Oscar-winner to shoot monkey dust movie in city

Oscar-winning actor and producer Rachel Shenton is on a mission to change the perception of Stoke-on-Trent with her new feature film.

Shenton has written and will star in movie Dust, which focuses on the problem of the use of drug monkey dust in Stoke-on-Trent.

One of her major aims with the film, which starts production next week, is to challenge the negative perceptions of the city. It will also focus on former football star Lou Macari's journey to set up homeless charity, the Macari Foundation.

"I get so annoyed when I see it sort of unfairly maligned and it gets headlined as, it's the monkey dust capital," Shenton, from Caverswall in Staffordshire, told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Although that may be true, and monkey dust is absolutely something that features in our story, that isn't the full story. And I think that's really important."

In 2023, Rishi Sunak's government said monkey dust was "reported to be responsible for acts of violence and arson – particularly in Stoke-on-Trent".

A task force was set up earlier this year in a bid to tackle the use of the drug in the city.

Shenton hopes the synthetic drug will be reclassified as Class A, something recovering addicts have also called for.

"I'm a storyteller, I'm not a politician," she said. "But I would love people to look at monkey dust and go, I don't really think that this should be a class B drug."

The film also follows former Stoke City manager and Scotland player Macari, who set up the Macari Foundation in 2016 after recognising the scale of homelessness in the city.

Shenton has already produced a documentary on him, but with a fictional film, she says they are not governed by such strict parameters.

"We can lean into the kind of community and comedy and fun that is absolutely alive and well at the Macari Centre, as well as the dark side, which I think is really important, and I also think that that's a really realistic view of Stoke," she said.

"[Stoke] also has more humility, community, care, love than any other city I've visited and that's alive and well as well. So I guess to challenge the narrative around Stoke is important to me."

Shenton hopes the film will raise awareness and change people's perceptions around homeless people.

She said: "From working six years on the dock and working so closely with Lou [Macari], you really see that the homeless community.

"They're no different than you and I. And it actually makes you realise that everyone is only ever sort of two or three decisions or situations away from being in that position. I think that's something that we can't forget."

The actress and producer is also appealing for people from Stoke-on-Trent to get involved with the film.

"Come and have a day on set. We'd love to have you," she said.

"This film has been funded entirely by Stoke. This is a story for Stoke and it's involving almost all of the cast and crew are from Stoke, which is no mean feat in a film.

"So we're so proud as well as hopefully what this film will do, but also how we've done it."

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