Panel: Making Fiction, Holding Truth: Writing Plays in the Shadow of Collective Pain

This discussion explores the ethical and artistic questions playwrights face when creating work inspired by difficult histories. Whether trauma sits at the centre of the story or lingers in the background, how can writers honour the weight of real events while still crafting character, structure, and dramatic tension? And what does it mean to invent responsibly when the echoes of that pain are still felt today?

This event is available as part of the CumbriaFest Thursday Evening ticket and the CumbriaFest Thursday Festival Pass.