Welfare

This autumn Derby Theatre’s big main house production will be Welfare, the story of the Derbyshire Miners’ Holiday Camp, a new play by Abi Zakarian, directed by Sarah Brigham and featuring Derwent Brass . . . a play which promises a great night out, bingo, brass bands and a theatrical vacation like no other!

Welfare, written by award-winning British-Armenian playwright Abi Zakarian; born and bred in Derbyshire to a family of miners, will see the theatre transformed into the site of the Derbyshire Miners’ Holiday Camp in Skegness, where miners went to convalesce, and later to holiday, as it was turned into a pioneering holiday camp for Derbyshire miners and their families.

Welfare will take audiences on a trip through the decades as we follow the fortunes of the camp through the highs and lows of history; meeting a family across the generations, and exploring how time and change affects communities and individuals alike.