The Black Dog Returns!

A group of local theatre-makers are bringing their powerful and thought-provoking play to the stage for one last performance.

Black Dog aims to challenge assumptions about depression and mental unwellness, as well breaking the stigma which surrounds talking about such issues.

The play is a cocktail of theatre, music and belly dance, and is returning fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was well-received.

Writer and director Shaun Higgins said: “Edinburgh was definitely a challenge for us – constantly promoting the show and rushing around a busy city in full-festival-mode was stressful, but also exhilarating and rewarding in equal measures. It was hard work fighting to get an audience when there is so much competition from other, bigger-name groups; not easy when our show was on at the same time of day as people like Eddie Izzard!

"But everyone who came to see the show enjoyed it, and the conversations which we had afterwards proved to us that the audiences we got appreciated all of our hard work, and the message they took home was one of inspiration and hope.”

Because the play deals with issues such as depression, it was decided that any profits from the project would go to mental health charities. In May, Shaun performed an eight-hour strum-a-thon on guitar and ukulele, which raised over £300 for MIND, and a Variety Night on Friday, October 11, organised in aid of the project also raised just over £200 for charity.

Black Dog will now be performed this coming Saturday (October 19) at the Attfield Theatre, situated in the Bailey Head in Oswestry. The performance starts at 7.45pm, runs for approximately 50 minutes, and will be followed by a short question and answer session.

Shaun added: “We had a Q&A session after the preview night in July and the response was overwhelming – the questions asked were so insightful, considered and inspiring that the whole team was taken aback! We are looking forward, with some trepidation, to what we might be faced with this time round!”

Tickets for this final performance of Black Dog are just £5, every penny of which will go to charity. Tickets are available now through the Ticketsource website.