The Guardian **** 4-stars
('Fireflies' @ The Lowry 2009)

“Fegan’s drama, commissioned by The Lowry, is an inner-city romance between two lost souls longing for a second chance in life... Noreen Kershaw’s production skilfully integrates the digital elements, created by Manchester production company Lion Eyes TV, into a seamless montage of live and filmed action. But it’s the core components of good writing and fine acting that determine the show’s success…It’s raw, uncompromising stuff, but ultimately Fireflies leaves you with a warm glow.”

The Independent
('Strange Attractors' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

“Fegan runs ever faster to keep his work at the leading edge of contemporary life”

Manchester Evening News
('Fireflies' @ The Lowry 2009)

“A love story for the 21st century…Kevin Fegan’s script is poetic, comic and rich in frank language – this is real people talking. Skilfully directed by Noreen Kershaw, there’s a clever mixture of film and computer graphics to reinforce the gritty background of this northern drama. I sympathised, I empathised and I laughed out loud.”

Whatsonstage.com
('Fireflies' @ The Lowry 2009)

“New and exciting theatre is well and truly alive in Manchester! For the proof look no further than The Lowry’s world premiere production of Kevin Fegan’s multimedia play Fireflies. The love story is timeless and could easily be reset in any town or city without compromising the integrity of the writing. Fireflies is a triumphant partnership of mediums seamlessly bringing together film and live performance. The action is beautifully paced by Director Noreen Kershaw who clearly believes in Fegan’s excellent and intelligent script. A top quality production of an excellent new play that surely deserves a life beyond this world premiere.”

Plays International
('Seven-Tenths' for Walk the Plank Theatre Ship)

“Kevin Fegan once again confirms himself as Britain’s most innovative Playwright”

The Observer
('Strange Attractors' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

"The ethical consequences of virtual reality, in personal and political fields, will be immense. Fegan, a really promising writer, is the first to bring them into the theatre”

The New Statesman
('McAlpine’s Fusilier' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

“It is a brilliant conceit to insert a living myth into contemporary Irish history. It is above all a bold ambition to put the play into verse, challenging a number of famous Irish ancestors.”

The Daily Telegraph
('Excess XS' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

“Black comedy of a kind in which Fegan excels”

The Irish Post
('McAlpine’s Fusilier' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

“A significant contribution to the emergence of Irish writing in Britain. Kevin Fegan is a name we will hear much more of in the future”

City Life Manchester
('Matey Boy', El Inocente Productions for national tour)

“Those lucky enough to catch Fegan’s skilful delivery on the fringe circuit recently can bear witness to its effectiveness on the stage as well as the page”

The Sunday Times

“Could not be more timely. Fegan’s idea of a privatised prison that turns out to be owned by two if its long-term inmates is ingenious. So is the use of a prison drama group as a metaphor for the role of the arts in society”

The Financial Times

“A savage Swiftian swipe at the new morality, mischevious Shavian paradox”

The Guardian
('Private Times' for The Library Theatre Manchester)

“It’s a lively, funny, serious piece with an emotional poetry of its own”

The Observer
('Excess XS' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

“Memorable play about the drug Ecstasy and the Manchester rave scene”

The Independent
('Excess XS' for Contact Theatre Manchester)

“Miles better than Rock Around the Clock”

The Guardian
('Lord Dynamite' co-written w/ John Fox Welfare State International 1991)

“A superbly engineered grand-scale piece of special effects theatre which expands the imagination, informs and entertains and lifts the spirit”

The Independent
('Lord Dynamite' co-written w/ John Fox Welfare State International 1991)

“Highly enjoyable piece, the nearest a British audience is likely to get to a homegrown carnival”

Plays International
('The Clayman' El Inocente Productions, Manchester City of Drama 1994)

“An electrifying piece of contemporary theatre. This is the Iron Man for the 90’s”

Manchester Evening News
('Rule 43' for Cracked Actors’ national tours, including British prisons)

“This gripping play is comic and dramatic, intense and real, the play deserves a full house”

Plays International

“The most accurate comment on society today to be seen anywhere in the country”

The Guardian
('Matey Boy', El Inocente Productions for national tour)

“An epic poem, written and performed by Kevin Fegan, who “won’t apologise for poetry” and on this showing has no need - his verse is as tough, topical and streetwise as any disco rap”

Plays International
('Totally Wired', a BIG Theatre production)

“The definitive theatrical experience for the internet generation. An incomparable web of intense emotion, lyrical beauty and gobsmacking imagery”

Manchester Evening News
('52 Degrees South' – a Big Theatre production at the Imperial War Museum North)

“A bold, powerful and very moving piece of work that re-examines the Falklands War from the point of view of the ordinary men who took part. Co-written and co-directed by Andy Farrell and Kevin Fegan, 52 Degrees South uses video projection and testimonies by veterans alongside narrative and poetry inside a magnificent exhibition hall.”

