Please help us deliver our “Voices Raised” Project, where we are looking to amplify the less heard voices. Those Parkinson’s affected voices that struggle to be heard amongst others. Through different modes of expression these stories will be shared. We are creating material that will form a theatre show and accompanying book.

My name is Janet Shipton and I co-founded a theatre group called Parky Players with friends during lockdown to raise awareness of Parkinson's.

We created an award-winning online panto and then developed it into a UK tour culminating in 3 performances at Edinburgh Fringe 2022.

Since then we’ve won the 2023 World Parkinson’s Congress song competition and performed (the song we wrote) in Barcelona in front of 2000 people.

Our 2024 comedy sketch show Shaken Not Stirred was written and performed by Parky Players and featured villains and heroes working for and against 007 in his quest to find a cure for Parkinson’s.

Witty, thought provoking and often silly, this show changes perceptions, raises awareness of what it is to have Parkinson’s, and what is still achievable after diagnosis.

Award winning documentary maker Dave MacFarlane followed and filmed their activities during 2024, including rehearsals, and performances in Nottingham, Birmingham and their six- day run at The Edinburgh Fringe.

“Been There, Done That, Got The Symptoms” tells the inspiring story through the screening of Dave's short documentary film, supported by a spoken word introduction and a Q&A with myself and members of the cast.

Our work of raising awareness and changing attitudes about Parkinson's relies totally on ticket sales, fundraising and donations.