7pm Thursday 15th January 2026 at Birmingham Hospice Shop, 48-50 High Street, Harborne B17 9NE
BOLDtext Playwrights have teamed up with the Reloved Brum charity shop in Harborne to present three short plays celebrating the army of volunteers working there and in other charity shops across the city.
Vanessa, Julia and I are currently chatting with the different volunteers, asking what inspires them to donate their time every week, and finding out what their work means to them. Lucky for us, the shop has a café upstairs, so our research sessions are happily fuelled by cake and caffeine.
Mooching around the carefully-arranged space, seeing the huge array of donated clothing and items – including a full haberdashery section! – you begin to wonder what unexpected stories these items could tell.
Each one offered meaning or function for their original owner, and will do again for somebody new. As time and trends move on, that meaning could be something completely unexpected: like the preserved tarantula my partner once acquired to ‘bring character’ to our tiny bathroom! (It strangely went missing shortly afterwards, we never knew where… 😏)
We’re enjoying listening to the volunteers’ stories, and hearing about their loyal customers, always keen to bag a bargain, but often seeking much more than just something to buy.
Our last session is this week, and after that we’ll be mulling our ideas ready to draft our brand new plays for a January airing.
As usual, our show will feature local professional actors and will be presented script-in-hand. It’ll be followed by BOLDtext’s traditional Unwanted Christmas Pressie Swap, so please do bring along your unwanted gifts! And later we’ll be chatting about volunteering with some special invited guests.
by Liz John
Ticket info coming soon – all income goes to Birmingham Hospice.
Pre-Loved is presented with kind support from Sir Barry Jackson Trust and Reloved Brum.
BOLDtext Playwrights 