An interview with Dan Webber: Shaking up the industry: Working with The Parky Players on August 26, 2024.
Dan Webber (he/him) is an award-winning LGBTQ+ poet, promoter and producer based in Derby.
He has appeared at numerous festivals across the country including Glastonbury Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Wrestival, Timber Festival, Reading Fringe Festival, Y NOT Festival and Wolverhampton Literature Festival. He performed as part of the 25th Birthday Celebrations for Leicester Comedy Festival and was named BBC Local Poet for Derby, for National Poetry Day in 2016. Dan made his West End debut headlining Incite at The Pheonix Artist Club in 2017 and has performed at the iconic 2 Brewers, Clapham.
Collections include ‘Genre Fluid’ (2019) and ‘The Derby Witness’ (2022) both published by Big White Shed and held within The National Poetry Library. A stage-show version of Genre Fluid toured between 2019 and 2020 and was named Best Solo Show at Morecambe Digital Fringe in August 2020.
In 2024 Dan became a UK Creative Community Fellow.
Commissions include ‘The Derby Witness’ a poetry and street art project for Derby Feste, ‘Whispers From The Woods’, a poetry and nature trail produced with Arts Melbourne for The National Forest, ‘15st 9lbs at time of writing’ for SHOUT Festival, Birmingham, ‘Genre Fluid: Quarantine Edition’ for Coventry Pride (with Fancy Entertainment), ‘322 Ways of Escape’ for the 30th anniversary celebrations for The Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton-upon-Trent, and ‘Boys’ a queer reimaging of ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ as part of 1623 Theatre’s Queer Folio Project.
Dan has supported Barbara Nice, Cheryl Hole and LGBT Poet Laureate Trudy Howson.
Dan has competed in poetry slams and competitions across the country, most notably the Poetry Is Dead Good Midlands Poetry Slam, the Loud Poets Edinburgh Fringe Slam, the inaugural Comedy Bloomers LGBTQ+ Comedian of the Year competition and the Mind Over Matters CIC ‘Mind Over Slammers’ national poetry slam.
Dan regularly programmes LGBTQ+ focused events across the midlands, recent projects include ‘LOL-gbtq+ at The Lord Roberts’ for Nottingham Comedy Festival (2023/4) and ‘Scandalous’ a series of LGBTQ+ focused Christmas Cabaret events for Derby LIVE and Festive Derby (2023).
He is currently Events Programmer for Derby Museums, Dracula Events Specialist for ‘Dracula Returns to Derby’, Outreach Coordinator for the Nottingham Queer Arts Collective and Co-Director of Derby Poetry Festival.
Please tell me a little about your background.
I’ve been working in the creative industries for over 20 years, primarily as an actor, writer, producer and director. I’m based in Derby but have been lucky enough to work all over the country. Currently, in addition to performing comedy and spoken word professionally, I am the Events Programmer for Derby Museums, Outreach Coordinator for The Nottingham Queer Arts Collective, Co-director for Derby Poetry Festival, Events Specialist for the Dracula Returns To Derby project and a producer for The Parky Players, a Nottingham based theatre company made up of actors living with Parkinson’s.
Can you tell me more about your Advocacy?
I’ve been a producer for The Parky Players for over three years, and when I joined the group, like a lot of people I didn’t know much about Parkinson’s and to be honest I’m still learning now. My role within the team is very much about creating opportunities for the group to raise awareness of their work and supporting their ongoing projects, this involves everything from fundraising and writing project grants to helping set up and pack down before and after performances.
What is your passion and how did you get involved in Parkinson’s awareness and hope for a cure?
I met Janet Shipton, one of the founders of the Parky Players over lockdown and came on board as a producer to support their first Edinburgh Fringe performance ‘Shake It Up’ in 2022. In meeting Janet, and the rest of the Parky Players, I was immediately struck by the passion of the group and their shared dedication to raise awareness of Parkinson’s. In all my work I’ve tried to create opportunities to amplify unheard voices and I’m so proud of everything the group has accomplished so far, but there is much more to do! In the last three years, in addition to performances and incredible fundraising, the group have taken two shows to Edinburgh Festival Fringe and performed in Barcelona at The World Parkinson’s Symposium. Their most recent Edinburgh Festival Fringe show ‘Shaken, Not Stirred’ in 2024 was nominated for the Neurodiverse Review Disability Champions Award and was awarded the inaugural Garry Robson Memorial Award.
