WRITER, playwright and performer, Stephanie Ridings, is inviting Redditch and Bromsgrove residents to collaborate on and contribute to a brand new theatre show The Fear of Fear.

The show, commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre, focuses on forms of fear and how it is used as a tool of manipulation for personal gain.

As part of her own research, Stephanie has been challenging her own fears by taking part in activities that scare her including a ghost hunt and séance and heading out on a potholing expedition.

As part of the additional research for the show, Stephanie will be running two-hour long creative writing workshops at Warwick Arts Centre on November 21 and December 11 from 7pm to 9pm and is inviting the local community to explore fear with her.

The material from these workshops, and the public’s fears she has collected on her own website, will build material to support her writing and show development in early January.

Contributors will then be invited to the first ever version of The Fear of Fear on Jan 12 at Warwick Arts Centre.

Stephanie said: “The idea for the show came out of watching ghost hunting programmes and how bad they are at suggestion and manipulating the audience. It set me off thinking about fear and how people use it over us.

"The workshops will allow us draw on our own and global fears to form the basis of a monologue that each participant will develop over the sessions. We may also look at keeping a fear journal or at least noting incidents for use in the monologue.

"I hope the workshops will show our common fears and what else gives us concern and some of this can help the research and feed into the work. The aim of the final show will help audiences and I understand when we should acknowledge fear, when its helpful do so and when we should ignore it as people are manipulating us.

She added: "I hope this will be funny as well as enlightening.”

For more information or to get involved, email ed.artscentre@warwick.ac.uk.

Anyone who would rather share their fears anonymously, can go to thefearoffear.com/survey.