Duncan Edwards play gets kick-off date
The stories of the life of one of the region's most revered footballers is set to be told by a new play.
"Keeping the dream alive" is a play which looks at the life of Dudley-born Manchester United player Duncan Edwards from his birth in the town in 1936 to the aftermath of his death in the Munich Air Crash in 1958.
Written and produced by Duncan Edwards Museum founder Rose Cook-Monk, the play is a series of monologues and memories of Duncan and the events which shaped his life.
Ms Cook-Monk said he had lived an incredible life and she wanted to give it a new medium to tell it.
She said: "I came up with the idea for the play after years of researching and talking about him.
"There's been lots of books written about Duncan and a few documentaries, one of which I made myself, but I just wanted the story to be told in a different way."
Ms Cook-Monk said the play has been postponed on a number of occasions due to Covid-19 restrictions, but was now ready to be premiere at Brierley Hill Civic Centre on March 1 and 2 2022.
She said the play was to take it on the road, with Manchester one of the locations planned, and spoke about what made the play special.
She said: "It's about this local lad who came from our town and while people will say they've heard his story, there are stories connected to him that people have not heard.
"If those stories are not told, then there's every chance they will be lost, such as the people who put all the flowers together for his funeral and the person who drove his parents to the airport when they heard about the crash.
"We've got some wonderful actors in this production, with Tracey Smith playing his mother Sarah, Paul Smith playing his father Gladstone and Zak Wadley playing Duncan, so we're excited to get back on the stage to perform."
