The Big Society

I was brought up in a working class community by a Communist father and an excommunicated Catholic mother. My dad worked for Rolls Royce but was also actively involved in a youth club, a football club and a Community Centre. Apart from being a dinner lady and cleaner mum was also Membership Secretary for the Community Centre and ran a ‘Club Book’ (John England Catalogue) which provided credit for countless neighbours and friends. On our estate everybody knew everybody – they knew who you belonged to and they looked out for each other.

While I know that David Cameron’s vision for a Big Society is possible because I grew up in one, I’m intrigued to know whether the audience who come along to see my new play ‘The Watched Sea’ will feel the same.