The New Vic’s Education team will present an immersive performance designed to bring history to life this February half term as they take Stoke The Fiery Dragon on tour to Staffordshire libraries. 

Following a successful tour to schools and in the community as part of SOT100 anniversary celebrations that took place throughout 2025, Stoke The Fiery Dragon returns to Hanley Library, Bentilee Library and Meir Library from Friday 20 to Saturday 21 February to encourage audiences to engage with Stoke-on-Trent’s industrial heritage and give prominence to local voices and local stories. Aimed at young children and their families, the performance offers a whistlestop journey through some amazing events that the city of Stoke-on-Trent has witnessed over the last century.

Written by Education Practitioner Julia Gay and directed by Naomi Felton, Stoke The Fiery Dragon explores significant stories and historical events that Stoke-on-Trent has witnessed over the last 100 years through the eyes of two playful characters: potters ‘Clay’ and ‘Mold’ played by Naomi Johnson and Elizabeth Daily-Hunt, who are on a mission to bring back their beloved pet dragon’s puff. References to famous stories and people are included throughout, including King George V and Queen Mary’s visit to confer the Royal Charter, elevating the Borough to the status of a city in 1925, and Ann Margaret Savous Shirley – born in Stoke-on-Trent and best known for being a historian of the Polar Exploration in both the Arctic and Antarctic in 1960.

Designed to engage younger children and their families, this immersive and educational piece of theatre recognises the significance of Stoke-on-Trent’s industrious past whilst encouraging new visitors to the area to learn about the city’s famous pottery trade.

The project has been supported by Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s City of Imagination funding, funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Stoke The Fiery Dragon is free to attend with no booking required. For more information email gharrison@newvictheatre.org.uk or contact your local library.