A Ramsgate writer who penned a play during lockdown has had it accepted to show at Fringe venue The Drayton Arms Theatre in South Kensington next month.
Peter Barnett, who was previously a professional singer, has written a range of stage plays that have been shown at venue including Thanet’s Sarah Thorne Theatre and the Granville.
His new play, Thought Virus, is loosely based on the story of a young Muslim Uyghur man who found fame as a model in Beijing and was then incarcerated in a so called ‘rehabilitation centre’ as Covid hit.
The fictional plot follows his journey from celebrity to prison inmate, the people he meets on that journey and the impact on his family.
Peter said: “During lockdown I saw a BBC report about a famous Muslim Uyghur model who managed to film from inside a Chinese detention centre on a mobile phone and send it to a relative in Holland who shared the film to show the world what was happening there.
“This prompted me to research the plight of the Uyghur people and write a fictional play about a Muslim family living in China and the outside pressures to try and make them relinquish their religion.”
There are thought to be some 13 million Islamic Uyghur’s living in China. Considered a terrorist threat, the government is accused of being on a mass mission of brainwashing and ‘re-education’ at purpose built detention centres to make them relinquish their religion of this ‘Thought Virus’
Peter who moved from London to Kent in 2004, has previously staged ‘The Angina Monologues’ at The Granville and Sarah Thorne Theatres and ‘The Next Room’ at The Tom Thumb Theatre.
‘Thought Virus’ runs at The Drayton Arms Theatre, 153, Old Brompton Road, London SW5 0LJ from 26th – 30th September.
Tickets are £14/£12 and customers get 20% discount on their meal if dining downstairs before the show.
