6 Months of Shire Stories: How Shire Stories Is Transforming Regional Writing

7 May 2026

Shire Stories is celebrating six months of championing new regional writing with workshops, script development opportunities, and an upcoming showcase of original plays by West Midlands writers and actors.

Shire Stories is a two-year literary department project designed to inspire and support local talent across the four counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Worcestershire. Shire Stories’ mission is to uncover unique perspectives from underrepresented communities through a combination of dynamic workshops and personalised feedback from professional script readers and dramaturgs.

In February 2026, Shire Stories launched new collaborative workshops with The Monday Night Club, a social club in Worcester supporting adults with learning difficulties or autism to try new activities whilst making new friends. The 10-week sessions were interactive and engaging, concluding in a showcase of scenes devised by participants and performed at the end of April.

Julia Bentley, Intern Facilitator at Shire Stories said, “It has been lovely to see the progress made through The Monday Night Club workshops with Shire Stories. At the start of the 10-week sessions, some participants would often follow the lead of others, but through time have grown in confidence and were putting their own ideas forward without seeking permission or guidance from somebody else.

Each week we create a scene, for example, being with participants’ favourite person or listening to their favourite song and introduce a small problem or twist. It is all quite light hearted and humorous for everyone taking part, we want our workshops to be fun as well as inspiring.”

In May 2026, Shire Stories is looking forward to its event Tiny Plays, Big Ideas, where writers from across the West Midlands will showcase plays in development as part of the organisation’s writing workshops, performed by local actors. The five plays include Socially Distant by Dan Able, Waiting Time by Jonathan Campbell, Searching for Sarah by Sarah Cole, Me Is A God by Craig Norman, and Geoffrey with a G by Helen Sanders.

Geoffrey with a G is a dark comedy play that explores what happens with Jackie, a young woman who’s recently lost her partner, is visited by the very real manifestation of her grief, a middle-aged man named Geoffrey.

Me Is A God follows Samuel/Gideon as he revisits people who have been impacted by the crime he committed of a school shooting in the UK. The play explores questions and ideas such as nature vs nurture.

Socially Distant is a realist drama set in suburban Bristol during the 2020 Covid lockdown. Set in a cramped student house, it explores toxic masculinity, addiction, domestic abuse, and relationships under strain.

Searching for Sarah is a play about two strangers, Sarah and Tony, who meet by accident on a stormy November morning at a quiet seaside café. This is a story about ‘getting out of other people’s mirrors’ and ‘learning not to hide who you are but to own it’.

Waiting Time is a darkly comic social drama that follows Alex, a once-successful tech entrepreneur whose life unravels after betrayal, bankruptcy, and a terminal brain tumour diagnosis.

Tiny Plays, Big Ideas is on Sun 24 May 2026 in the Swan Studio at 7.45pm. Tickets are £8.00 plus a transaction fee. Recommended for ages 14+ due to strong language and references to violence in some performances. Tickets can be purchased on the Worcester Theatres website or through Box Office on 01905 611 427.