The play, which is being written by Off West End and Meyer Whitworth Award-nominated playwright David Lane and Forest Forge Theatre Company, is in its research and development stage.

The writer plans for the script to link heritage, local history and untold community stories connected to the decommissioned Fawley Power Station.

The project is taking place thanks to funding from Arts Council England and will also involve partners New Forest Heritage Centre, Waterside Heritage Centre and Creative Histories expert Dr Will Pooley at the University of Bristol. The play will be produced and toured back to the local community in 2022.

This process follows on from a first-phase pilot project in 2019, which resulted in the unearthing of photographs and people’s stories about the Waterside area. This was part of NPA’s Our Past Our Futures Project. Images and texts were collated into a pop-up gallery exhibition and there was a short verbatim performance at the New Forest Heritage Centre in February 2020, edited by David using only the words of those they had interviewed.

It was decided the specific impact of the iconic Fawley Power Station merited a bigger and more focused project, developed through further story-gathering and historical research.

Throughout this research and development phase, as well as gathering people’s stories connected to Fawley Power Station, the company will also be also exploring new ways to create and perform the play in order to make it Covid-safe for audiences in the future, working with director Lucy Phillips, set designer Lizzie Watts, and support from North Devon rural arts producer Beaford and their Associate Company Multi Story.

Anyone who may have worked at Fawley Power Station, been involved with building it, have relatives who worked there and passed their stories down, or any other connection to it is asked to contact Forest Forge Theatre to share their photographs, memories and experiences. No story is too small!

Please get in contact by emailing creative producer Sharon Lawless at sharon@forestforgetheatre.co.uk