A ROLE TO PLAY

a ROLE to PLAY brings together the lived experiences and dreams of Bolsover residents, one of the most deprived towns in the middle of England. Working with Bolsover Freedom Community Project food bank users, volunteers, adult reading group members, and former Bolsover MP (1970-2019) Dennis Skinner, the film tells stories of the impact of economic changes in post-industrial Bolsover, a Derbyshire constituency where coal was once king.

a ROLE to PLAY is part of 'WORK': four artists’ films that explore contemporary working lives in the middle of England, by Dryden Goodwin, Jenny Holt, Esther Johnson, and Adam Lewis Jacob. Made in Derby, Thrapston, Birmingham and Bolsover, the 'WORK' films consider: the rhythms of a care worker’s day; traditional and new rural working lives - farming, forestry, and international logistics; Birmingham’s Trade Union Resource Centre film archive and collective activism; untold stories of the impact on individual lives of post-industrial economic change. Developed and produced over two years, 'WORK' is a collaboration between: Animate Projects; QUAD, Derby; Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, Thrapston, Northamptonshire; Vivid Projects, Birmingham; and Junction Arts, Chesterfield. 'WORK' is supported by Jerwood Arts and using public funding by Arts Council England.