Disability Sheffield volunteer John Quinn ( pictured right ) has started to stage new moves in his writing career – with two of his plays being performed in the city soon.
John, a former journalist for Sheffield Newspapers before he had to retire due to a deterioration in the neurological condition he has had since childhood, now works as a part-time volunteer for the charity’s information service and Sheffield Voices’ drama group for people with learning disabilities.
He has also begun writing plays in the last couple of years and a short piece of his, Marks Of Respect, has been chosen for a night of new work to be held at Theatre Deli in Sheffield on Tuesday April 9th and will be performed by professional actors.
The event, entitled Scratching The Itch, is curated by locally-based actor Eleanor May Blackburn, who is herself disabled. However the evening will cover a wide range of woek under the umbrella topic of ‘Virtuous’, the title of a full-length play Eleanor is currently working on.
Tickets are available here.
John has also won a grant from Sheffield Theatres for further work on the first play he wrote, A Different Kind Of Attention, about an up-and-coming pop star who suddenly becomes disabled and finds that instead of acclaim he is now often treated as a child and sometimes not even as human. Versions of it have already been performed at theatres in Leeds and Coventry but John, actor Dan Edge and director/actor Steven George will be giving it a Sheffield debut over the summmer and making it as accessible for disabled audiences as possible.
