News
28-Mar-2013 - Perform with EA at Flag Fen
Eastern Angles are looking for performers from the community to take part in an exciting theatre project.
PERFORM IN EASTERN ANGLES' NEW PLAY AT FLAG FEN!
Eastern Angles are looking for performers from the community who want to take part in an exciting theatre project - Dark Earth
You will...
Rehearse with professional director, Naomi Jones
Perform at the atmospheric Flag Fen site in a specially adapted auditorium over 10 days in September 2013
Help create an ensemble that will form the basis of a massive community play in 2014
Dark Earth by Forbes Bramble, explores the drainage of the Fens against a remarkable archaeological discovery that sets engineer against eel trapper, priest against churchgoer, and landlords against tenants. It is also a tale of love and growing up. It requires a cast of about 20, with good parts across the play for men and women of all ages.
The rehearsal/performance schedule is as follows:
July 1st onwards: Rehearsal period (probably 3 consecutive nights per week)
Sept 12th, 13th, 14th & 15th: Performances at Flag Fen
Sept 19th, 20th, 21st & 22nd: Performances at Flag Fen
Details of audition dates coming soon!
Naomi Jones has directed many shows for Eastern Angles, including Return to Akenfield, Lincoln Road, The Long Way Home and most recently Private Resistance. Formerly with Out of Joint, for whom she directed Flight Path, she has also worked extensively for Oxford School of Drama and seen her productions performed at Hampstead Theatre Studio, Clerkenwell Theatre and Southwark Playhouse.
Forbes Bramble's plays were performed at The Royal Court in the 1960s before he gave up the theatre to become an architect. His base in Suffolk led him to Eastern Angles for his return to the theatre.
If you are interested in taking part email us now! platformpeterborough@yahoo.co.uk or ring us on 01473 218202
18-Jan-2013 - The show must go on!
All performances of 'Dial M for Murgatroyd' will be going ahead as planned. If you have been unable to attend due to the weather please call our box office on 01473 211 498 between 10am & 2pm, Monday-Friday.
09-Jan-2013 - Dial M for Murgatroyd receives four stars from THE TIMES
Reviewed by Libby Purves
The village of Great Clumping is in uproar. Lady Fitzall, frustrated squire’s wife and object of desire for Mr Prickett the butcher, is warring with her husband over the fruit and produce show. Their white-hunter daughter is back from the Congo with a captive gorilla, and refuses to marry Sir Gerald Bartrum the rubber tycoon — “Business is stretched, but we bounce back”. Their son Fenton (yes, that joke too) is worryingly effete, and something sinister is brewing in a secret laboratory. Mad Meg the witch is stirring a cauldron of puppet frogs and two butlers, Barking and Braintree, meet mysterious deaths.
We are in a spoof 1950s mystery, signalled on our entrance by the Music While You Work theme. Miss Murgatroyd must outdo the blundering Inspector Jessop. Billed as an “alternative to the traditional Christmas panto”, this new satire with music was written by Julian Harries and Pat Whymark, whose Dick Turpin I so loved. The playwrights have created a blissful cross between a Round the Horne parody of The Mousetrap and a proper old-fashioned revue. As well as playing piano, drums, fiddle, spoons and accordion the five actors play 20 characters, handling between two and seven each. As we get familiar with the doubling this involves some fine in-jokes, panicky wig-changing and noises off (a manly butcher dashes onstage with Miss M’s huge bust still beneath his apron). Harries and Whymark also have a nice way with props, bringing on enough to indicate a bicycle, car, aircraft and a set of cellar steps, created with a sloping banister and some painful knee-bends.
The tight writing and sheer discipline shine. The jokes are nicely Fifties with traditional butts such as a wimp, a Scotsman and Ramirez the ardent Latino sergeant. There is some fine Kenneth Hornery: “Think of the position a man like Sir Gerald will place you in!” pleads the father, to which his daughter replies: “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Boom boom!
They use the audience as scenery, including a forest: “All these gnarled and wizened old stumps — one can almost imagine seeing hideous human faces in them,” etc. Daft physical jokes are chucked in at speed, never milked and some lines have a precious unexpected oddity. The son chucks on a seatbelt in the jalopy, saying, “One day everyone will wear these” and Lady Fitzall shrugs: “Oh, let the boy tie himself to a chair if he wants to.”
As the bunting rises unsteadily to the roof for the Village Show and Guess the Weight of the Vicar, dastardly plots are unveiled. Contentment is general.
19-Dec-2012 - JOB OPPORTUNITY: Education Consultant
40 Years On is seeking a freelance education consultant.
Education Consultant - Forty Years On
Estimated 7 days, to be completed by May 2013
Forty Years On is seeking a freelance education consultant to assist with the development and creation of educational materials for KS2 and KS3 using the records of the Peterborough Development Corporation and the oral history archive of the Forty Years On project.
