical drama, set in the fictitious town of Stonebridge which has been labelled the worst town in Britain and tells of what happens when its residents and politicians are plunged into crisis.
The project has been commissioned by Museums Northumberland bait, who work in partnership to support more people in South East Northumberland to create and take part in inspiring and high quality arts experiences.
Bridie Jackson, Creative Producer, Museums Northumberland bait, said ‘In 2017, Museums Northumberland bait consulted widely with people in South East Northumberland, asking what ar tforms they wanted to try. From this, a range of taster sessions were offered and feedback from those sessions unearthed a great interest in storytelling, drama and creative writing. A group then formed and put together a brief to work with artists to develop Ashington’s own radio drama.’
One of the writers from the group, Chris Brock said, ‘The whole process has been collaborative. We spent quite a lot of time as a group exploring different ideas through drama and writing. Museums Northumberland bait and Curious Monkey Theatre have encouraged us to be involved in the whole process: making the sound effects, jingle writing, filming, recording, creating artwork, social media, marketing, doing interviews and so on.’
Amy Golding, Director, Curious Monkey Theatre Company said, ‘We started on the project not knowing anything other than we were going to make a radio play. The process has not been without its challenges, but the journey has been full of exploration, imagination and creativity and has been an absolute pleasure to work on.’