A PUNCHY and poetic exploration of family, race, identity and love, David Judge’s semi-autobiographical play SparkPlug plays Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the Arts next weekend.

Inspired by real events, SparkPlug is the story of a white man who becomes the adoptive father and best friend of a mixed race child called David.

In a lyrical and energetic Manchester monologue dual-heritage writer David Judge examines what family means today, while exploring racism, violence and masculinity.

He says: “As a ‘man of colour’ my voice as a writer has become a valued weapon, loaded and aimed at those without.

“As a ‘man of colour’ I sometimes feel pressured to speak for a community I know nothing of and feel I am being recruited to hate those without, the ‘white man’.

“This fight both inside and outside of myself makes me question where my loyalties lie. Who am I loyal to?

“And who to me? The answers are straight forward; my biological father, my ‘black’ left me before I was born; my biological mother, my ‘blood’ left me when I was seven years old; the only person who stuck by me, from boy to man, who grew and shaped me into the man I am today was a white man.”

SparkPlug was a finalist for the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play 2017. It is produced by Box of Tricks, a Manchester-based theatre company that champions the next generation of playwrights, producing top quality new plays on local and national stages.

n SparkPlug is in the The Sherling Studio on Saturday March 30 at 8pm. Tickets: £14. To book, call 01202 280000.