From Page to Stage - Malvern
Eleven new plays - ten weeks and one night in Malvern!
We had an amazing ten weeks from September 25 to December 25 at Malvern Theatres as part of their Take Part Community Programme. Over the project's duration, Steve worked with 13 writers of which 11 wrote some fantastic new plays, with the aim of creating work that could become fully fledged one act plays. Feedback was fantastic.
'These workshops have changed my life'.
'Steve was so patient and encouraging.'
'I now know that I want to be a writer for the stage'.
Thanks to everyone who took part. It was a blast!
All writers had detailed feedback with their work and the showcase featured 10 mins of each script performed brilliantly and script in hand by local actors.
Too Good to be True
In March 2026, we completed delivering our loan shark awareness raising project to 498 pupils in 5 primary schools in Worcester and Dudley, and what a wonderful bunch of pupils we met!
We taught children about banks, credit unions and interest rates, and then explored illegal money lending through creativity.
'Too good to be true' is our interactive play where children watch the performance once before interacting the second time and helping the characters make better decisions. We had fantastic engagement in all the schools, and brilliant acting, when pupils took the role of Amy with her red rucksack.
Importantly, children learned about the dangers of loan sharks, illegal money lending, and how to find help.
Pupils said:
'They ask you to repay with more money than they gave you'
'You have to be careful or else you'll end up in a very bad position'
'They use charm to steal money'
'They can act like your friends but they just want money'
'Always report it!'
Following the workshop and performance, we asked the pupils to enter a competition to design a poster warning people about the dangers of loan sharks.
Such great designs, the pupils really captured the messaging well:
- Don't get trapped in a cycle of debt with a loan shark;
- Contact Stop Loan Sharks for help;
- Tell a trusted adult;
- If it's too good to be true, it probably is....
Choosing winners was very difficult, but these 5 posters really stood out to us. Well done to Lauren, Neve, Micheal, Darcie and Maggie! You are the deserving gift voucher winners for your brilliant posters!
This project has been funded by Stop Loan Sharks England and we have been brilliantly supported by Liaise Officer Nadeem Mahammed MPH.
Thank you to Rivers Multi Academy Trust schools Cherry Orchard, Cranham, Northwick Manor, St Clement's Primary School and to Brierley Hill Primary School - you were all amazing!
Thanks too to our wonderful actors, and improvisers, Cos and Georgie.
For more information and help about loan sharks, as well as educational resources, visit: https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/
Shire Stories
Crave Arts in collaboration with Worcester Theatres
We are thrilled to announce that Worcester Theatres, in collaboration with Crave Arts, has been awarded Arts Council England funding for a new script-writing programme.
Shire Stories will see us jointly running workshops, guest speaker events, masterclasses, script submission programmes and two new writing festivals. Our aim is to find great scripts and to get some of these performed on stage! By opening our doors for emerging, established, and diverse voices, this initiative will create vibrant opportunities for writers to craft and showcase their work.
This is a great evolution of Crave Arts' partnership with Worcester Theatres and we are delighted to now be able to offer a longer programme.
For more information, and to book on writing workshops, please visit
Worcester Theatres website.
‘Power of Worcester: The Play’ brings Worcester’s hidden industrial past to life
A new play will open in Worcester next month, as part of the Power of Worcester project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Did you miss our play? Our Friday night performance was filmed, so you can watch it here. Keep an eye on our website for a digital retelling of the Power of Worcester project and all that we've learned, coming soon.
Created by Steve Wilson from Worcester based arts company, Crave Arts, ‘Power of Worcester: The Play’ stars locally based actors.
Corinne Leigh-Hewitson will play Amber in the play, a young woman who is trying to stop the diggers from demolishing a children’s playground at the site of Worcester’s former power station. Corinne recently completed a Masters in Touring Theatre at University of Worcester and has performed at Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe. The character of Amber is joined by characters who know more about the site than she could ever have imagined, played by voice and stage actor Rebecca Sharp, and Ben Calvert, an established performer in stage and TV productions.
For over a year, the Power of Worcester has been exploring Worcester’s important role in electricity generation, thanks to funding support from National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. From Britain’s first municipal hydro-electric plant to the future of green energy, Crave Arts, a team of volunteers and members of the public have been unearthing hidden tales, memories and archives, relating to the people and places that matter in Worcester’s history of electricity. The project has received additional funding from The Elmley Foundation.
The collected stories and a series of workshops with local people and organisations (including Worcester City Council, Explore the Past, Worcestershire Industrial Archaeology & Local History Society, Script Haven, Platform Housing, Sight Concern and Heart of Worcestershire College) have fed into the writing process and helped create a unique story.
Steve Wilson explains, “It's been a total joy to write the play! I have loved going through the workshops, recalling the stories and doing further research. As my particular love is writing comedy, I have approached the drama with a lightness that hopefully brings to life the heritage information. I can't wait to begin rehearsals!”
The play will be performed at
7:30pm on Friday 10th October and at
2:15pm and 7:30pm on Sunday 12th October, 2025
at The Hive’s Studio.
