A Luton-born playwright will bring her debut play to the town this Halloween, with a supernatural thriller exploring witch persecutions, working-class women and a forgotten language.
Cheryl Prince, founder of 5D Theatre CIC, will bring Awaken to Luton Library Theatre on Friday 30 October, marking a particularly significant homecoming for the theatre-maker.
The play follows Sarah Reynolds, a medium and palliative care nurse living in 2023, who is called by Liz to care for her dying father Henry Husk.
As Sarah begins to experience unsettling memories, she is drawn into a mystery reaching back to the witch persecutions of 1653.
The story moves between past and present as buried truths emerge, challenging Sarah’s understanding of history and justice and the women who were condemned as witches.
Awaken combines historical drama with supernatural thriller elements while focusing on the largely erased history of working-class women and cunning folk healers.
Parts of the play are written in Canting, a lost working-class language which predates Cockney, using the language to help reclaim the stories of women whose knowledge of healing and folklore was often treated with suspicion.
For Prince, bringing the play to Luton Library Theatre has a particular personal significance.
“This is an epic adventure for me as a Luton born theatre maker who grew up dancing on this stage and dreamed of becoming an actor one day… I didn’t expect I would write and perform in my own play and have it debut on this very stage… so anything is possible!”
Awaken was also part performed this summer in a specially adapted version at Luton Henge Festival, where audiences experienced a section of the story set in 1653 within the community-built stone circle.
The new performance will give Luton audiences the opportunity to see the full play in the town where Prince grew up and where the story’s connections to Bedfordshire and its history have been developed.
Awaken is at Luton Library Theatre on Friday 30 October.
Tickets are £15 for the early bird offer when purchased by 30 September, with tickets available online.
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