City Life Manchester
('52 Degrees South' – a Big Theatre production at the Imperial War Museum North)

“Lyrical and hard-hitting drama, a powerful mix of video and verse,, the video interviews are full-on, a white-knuckle ride"

Manchester Evening News
('Love on the Dole' – The Lowry)

“Freely adapted by writer and lyricist Kevin Fegan, it is touching, funny and full of authentic spirit. A genuine achievement, it all works wonderfully well.”

The Stage And Television Today
('Rule 43' for Cracked Actors’ national tours, including British prisons)

“Devastating theatre that demands superlatives, I can’t praise it enough”

City Life Magazine, Manchester
('Love on the Dole' – The Lowry)

“Fegan is still probably Britain’s most underrated playwright. This is a significant adaptation commissioned especially for The Lowry.”

The Guardian
('White Trash' – devised show with Quarantine Theatre at Contact Manchester)

“A company that specialises in weaving fictions from the real stuff and stories of people’s lives. Everywhere Quarantine delves, it uncovers the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary and banal. 90 minutes of non-stop energy, offering up these young men exactly as they are. The show manages to be both celebratory and quite extraordinarily moving. The entire evening has a matter-of-fact lyricism about it. You come away with a sense of the fabric and rich emotional texture of their lives that defies all traditional stereotypes of the laddish, emotionally disconnected young man.”

UBU, European Theatre Magazine

“The most unpredictable and innovative voice in British theatre. Fegan has constructed a theatrical framework around the Ecstasy generation.”

The Guardian

“Fegan is a poet and playwright with a capacity for sympathetic identification and a taste for tough, complex issues.”

Manchester Evening News
('Totally Wired' – a Big Theatre production at Contact Manchester)

“Fegan has never been interested in comfortable theatre – audiences either love him or hate him”

The Guardian
('Totally Wired' – a Big Theatre production at Contact Manchester)

“Manchester-based playwright Kevin Fegan has become a cult writer since his drugs-and-dance play, Excess XS. Totally wired deals with the aftermath of the drug and dance phenomenon.”

The Mansfield Chad
('A Site For Sore Eyes' Mansfield Palace Theatre, 2006)

“Kevin Fegan is the first ever playwright to be commissioned by Mansfield Palace Theatre. The play is based on his home street and characters within his community, a dramatic interpretation of the lives of local residents affected by the derelict Mansfield General Hospital. The script cleverly uses narrative breaks for stories by spirits of the former hospital, mixing horrific and humorous anecdotes to bring the old building to life. The script manages to capture the perfect balance between drama and humour, allowing the audience to relate to the characters and feel their pain, while also providing classic comic relief throughout.”

Manchester Evening News
(Oh W.O.T. A Lovely War, The Lowry, 2006)

“Inspired by, but very different to, Joan Littlewood’s 1963 anti-war classic, Oh What A Lovely War, the latest community production at The Lowry looks at the theme of war generally, and especially the so-called War On Terror. What gives this impressive production its heart and soul is the fact that the stories it tells – each of them powerfully illustrating the impact war has on people’s lives – are all true and drawn from the lives of the participants.  From a heart-rending story of a suicide after the First World War to the heartache of a 19 year old whose similarly-aged boyfriend is being shipped off to Iraq, the stories show that none of us escapes the impact of war. Interspersed with these brave, often moving, sometimes funny and inspiring stories are songs, including not only the original production’s Oh What A Lovely War but also folk songs from around the world. Directed by Andy Farrell and written by Kevin Fegan, this is a wonderfully ambitious and life-affirming, whilst instructive and thought-provoking production.”

City Life
(The Ghosts of Crime Lake, Oldham Coliseum Theatre, 2005)

“Crime Lake sounds like a fictional American Summer camp – the sort featured in slasher films like Friday 13th. In fact, it lies somewhere between Oldham and Ashton, and has provided inspiration for the latest community play by one of the North West’s most prolific writers, Kevin Fegan. Over 100 young people have worked with Kevin to help shape the piece into an hilarious, surreal and spooky tale.”

