Rehearsals for the play, "Georgina and the Dragon", produced and directed by award-winning Laura Liptrot,  commence on Saturday 4th May and will be performed at the Birmingham Black Box Theatre on 13th July as part of Birmingham Fest 2024.  The cast including performing arts students at BOA in Birmingham and from Walsall College.    

Birmingham Fest takes place every July and is a performing arts festival celebrating  Birmingham`s venues and arts scene.  The festival provides a platform for artists and companies across the UK to showcase their work in a 2 and a half week programme of events that run from 12 - 28th July 2024.  Birmingham Fest is an independent festival, without funding and is designed to celebrate Birmingham and the performing arts.    

The play "Georgina and the Dragon" was written by former solicitor Ian Henery who was the Managing Director of Ian Henery Solicitors, a multi-award winning law firm with 4 offices across the West Midlands.      

Ian`s previous plays include "The Chinese Labour Corps", which was commissioned by China West Midlands and the Chinese Community Centre Birmingham.  The play was performed at The Blue Orange Theatre in Birmingham with an Arts Council England research and development grant.  following the success of that project a further Arts Council England grant saw the play enjoying a week-long run at the Blue Orange Theatre to coincide with Chinese New Year and then streamed from the theatre throughout Birmingham by the Chinese Festival Committee.      

The play received positive reviews and was supported by the Birmingham Chinese Society, Chinese Active Citizens UK and the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority.    

A second play then entered script development called "Coming to Birmingham: the Making of a Modern City" celebrating the cultural and economic pioneers who came to Birmingham from Hong Kong and South East Asia in the 1940/50s.  There were reading performances at 5 festivals including a sold out performance  2 weeks in advance at Back-to-Backs in Birmingham`s Chinese Quarter on the eve of the Commonwealth Games.  The play was supported by Chinese community groups across Birmingham and community leaders.     Once again the Ming Moon Restaurant very kindly allowed a group of actors to rehearse in their restaurant and to discuss the work on the play "Coming to Birmingham: the Making of a Modern City".    

"The actors and playwright who have been involved in this project have donated their time and energy on a voluntary basis" explained Mrs Dorian Chan from the Ming Moon Restaurant.  "There is no budget.  The project has been fuelled by a passion and enthusiasm to tell the stories of migrants of Chinese heritage and the making of modern Birmingham.  Race and migration are the most prominent and divisive issues in Britain today.     

There have been attempts to reassert a closed British identity in society but this play celebrates migrants to Britain and highlights the variety of migrant experiences.  This positive story of integration is all too rarely told and offers a firm defence of the principles of equality and increased diversity.  The play shows why mixed, open societies are the way forward for 21st century cities and how migrants help modern Britain not only to survive but prosper.   The story of Chinese migration to Britain needs to be told which is why I allowed these actors to use my restaurant to rehearse.  There`s a lot of ignorance about the stories of migrants of Chinese heritage who came to Britain in the 1940/50s - unlike the Caribbean migrants on Empire Windrush.  We need to celebrate these migrants and tell their story in the same way that there is now an appreciation of the Windrush generation.      

Furthermore, the needs of the Chinese community are currently underserved in the current cultural landscape in Birmingham.  I know this to be a fact because I am the mother of one of the actors who rehearsed in "Coming to Birmingham: the Making of a Modern City".  This is one reason why the actors are supporting the project so that they can not only tell the story of their forefathers and mothers but to showcase their talents."    

According to Ian Henery not many people know about the history of Chinese immigrants settling into the UK and what they have achieved and done for the this country.  A play that demonstrates just this can have a big impact on society and how people view the Chinese community.  

"I want to say a very big thank you to Mrs Dorian Chan, the Ming Moon Restaurant and the Birmingham Chinatown Business Association" said Ian Henery "for their very kind generosity and support.  It is often thought that that the Chinese community is forgotten - quite possibly because we are not as vocal.  People in this community can be proud of who they are and where they come from and will have the knowledge and courage to let others know about their heritage.  They will no longer be forgotten."    

"Georgina and the Dragon" will be performed at Birmingham Black Box Theatre on 13th July.  For more information:   Home | The Birmingham Black Box Theatre and Events or available on Eventbrite