A WOMAN has chained herself in the debtor’s jail at York’s Castle Museum in protest at poverty and austerity in the city.

But the stunt wasn’t quite for real – it was staged as part of a new drama which has just been filmed in York, starring former Dinnerladies and Coronation Street actor Andrew Dunn.

The film is a venture by Risky Things Theatre Company, which was set up by Cathy Denford in 1997 as an improvising troupe to highlight issues affecting disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

Cathy, director and writer of the new film, which she hopes will be broadcast later on Channel 4, said it focused on a fictional couple coping with homelessness and austerity in the city.

She said it asked questions about changes in benefits and changing attitudes towards people on benefits, and looked at the circumstances behind people getting into debt.

It also examined the way homelessness could be experienced by people of all parts of society, with the lead female character – played by Dunn’s partner Andrina Carroll – being a former teacher now living an alternative lifestyle in a tent by the riverside.

She said scenes at the museum were filmed outside visiting hours with the permission of York Museums Trust.

Other scenes were filmed by the Ouse near the Millennium Bridge and further along the riverside, and also at the Central Library and outside the railway station, and in various city centre streets.

She said filming took place over a fortnight and had now finished, and the editing process would now begin.

Cathy, who has directed productions at York Theatre Royal and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and teaches drama across the region, has already worked in television, making documentaries with community groups for Channel 4.