Bella in the Wychelm

Written and directed by Dave Morris

Presented in Stourbridge Town Hall 

Click here for pictures from the production (by Lew Payne)

The macabre unsolved story “Bella in the Wychelm” is the subject of a powerful new drama  premiered by Stourbridge Theatre Company. The play is written and directed by David Morris

The true story of the skeleton, found by four boys playing in Hagley Wood, during the dark days of the war in April 1943 has long been an intriguing local mystery. Now David Morris, who has extensively researched the facts and background to the story, has written an intriguing and powerful play that accurately portrays life in the  Stourbridge and Hagley area in the dark days of the war leading up to the frightening discovery of the body, on a cold April evening. Neither the real identity of Bella nor what she was doing in the area has ever been established, despite extensive police enquires. ( the skeleton was named Bella by the local constabulary) One enduring theory is that she was a Gestapo agent, on some nefarious mission, spying for the third Reich .

David’s gripping play speculatively  explores Bella being parachuted into Hagley wood and the life she leads trying to blend into the local Stourbridge community while spying for the enemy.