The Museum of Stories is open for submissions

Dec 16, 2021

Do you have an interesting or unusual story to tell about the Bury Park area of Luton?

Send it to the Museum of Stories, an experimental new digital audio project.

Award winning playwright Fin Kennedy is bringing Museum of Stories to Bury Park, commissioned by

Revoluton Arts.

Through Revoluton Arts’ Creative Bury Park residency, Fin Kennedy will pilot his new, experimental

digital audio project Museum of Stories in Luton.

Kennedy was the Artistic director of Tamasha for 8 years, a touring theatre company that champions

writers and artists of colour. He brings a wealth of skills from writing for marginalised communities to

teaching and running projects in London's East End. Local producer and artist Shemiza Rashid will

assist Kennedy as he collects the rich stories from Bury Park residents.

Museum of Stories: Bury Park invites residents, former residents, or visitors to Bury Park to tell a

story of something unusual, or unexpected, which they associate with the area. Stories can be true,

half-true or entirely fictional. They can be set in the past, present or future. They can be submitted via

an online form, emailed, sent via Instagram, TikTok, or left as voice messages on 01582 363155.

This isn’t a competition. All stories are welcome, even if they’re unpolished or unfinished. All ages can

submit something, and stories don’t have to be in English. No level of storytelling experience is

necessary. The artists behind Museum of Stories, will sift through the results looking for the most

exciting writers and their ideas to invite to a workshop.

Up to ten people will be invited to attend a two-hour online workshop in the new year, to be supported

in crafting their own story into a five-minute audio script. One of these will then be selected to be

recorded by a local cast of community actors.

In this pilot, just one five-minute audio story will be made. This will be shared publicly at a listening

party in a Bury Park cafe. In time, Applied Stories and Revoluton Arts hope to raise the funds to

commission more, and populate a geolocated map of the area showing pins where many different

stories can be experienced in Bury Park.

Stories must be submitted by New Year’s Eve Friday 31 December 2021 to be considered!

Museum of Stories voicemail: 01582 363155 Online form: tinyurl.com/museumofstories

Museum of Stories co-curator Shemiza Rashid said: “Bury Park is brimming with colourful stories

waiting to be told, shared and heard. I’m super excited that we have the opportunity to capture some

of these stories in audio drama format with an exceptional playwright like Fin Kennedy, and his new

company Applied Stories.”

Museum of Stories creator and Artistic Director of Applied Stories, Fin Kennedy said: “This is the first

time we’ve tested this new idea and we’re delighted to be trialing it in Bury Park. Luton is a place full

of stories, as I know from touring here so many times when I was running touring theatre company

Tamasha. I can’t wait to see what grass roots stories we uncover from Bury Park’s imagination. I hope

Museum of Stories will grow in time into a city-wide cultural project for Luton.”

Revolution Arts producer Furhaad Ahmed said: “We are proud to be supporting a local Luton artist to

work alongside a writer of national renown to create this world exclusive in Bury Park. Revoluton Arts

invited Applied Stories to partner with us as part of our Bury Park residency, and use Luton as a test

bed for this exciting new format. We can’t wait to see what they uncover.”

For more information:

Fin Kennedy, producer: 07779 022924 / fin@appliedstories.co.uk