The Sunday matinee performance will be audio-described, with headsets for visually impaired people, and audiences are asked to arrive by 2:15pm. Tickets for all performances are free and can be booked at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cravearts/1809892
Deep Water with ASPIE
Thank you to Worcester's ASPIE for being wonderful hosts for our first outing of 'Deep Water', our play and workshop warning people of the dangers of illegal money lenders - also known as loan sharks.
Here are Olga and Steve in full flow, playing Lena and Stewart. We deliver the play once and then we re-run it, giving the audience the chance to redirect the action.
ASPIE you were brilliant at this!
'It was great and so informative'
'Really helpful and informative. I feel a learnt a lot. Thank you'
Thanks too to Nadeem Mahammed for his brilliant support - we love it when our funders come and see our work!
The initial performances of 'Deep Water' have been funded by money seized from convicted loan sharks across England under proceeds of crime legislation and administered by Stop Loan Sharks England.
ASPIE are a Worcester based social, support and therapy group for adults with Asperger’s/autism.
If you're interested in Deep Water for your organisation, please contact craveartsbusiness@gmail.com
Deep Water
The money has come from funds seized from convicted loan sharks across England under Proceeds of Crime legislation. Dave Benbow, acting head of the IMLT, said:
“The team at Crave Arts have created brilliant play which will really engage audiences and help them see how illegal lenders can be avoided by making different choices. We really hope it sends the message that illegal lenders are not the answer and there are other, safer options available for people when they need to borrow. It’s fantastic to see the ill-gotten gains of illegal lenders being used in this way to help in the fight to stop them.”
The play is being performed to Christopher Whitehead Language College sixth formers, to people on Probation in Worcester and to service users at Aspie.
If you're interested in Deep Water for your organisation, please contact craveartsbusiness@gmail.com
Funding from The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) - Stop Loan Sharks - has enabled us to develop 'Deep Water', a play that raises awareness of the dangers of loan sharks. We are excited to be starting rehearsals, with Olga Hloušková.
The Power of Worcester
Did you know that Worcester once had a power station that towered above the other riverside buildings?
Crave Arts has received a £42,831 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to creatively explore Worcester’s historic role in electricity generation, alongside looking at the future of power, in a new project called ‘The Power of Worcester’.
Worcester’s power heritage is a topic that has a low profile in the City despite some excellent local knowledge; without this funding from National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, its stories would remain unheard.
2024 sees the 130th anniversary of the world’s first municipal hydroelectricity and steam plant, at Powick Mills, Worcester, providing a great opportunity to explore Worcester’s role in electricity generation. The City Centre’s power-station, the Worcester Generating Station was situated near the main Worcester Bridge over the River Severn, with the Plinth being the only visible remains today.
Debbie Birch from Crave Arts explains, “We’ll be exploring Worcester’s important role in power generation. From the world’s first municipal hydro-electric plant to the future of green energy, we’ll unearth hidden tales, memories and bring together archives, records and photos about the people and places that matter in Worcester’s history of electricity.”
@HeritageFundUK
#HeritageFund
#NationalLottery
Deep Water
We have some more positive funding news!
We are pleased to have been awarded funds by The England Illegal Money Lending Team - Stop Loan Sharks - to deliver our project 'Deep Water', a play that raises awareness of the dangers of loan sharks.
'Deep Water' will involve our targeted audiences as co-directors and maybe even actors, learning about how loan sharks operate and working with us to change the play's outcome.
Thanks to IMLT LIAISE Officer, Nadeem Mahammed MPH for his support and for re-investing in Crave Arts to spread the message about the great work that Stop Loan Sharks do!
The Power of Worcester
Crave Arts are thrilled to announce that we are launching a new creative, heritage engagement project, ‘The Power of Worcester’, made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players.
We will be exploring Worcester’s important role in power generation. From the world’s first municipal hydro-electric plant to the future of green energy, we will unearth hidden tales, memories and dispersed documentation about the people and places that matter in Worcester’s history of electricity.
Working with a variety of partners and communities, we will enable people to connect with a heritage at risk of being lost, and to consider what POWER they have, in their own lives to make a difference.
Sparks will fly! Follow us as we plug-in to The Power of Worcester.
We are very grateful that The Power of Worcester also receives financial assistance from The Elmley Foundation.
@HeritageFundUK
#HeritageFund
#NationalLottery
Creative Space
We have come to the closing chapter of our 'Creative Space' project in Worcestershire's Probation service, funded by HM Prison and Probation Service.
The project was for women on Probation who voluntarily took part in Worcester and Redditch.
We held two showcase events for the women who participated to celebrate what they had achieved through the arts courses.
In Redditch, the group shared the film they had collaboratively made. In Worcester they displayed their artistic creations and read out poems and prose from their published anthology, 'Bring Colour To Your Soul' (Thanks to Bite Poetry Press for design and print).
Read the ebook of 'Bring Colour To Your Soul'.
