Shôn Dale-Jones tours his Fringe First Award Winning show The Duke to Colchester for the first time. The Duke, alongside Me & Robin Hood, a show about inequality, privilege and poverty has raised over £100,000 for charities supporting children refugees and street-connected children and it’s set to continue this support when it appears at Colchester Arts Centre next month.
Dale-Jones has created theatre for over twenty years that really connects with his audiences, making people laugh and cry whilst challenging their sense of reality. The Duke was originally made by Shôn in 2016 in response to the refugee crisis that exploded following ‘The Syrian Conflict’. The Duke was re-written and revived last year in response to the ever-evolving and worsening refugee crisis following more conflicts and disasters around the world.
Through his one-man show, the multi-award winning writer/performer explores kindness, generosity and the value of what we do. The Duke weaves together the tragi-comic fate of a family heirloom – a porcelain figure of The Duke of Wellington, the quandary of a scriptwriter stretching his integrity and an unfolding disaster as thousands of children flee their homes. Shôn blends theatre, comedy and storytelling with fantasy and reality to gently challenge our priorities in a world full of crisis.
“Every show I make is made for a particular reason. I made The Duke in 2016 because I wanted to find a way of doing something practical about ‘the refugee crisis’. I couldn’t watch more images of the terrifying reality that these people are suffering without contributing towards the relief effort. I’m not a doctor or an engineer – I’m a writer/performer, and so I decided I could write a show which connects us to the crisis and raise money to support Save The Children’s refugee and crisis work. Now, in 2025, I’ve returned to The Duke because ‘the refugee crisis’ has become more extreme and heavily politicised. It feels more important than ever to remind each other that we are talking about people. People like us. It might be complicated to find solutions to the crisis but it’s straightforward to practice empathy for innocent people whose lives are being torn apart.“ Said Shôn Dale Jones, writer and performer of The Duke.
The Duke has been performed at venues across the world from Africa to Australia and at a host of London theatres, including the Royal Court, the Barbican and Soho Theatre. In addition to its Fringe First Award it was highly commended in the Sit Up and Act Awards, nominated for a Prix Europa Award in the ‘Best European Radio Fiction’ category, and it has received 20+ 5 and 4 star reviews as well as being made into a radio play in 2018 for BBC Radio 4. The revised show is touring to venues throughout England and Wales this spring and is asking audiences to continue to make a difference to the lives of refugees by inviting them to donate to charity after seeing the show.
Shôn added: “We feel passionately about what the show is aiming to achieve – to make audiences wonder about the value of art at a time when the world is in turmoil and to reach out and empathise with the refugee crisis. We want to increase our empathy for people whose lives have been torn apart and forced them to seek refuge and sanctuary away from home. The show is a vehicle for raising money and awareness – it’s a conduit to an urgent and immediate need and we hope our audiences join us in empathising and raising money to support this cause.“
You can catch Shôn Dale-Jones performing at Colchester Arts Centre as part of their ‘Wonderful Wednesdays’ sessions on Wednesday 02 April 2025 where he will continue to raise money for Save the Children’s Emergency Fund. Performances start at 8pm, tickets are ‘Pay what you can’ and are available online at: www.colchesterartscentre.com or by calling 01206 500 900.