Manchester Evening News
(The Ghosts of Crime Lake, Oldham Coliseum Theatre, 2005)

“Contemporary themes, neat rap and lots of fun, a real achievement, something special”

Professional Personal Feedback

Comments on White Trash

"I drove 100 miles to see it. I was glad that I had. It was one of the best pieces of work I've seen in years. I am a director and work with young people. We devise with them. What particularly impressed me was the non narrative structure and the brave decisions to use elements of high art alongside the popular culture elements. I was so moved by the production. It reminded me of every lads club I've ever been into and of many of the kids I grew up with in Glossop."

- Rachel Ashton, Ashton Group Contemporary Theatre

"The piece, directed by Richard Gregory with writing assistance from Kevin Fegan, was an inspired showcase about the lives and relationships of seven young white men from Manchester. Given their starting point of only five weeks of workshopping with inexperienced performers, “White Trash” which could easily have been an example of lowest common denominator, worthy, but dull community art.

In fact, it was one of the best (and most necessary) pieces of any close theatre poetry I have seen for a while. It was a privilege indeed to witness such risk taking and delicate action incorporating dance, words, music and storytelling, which was insightful, sensitive and truthful to an age group which is so often misunderstood or vilified.

The presentation was in the round, in a square arena, where the audience were very close to the performance. On our visit, there was a fierce wind noisily tugging at the ventilation shafts of the roof-space and without the evident training, discipline and integrity of the actors the performance could easily have fallen apart. It didn’t and the audience were held spellbound and appreciative at this team of young men who had clearly experienced a genuine rite of passage in the guise of theatre.

A great credit to all concerned; the actors, the choreographer, the writer and the director. Also the management of Contact Theatre and Arts Council England North West who were helping with the funding.

I do hope that there will be more work of this calibre. I look forward to seeing more from 'Quarantine'."

- John Fox, Welfare State International (excerpt from Letter to Michael Eakin, Arts Council North West)

"White Trash was absolutely brilliant - the perfect synthesis of theatre and life. It touched true greatness in its ability to lift the young men's lives from the doldrums of their daily existence and demonstrated the beauty, elegance, compassion and frailty that lies beneath the posturing and bravado of men among men.

Richard Gregory is, in my opinion a leading light in contemporary theatre -possibly one of the UK's few truly modern European theatre makers working in Britain today. His understanding of the medium and his ability to create epic monuments from the tiny moments that make up the inter-linked fragments of peoples existence leaves me moved, humbled and most importantly - conceptually - in a different place from where I began. There's little more you can ask of a piece of art....Excellent!"

- Steve Slater, Tramway, Glasgow

"It was great to see a piece that blurs the lines of what professional and non professional work is. As far as I’m concerned professional is the standard of work, not who is performing it and White Trash is a excellent example of this, being one of the most exciting pieces of theatres I’ve seen in a long time…..Quarantine have set a standard that a young company like mine are aspiring to attain in the work that it produces."

- Darren Pritchard, Company Fierce

"I thought White Trash was an excellent production. It was one of the best I’ve seen in ages. I thought it was moving, sensitively done and funny. I had expected something hard and brutal but it was softer and emotionally coherent. It really made me question a lot of my assumptions about British culture."

- Debra King, FKUK

"Having worked with one of the cast, Dean Hughes I came to watch the performance as support for him. When I saw the confidence which he has gained through working on the performance of 'White Trash' I was amazed, to see him dancing on a pool table and his agility within the performance in general. I though the piece was very good and refreshing to see so many working class males on stage together telling their stories and most importantly really enjoying themselves."

- Jackie Carroll, Reel Films, Manchester

- Tom Rummens, Victoria, Gent

"This show left a marked and lasting effect on me for a number of reasons, primarily due to the sense of ownership I felt from the performers. Although the idea was conceived by Quarantine’s Richard Gregory, the methods he used meant that this show really did belong to the performers – 7 young white men, drawn from working class districts in Manchester, with barely any performing experience to call upon between them. I wish I could have been a fly-on-the-wall during the rehearsal process, to see just how Richard worked with the crew to achieve this sense of total ownership.

Richard Gregory didn’t take the idea, and mould the lads’ stories into a format of his choosing. The lads said it like it is. Each young man had their own story to tell, and were allowed the freedom to tell it in their own words and style. This was anti-theatre at its best. Who would imagine that a group of teenage boys hanging around a pool table, chatting among themselves, with audiences eaves-dropping on conversations that often couldn’t be heard among the clatter of the balls, would amount to such gripping theatre.

