Shire Stories presents : Tiny Plays, Big Ideas

Shire Stories presents
Tiny Plays, Big Ideas 

Come and see five new plays being performed as part of our two year Arts Council funded project, Shire Stories.

This project aims to find the best new plays in Worcestershire and the surrounding areas. The plays have been written by writers from Worcestershire or surrounding areas.

Each play has gone through detailed feedback by the Shire Stories team and will be performed 'Script In Hand' by local actors. See these plays in their rawest state.

Content warning: 14+ due to swearing and descriptions of violence

90 mins including an interval.

THE PLAYS

Geoffrey with a G by Helen Sanders

‘Geoffrey with a G’ is a dark comedy play that explores what happens when 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. Together, with Jackie’s friends and family, they learn to confront the nonlinear grieving process, manage those who can’t even see Geoffrey, and discover that ultimately, even in our most isolating moments, we are never truly alone.

Me Is A God by Craig Norman 
Samuel/Gideon has committed the atrocity of a school shooting in the UK, killing twelve people. The play follows Samuel/Gideon as he revisits people who have been impacted by the crime he committed. Some of the key questions explored in the script are regarding the idea of nature/nurture, what drives a child to kill and what is society's role in this? How easily could knife crime turn into gun crime and are we nearing another Dunblane? Do we rehabilitate a child or condemn them to life in prison and should child killers be reintroduced back into society?

Socially Distant by Dan Able 

A claustrophobic realist drama set in suburban Bristol during the 2020 Covid lockdown. In a cramped student house, it explores toxic masculinity, addiction, domestic abuse, and relationships under strain. Through Callum’s bullying bravado, Eddie’s fragile passivity, and Jenny’s unwanted pregnancy, the play zeroes in on the volatile dynamic between three people with nowhere to escape. Ultimately, it’s a tragic portrait of young lives unravelling—where love, loyalty, and consequence collide, and violence, loss, and illness force a devastating reckoning.

Searching for Sarah by Sarah Cole 

Two strangers, Sarah and Tony, meet by accident on a stormy November morning at a quiet seaside café. Sarah is a missing person, Tony wishes he could be a missing person. Together they help each other find what they are looking for, what perhaps we are all looking for.

This is a story about ‘getting out of other people’s mirrors’ and ‘learning not to hide who you are but to own it’ – thank you Michelle Obama.

Waiting Time by Jonathan Campbell 

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. As his memory and independence start to deteriorate, Alex confronts the brutal realities of Britain’s social care system where reliance can mean loss of a home and dignity. Refusing to burden his daughter or be consumed by spiralling care costs, he devises a final, clandestine plan that relies on taxi driver Neha, whose warmth and spark become his final lifeline The play culminates in a devastating act of self-erasure through wit, humanity, and heartbreak.