Writing group performs live at the Fringe for the first time!

Chapel Arts Creative Writing Group from Chapel-en-le-Frith in the High Peak has announced that it will be treading the boards at Buxton Fringe for the first time.

This year’s Fringe takes place from 6 to 24 July and will feature a wealth of entertainment in Buxton and beyond. The local writing group will be performing its poetry, mini-plays, stories, monologues and more at two special events, one on 7th July at 7.30pm and the other a matinée on 17th July at 2pm. Both will take place upstairs at Rems Cafe Bar & Restaurant in Chapel-en-le-Frith with tickets just £5 (£4.50 for concessions) via ticketsource.co.uk/chapelarts or on the door.

Led by author Mark Henderson, the group is open to all but includes professional writers and award-winning talent among its ranks. Members of the group recently scooped first and second prizes plus a longlist commendation for stories submitted to a national horror competition run by Fantastic Books. The resulting anthology, Dread Cold, featuring all three stories, will be published on Halloween this year.

The multi-faceted theme for the group’s Fringe performances is “Reconnecting”. Says Mark: “We’re all learning to ‘reconnect’ since we came out of lockdown. However, ‘Reconnecting’ can be interpreted in many other ways, too – and we’re exploring a lot of them! This is a great opportunity for attendees at the Fringe to enjoy the group’s creative talent.”

A registered charity, Chapel Arts was formed to encourage the development of a broad range of arts in the Chapel-en-le-Frith area. Details of events, including regular spoken word performances, are available on www.chapelarts.org.uk. The site also includes the Writing Group’s filmed and recorded readings created for the Fringe in 2021 and 2020 and will be updated with transcripts from this year’s live performances.