At the showcase sessions, participants said:
'I look forward to coming each week. It's isolating being on my own but Fridays are my day for me'
'It's been welcoming. I'm treated like a person, a human being, here'.
'I've found the creative side in me again'.
Probation Officers said:
'We got so much from the conversations held whilst the women were busy doing creative work. It's broken down barriers that now we can build on'.
'We seek to broaden women's horizons and develop their skills. These workshops have naturally supported that'.
Thanks go to
-
the funder, HMPPS
-
the fantastic Probation team who supported the women through these workshops and
-
the women who so brilliantly shared their creative talents.
Watch our Creative Space film!
The 'Creative Space' impact report can be read here.
Thanks too to the artistic team - Nicola Prestage Tiger Features, Spare Room Arts, Steve and Debbie! We hope we will be back soon!
ART of Leadership
Crave Arts are excited to announce a new training course available for management teams in any organisation!
'Doing the Right Thing' is the first half day course we have developed in our ART of Leadership training programme, all about the key ingredients for good decision making at work.
We were thrilled to deliver our very first session to Sanctuary in July and to receive great feedback:
'The acting/story drew you in and made you reflect about yourself'
'Really powerful'
To find out more about Crave Arts Training, visit our Training page.
Workshops Date 16th March 2024
Performance Date 27th April 2024
We were delighted to run our latest Creative Writing project, this time at Number 8 in Pershore.
The project saw two workshops led by our own Steve Wilson and the poet Sarah Leavesley. Steve’s workshop was a playwriting one based on the theme of Lies while Sarah’s poetry one was based on Truth. The theme worked really well as a promotion tool for marketing purposes, and we were delighted with the support from Number 8.
Playwriting Workshops
The workshops took place on Saturday 16th March and were exceptionally well attended with a good range of ages and demographics.
Our playwriting workshop based on Lies, led by Steve, was very well attended. We had some great discussions about why people lie and how we can get characters to lie in plays in the most effective way. There was a lot of laughter, and some great ideas began to emerge.
The workshop attendees told us:
“Thank you! Great to spend time in this way being guided to try some new and different writing. Much appreciated!”
“Steve was fantastic – lots of great ideas and time to share ideas as well as get writing. It was great and really inspiring and motivating. Loved it!”
‘A very appropriate workshop for me as a wannabe scriptwriter. It was highly relevant to something I’m writing with a group of creative writers.”
Spoken Word with Sarah Leavesley
We asked Sarah.
‘How was the poetry workshop? “
‘It felt friendly, cooperative and productive, with lots of work started in the workshop being shared during the workshop sharing sections. It was quite intense – lots of different writing prompts and exercises, which seemed to be (mostly) appreciated and necessary in order to have enough pieces inspired and started to produce a showcase worth’s of work. (I think all of the work sent for feedback was started in the workshop, rather than generated afterwards using
the handout I’d produced for anyone who wanted to write more at home.’
The workshop attendees told us:
“Very clear, easy to follow guidance, thought-provoking discussion and valuable feedback.”
“Learning to write against time. Any subject/object/experience is suited to a poem. A good idea does not a poem make.”
“Good to hear fellow writers having a go and upping the bar in a useful way.”
Post Workshop
After the workshop our writers went off and wrote some excellent work that both Sarah and Steve responded too. Writers sent in work that was given constructive feedback. Work was commented on, improved and from there, work was selected for the showcase.
Showcase and the feedback
The showcase event took place on Saturday 27th April. It was a show of two halves! The first half was the Truth part which saw 8 poets perform work, most poets read at least two poems. The second half saw 5 plays based on the theme of lies which were kindly performed by performers of the Pershore Operatic Drama Group. Again, feedback was excellent.
“It was a wonderful event to be part of. I very much enjoyed the workshops and the feedback received about the work I’d created was very helpful. I had great fun at all stages of the process and very much hope there will be more opportunities like this in the future. I found the experience of preparing a script for the stage and working with the actors extremely valuable. Many thanks to Sarah and to Steve for putting the event on. Thanks also to the PODS actors and the Number 8 staff who also contributed a huge amount.”
Number 8 viewpoint.
‘We think the theme worked really well. For the workshops it was interesting and inspiring for participants. It gave the workshops a distinct angle and provided a starting point for the writers that they could immediately relate to that had a lot of scope/ wasn’t too limiting or prescriptive. It also worked well as a promotional hook for the Showcase. ‘The feedback from the workshops was excellent. I’m in the process of compiling the responses and will send details through when it’s finished.’
What were your thoughts about the final performance?
‘The final performance worked really well, we got very good feedback from those that attended and from those who participated. The only thing that might have worked better for the performance is if the poetry and drama were interspersed rather than having separate sections for each. It was a shame we didn’t get a larger audience for the final performance but considering it was the first time we’ve done an event of this type it was a good start to build from’.
Our conclusion
A great project to work on and lovely to be at Number 8 in Pershore. We hope to do more! Big thanks to all who took part and contributed.