Punctuated with stunning physicality and movement, my admiration also went to choreographer. So often I have seen half-hearted attempts at incorporating physicality into theatre, with participants stretching themselves after doing a 2-day workshop, that to watch them was almost painful, Not so in this instance. The lads appeared completely confident with the movements they made – encapsulating their energy, youth, danger and teenage friction perfectly – an amazing feat after only a few weeks working with the choreographer.

Watching this simple, beautifully executed piece of theatre, that had no narrative structure and no story-line, left me feeling a mass of different emotions. At times I felt a deep sense of personal loss of my own youth, whilst at the same time relishing the fact that it had passed. White Trash took me on my own journey, from laughter to sadness, with such a gentle flow that I was bewitched by them all. Any preconceptions I would have had, coming across the same bunch of lads in the street – preconceptions of fear, alienation, lack of understanding – were blown away. By the end of the show, not only did I feel a personal connection with each and every one of the performers, I felt my eyes had been opened in a very real way to the complexities of being a teenage boy in the modern city. Now, when I see ‘gangs of youths’ on street corners, I view them with affection and, I hope, a greater general understanding.

Speaking to the performers during their production run, they couldn’t understand why the show had received such acclaim and dramatic response from its audiences. That, too, is part of the beauty and poignancy of the piece. How could they see their story through our eyes?

White Trash goes beyond Community Theatre, and reveals real worlds to us in the gentlest, and most life-changing way; delivered with greater professionalism than many ‘professional’ companies can dream of. The world would be a better place if more people saw this show, but all beauty is fleeting… and let’s face it, these boys have got lives to live – hopefully taking the inspiration of their involvement with White Trash along with them."

- Liz O’Neill, Performing Network Development Agency

"I understand that, in these days of meticulous forward planning, to secure funding for projects is difficult and so often unrewarding. I believe this approach to create work has resulted so often in what I call ‘theatre by numbers’. I mourn the passing of spontaneity, the idea that you could do something in weeks rather than years. Ideas are so often banded about, you hear of them in their infancy, so by the time they come to fruition you know almost all there is to know about them. I have become bored with theatre – the artform I used to so love and respect.

Bored that is, until White Trash - a piece of work so charged with creativity, passion and originality that it literally blew me away and helped restore my faith in an artform I felt had become tired and redundant. This piece kept making me ask why?

Why are the incoherent mumblings of a group of scally lads so compelling?

Why are these untrained players who are unaware of the rules of theatre, so immensely watchable?

Why is this disjointed deconstructed piece of theatre the most complete piece of theatre I’ve seen in years?

And why haven’t I been challenged in this way for such a long time?

I can’t answer these questions because there are no answers, because I feel White Trash was about asking “why?”

This show was a life affirming, enriching experience, not just for its creators, but also for its audience, allowing us to see the enormity in the so-called mundane. There aren’t enough superlatives in the English language to describe its impact and importance for this audience member. I believe White Trash to be a landmark in British Theatre and something Quarantine should be so rightly proud of."

- Gerry Potter aka Chloe Poems

"White Trash was one of the highlights of Contact's programme in the time since re-opening, superbly embodying the organisation's ethos that young people can work with leading artists to create extraordinary theatre that speaks to a wide audience.

The project not only involved the creation of a beautiful piece of work but also emphasised the importance of real investment in young people's performance in terms of the quality of the artistic vision, the time spent on the project and the production values.

The decision to pay the young men involved an 'apprentice level' wage throughout the substantial rehearsal period, and to work with them on a full actor's working day as opposed to a more usual youth theatre schedule undoubtedly impacted not only on the quality of the work, but also on the involvement of young men who might not have stuck with the project initiative without this incentive. Ultimately the rewards for everyone were far more than financial, but it will be important to evaluate the positive impacts of this financial incentive for future work.

Finally and crucially, the artistic vision of Richard and his collaborators in the piece - and the way in which this vision was shared with and developed with the participants without any sense of compromise was outstanding.

As for the future - I've learned a lot from this project about the kind of work I would like to see and do here.

I have no doubt that Contact as an environment was uniquely suited to this piece of work. Equally, Quarantine brought huge expertise and art to Contact with this project. It is one of my priorities to ensure that our ongoing relationship thrives and develops."

- John McGrath, Artistic Director, Contact Theatre