What type of goals do individuals with Parkinson’s have when seeing your Advocacy?
I honestly believe The Parky Players can do anything, and the entire group has been a great inspiration to me and I’m sure for people living with Parkinson’s and other conditions. We let nothing hold us back and nothing stop us from raising awareness of Parkinson’s and educating members of the public through theatre, music and comedy. It’s a joy to see the impact our work has on audiences, but also the impact the work has to the members of the group.
What type of training and how long are the programs?
We don’t really provide training in a traditional way but organise several dramas and creative workshops as part of our outreach work, we usually aim to produce two shows a year, a touring production for Edinburgh Fringe and a Christmas fundraiser.
What effect can your Advocacy have on an individual with Parkinson’s?
I hope people who see the group perform, or who are made aware of actions and ethos through social media are inspired to let nothing hold them back, The Parky Players are a great example of what people with Parkinson’s can achieve while there are so many voices dictating what cannot or should not be done.
What would you like to see as a future goal for your Advocacy?
Ultimately the future goal is to raise awareness of Parkinson’s and make members of the public more aware of the condition, hopefully this awareness will lead to more understanding and more funding towards finding a cure.
What events do you participate in?
In addition to my work with The Parky Players I produce several LGBTQ+ events across the East Midlands and regularly perform at comedy and spoken word events. I’m currently working on a year long Dracula project in Derby and preparing for Nottingham Comedy Festival this November and ‘West End Wednesdays’ a series of Christmas cabaret events for Festive Derby.
How does this also assist the caregivers?
I hope through watching the Parky Players, caregivers and the people they care for can come together to laugh (maybe cry a little bit!) and experience something positive together.
How can someone get in touch? What is your website?
You can find more about The Parky Players through our social media pages @parkyplayers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
How can others also become advocates for awareness?
I hope The Parky Players gives people the permission not only to laugh with us, but also to learn and ask questions, if you would like to learn more or are interested in supporting our work, please do get in touch with us.
In your opinion, what is the key to effective advocacy?
Empathy, not sympathy, and listening.
How can we better fundraise to support a cure for Parkinson’s?
There are so many worthy organisations raising money for important conditions and causes, where people can, we encourage them to donate to Parkinson’s UK and keep an eye out for The Parky Players fundraising activities. Members of The Parky Players regularly take part in fundraising activities, I was involved with a 12-hour Karaoke Marathon earlier in the year!
What other activities do you undertake to help improve and support your daily living Eg exercise and alternative remedies?
I’m very mindful how full on working in the creative industries can be, Edinburgh Festival Fringe for example is always an incredible experience but is always very full on, I take my downtime very seriously, and enjoy spending time with my partner, reading and visiting the theatre and the cinema.
Why should people who don’t have Parkinson’s care about this?
Parkinson’s effects 1 in 37 people alive in the UK today, and the odds are yourself or someone you care about will be diagnosed with the condition at some point during their lifetime, there has been very little in terms of major developments in the treatment of Parkinson’s and currently there is no cure. Parkinson’s is a much more complex condition than is widely known and understood by the public, and the more we can raise awareness the more we hope we can improve understanding of Parkinson’s.
Have you had any family members or relatives affected by Parkinson’s disease?
I haven’t but working with The Parky Players has really helped me understand the condition should this happen.
If you had one song that would tell us more about you or represent your life, which song would it be?
I’m a big fan of Scissor Sisters and Pulp, both of which are usually my go to warm up and karaoke artists of choice, however if you haven’t heard it already I highly recommend listing to ‘The Road’ written by The Parky Players, it was written by members of the cast and we finish every show with this song, it really captures why we do the work we do.
If you had one final statement or quote you could leave for the Parkinson’s community, what would it be?
“Trust the path, find some hope, accept what is new” – The Road, by The Parky Players
Is there someone you know that would also like to share their journey or advocacy? What is their name, website, and email?
Have you considered doing a group interview with The Parky Players? I’m sure the group would be interested in this.