Dancing Through the Shadows By Richard Vergette Dancing Through the Shadows was first performed at Hull Truck Theatre in 2015 and started its life as a short play called Harry’s Luck which was staged at Hull Truck Theatre as part of Ring Around the Humber in 2011. This play is the first of a trilogy of plays about Hull’s rich history staged between 2015 and 2017. The other plays in the series were The Gaul by Janet Plater and Mighty Atoms by Amanda Whittington. About the play: It’s a long way from Hessle to Hessle Road. When Tom and Sylvia meet on the dance floor in 1938 they begin a romance that crosses the class divide. Tom’s aspirational mother Grace is horrified that her son has taken up with a girl who works in the fish house, whilst Sylvia’s brother David has no time for her daft bank clerk boyfriend. That’s until the divided families are thrown together when the Second World War reaches Hull. Suddenly class means nothing and all that matters is surviving. As the Blitz shatters their world apart, Tom and Sylvia struggle to hold their relationship together. About the playwright: Richard Vergette lives in North Lincolnshire and for most of his working life was a Drama teacher, working in the Yorkshire and Huber region. In 2009 his play As We Forgive Them was nominated for the Manchester Theatre Award Best New Play and won best Fringe Production. In 2013, American Justice ran in the Arts Theatre in the West End with Ryan Gage in the leading role. Currently Richard is under commission with the Playground Theatre in London and has just completed an Arts Council funded Research and Development process on a new play called Hunt the Tiger. Richard also reviews regularly for the British Theatre Guide. Other work for Hull Truck includes Harry’s Luck, one of four short plays that made up Ring Around the Humber. In 2018, with his friend Nick Lane, he adapted the bestselling novel Dark Winter which played to packed houses in firstly the studio and then the main house.
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