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Arts editor’s play debuts on his own patch

Neil DarcyA play written by a regional daily journalist has been performed on his patch for the first time this weekend.

Colchester Daily Gazette journalist Neil D’Arcy-Jones normally writes the theatre reviews, but he was on the other side of the fence as his play In Search of England was performed in Colchester last weekend.

The play, which had a short run in London back in 2015, tells the story of George, a man who has returned to England to find out what it means to be English in the 21st Century.

Neil, pictured, says the story was inspired by an old travel book written by HV Morton.

Said Neil: “He wrote it back in 1927 and you could say it was the forerunner for works by the likes of Bill Bryson and Mike Parker with Morton going around the country meeting people and basically getting an essence of the place.

“It kind of got me to thinking what Morton might think of England now if he did a similar trip but then of course Brexit and UKIP took hold and the play became a little bit political all of a sudden.”