We live in an age where apathy is slowly taking over our country, leaving us with an electorate increasingly disengaged with the democratic process. A world where people are more willing to vote for their favourite reality TV contestant than those who decide how much tax they pay.

Yet we are facing one of the most uncertain general elections in forty years – Now, more than ever, people must recognise the importance of their votes. We hope to encourage engagement with the political process by making it a bit more interesting…With the help of a great man.

Charles Roe was a prominent industrialist, credited with bringing the silk industry to Macclesfield, whose name adorns buildings and streets around town as a result of his outsized impact on Macclesfield. He celebrates his 300th birthday on 7 May 2015, the very same day that Britons will be heading to the polls. As a man who invested a great deal in Macclesfield, we felt he would have a considerable interest in the policies and positions of those standing to represent the town in Parliament. For that reason, we’ve brought him back from the dead to question Macclesfield’s parliamentary candidates on several key local issues.

Portrayed by local thespian David Wilkinson, Mr. Roe will provide a unique historical perspective, showing audiences that the concerns of his time were not so different from the issues that we consider crucial today.

We welcome all interested voters to join us in St. Michaels Church from 12.30pm on Sunday 26 April to hear what their candidates stand for, as well as get the chance to ask them questions yourself. If you know friends, colleagues or even family members who complain that they nothing about the candidates, make sure you bring them along!

We have created a list of questions covering a range of issues of interest to local residents. Each question will be put to all candidates in turn, and they will each be given an equal amount of time to respond before we move on to the next question. To ensure we cover the most ground in the available time, we will not be inviting candidates to debate one another or audience members on any of their answers, but many will be available after the event in the churchyard should you wish to question them further on any responses.

The final third of the event will consist of Mr. Roe posing questions from the general public. These will be questions that you can either submit in advance (by e-mailing judeATentropyevents.com, replacing ‘AT’ with ‘@’) or submit during the event on cards that will be left on seats for that purpose. Once again, each question will be put to all candidates in turn. We will get through as many as we can in the available time.

HOW CAN I SUBMIT A QUESTION?

Simple - Just e-mail it across to judeATentropyevents.com [replace 'AT' with '@' - Sorry, we're trying to avoid online spam!].

CAN I ASK A QUESTION TO A SPECIFIC CANDIDATE?

Unfortunately not. Any questions submitted must be questions that can be posed to all candidates, and we intend to avoid using any submitted questions that deliberately pander to or attack specific candidates.

DOESN'T ADDING A THEATRICAL ELEMENT DEMEAN POLITICS?

There are some who might argue that politics is inherently theatrical, but we certainly don't believe using a recreation of a historical figure to moderate our event makes light of either the candidates or the election. The simple fact is that key issues from Georgian times remain largely relevant today, which we feel reinforces the importance of people making an informed choice in this election. Plus we hope that our twist will encourage engagement from some groups who might otherwise shy away from political events.

WHICH CANDIDATES ARE ATTENDING?

All five candidates standing for the seat are attending. They are the incumbent, David Rutley, for the Conservatives, Tim Roca for Labour, Neil Christian for the Liberal Democrats, Joan Plimmer for the Green Party and Adrian Howard for UKIP..

WHAT ABOUT CANDIDATES FOR OTHER SEATS, SUCH AS TOWN COUNCIL ELECTIONS?

Candidates standing in a range of local elections have been invited to the Treacle Market on Sunday 26 April, where they will be able to meet voters in St. Michael's Churchyard between 10–3pm. Feel free to come and question them in person both before and after our hustings event..

I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WATCH THE WHOLE EVENT - CAN I DIP IN AND OUT?

You are welcome to come for as much or as little or the event as you wish, so long as you minimise any disturbance entering or exiting..

WILL CHARLES ROE'S POLITICS COME INTO PLAY?

Naturally, Charles Roe had views on a variety of subjects, some of which were better known or documented than others. In this case, the importance of political neutrality trumps historical verisimilitude, so we are making an effort to avoid subjects that would specifically seem to align him to any specific modern party. For all intents and purposes, he will be entirely neutrals, as befits the moderator of a hustings.

WHEN DID ENTROPY START ORGANISING POLITICAL EVENTS?!

Entropy organises a wide range of events and will continue to diversify. Attendees at many of our spoken-word events are often outspoken in their political views, whether that takes the form of poetry or debate (sometimes both) and this has demonstrated that there is a real enthusiasm for the democratic process. We want to give as many people as possible a chance to get a sense of where their candidates stand on key local issues, and as a regular date in many people's calendars, the Treacle Market seemed like the best place to offer that chance.

ARE YOU DEFINITELY GOING TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT (ISSUE X)??

We will only have time for a few questions, so we have picked issues that seem to be high on the agenda of many local residents. Naturally, we can't cover all every topic, and so many issues that are important to certain voters may not get broached during our hustings. However, rest assured that there are several other hustings events during which you may get your chance to ask the candidates anything we don't cover.

IS THIS GOING TO BE A BORING HISTORY LESSON?

Not at all. Charles Roe will be making mention of aspects of his own life and times as they pertain to current issues, but this won't be a history lecture.