This would involve:
- Facilitating face-to-face or virtual sessions with local schools and organisations to establish the content and form of materials that the learning resource should include (1.5 days)
- Working with project staff to develop and write activities, schemes of work and produce themed packs of material based on recommendations (4.5 days)
- Evaluating use of material in a teaching environment, through attendance of classes or interviews with teaching staff to suggest future improvements (1 days)
It is envisaged that this study should take no more than 7 days to complete, and that the total fee (including expenses) should not exceed £1600.
Ideally you will have experience of teaching or within an archives/local studies environment and will have devised activities or content suitable for the KS2 or KS3 curriculum.
To apply please email a CV and covering letter to Tina Bramhill, Forty Years On Project Officer at tina.bramhill@vivacity-peterborough.com Deadline: 13th January 2013.
About Forty Years On
Forty Years On is a three year project (2011-2014) run in partnership by Vivacity Peterborough Culture and Leisure and Eastern Angles Theatre Company which explores the development of Peterborough since 1968.
Main project activities include:
- The conservation and cataloguing of over 400 boxes of Peterborough Development Corporation material within Peterborough Local Studies and Archives.
- The building of an oral history archive of over 150 interviews with ex-PDC employees, original residents and people who relocated here from the UK and beyond.
- Production of a documentary play in 2013 focussing on the work of the PDC, featuring oral history and archive research.
The Forty Years On archive consists of audio, video, photographs and thousands of original documents that show the city's development.
For more information about the project please visit our web page:
http://www.vivacity-peterborough.com/libraries-and-archives/forty-years-on/
19-Nov-2012 - Spring Tour 2013 - The Long Life & Great Good Fortune of John Clare
Eastern Angles announce new Spring tour
Touring from March 12th until May 18th 2013
The Long Life and Great Good Fortune of John Clare
By Tony Ramsay
Directed by Ivan Cutting
A striking new play that sheds new light on the life of our best-loved ‘peasant poet'
In September 2012 Eastern Angles premiered a new play by Tony Ramsay, author of The Bluethroat, Message From Neptune, The Anatomist and Bentwater Roads. Commissioned by the John Clare Trust, Ramsay's new work, The Long Life and Great Good Fortune of John Clare, was performed in the atmospheric surroundings of John Clare Cottage, the poet's former home in Helpston, near Peterborough.
The production was such as success that we have decided to take the show on the road. So, now audiences across the East of England will have the chance to see this fascinating new play too!
The Long Life and Great Good Fortune of John Clare will tour to 40 different venues including libraries, village halls, community centres, town halls, theatres and tithe barns.
Amongst other venues the show will visit:
Brightlingsea Community Centre - March 19th
Dedham Assemby Rooms - March 22nd
Sir John Mills Theatre, Ipswich - April 2nd to April 6th
Dragon Hall, Norwich - April 24th
Maldon Town Hall - May 1st
Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham - May 2nd & 3rd
Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft - May 9th
Grange Barn, Coggeshall - May 14th & 15th
Woodbridge Community Centre - May 17th & 18th
Booking for these performances opens on Wednesday December 5th
Priority booking for Friends, Companions & Copperfield Members opens on Wednesday November 28th
This production is sponsored by Ipswich Building Society
For more information about The Long Life and Great Good Fortune of John Clare visit www.easternangles.co.uk or ring 01473 211498
06-Aug-2012 - Ivan's letter published in the Peterbrough Telegraph
Ivan wrote a letter to the Peterbroough Telegraph in response to the opening ceremony of the olympics. Here is a copy of the letter.
Sir,
The success of London’s opening ceremony should speak volumes to Peterborough.
In the face of a growing cynicism about the Games and their purpose, Danny Boyle and his teams of community volunteers and professional creatives have delivered a wonderfully diverse and rich celebration of all that London and Great Britain offers to the world.
Perhaps it’s also time for Peterborough to recognise the signs of a new confidence in itself and a new creativity in the way it presents itself to the rest of the country. This confidence can be seen everywhere: the newly refurbished museum and station, the highlights of the torch relay, the re-invigorated arts and heritage festivals, the success of the Male Voice Choir, and even, yes when the sun allows, the buzz around the fountains.
And there’s more on the horizon.
This week a new play IY Peterborough opens at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – a piece of theatre made in and inspired by the city. Meanwhile our Forty Years On project, in partnership with the city’s Archives, prepares to celebrate the Development Corporation by using it as the theme for a brand new musical theatre production next year. And then in 2014 there’s our own Danny Boyle-style community spectacle and play involving hundreds of volunteers which will highlight the city’s unique story.
In addition, the business world with its SideBySide project is harnessing further resources, the engine sheds are being measured up as future hotspots, and Chauffeur’s Cottage is being turned into a creative engine-room uniting national and local organisations and artists, such as Metal and Blok Collective, to inspire further projects.
I have no party political point to make, but a city council determined to invest in the arts, a confident Vivacity to deliver them, and a belief in heritage and community to underpin them, only needs a population to get behind it all to see Peterborough reclaim its role in the world as a great place to live and visit.
It could be our turn in the spotlight next!
Ivan Cutting
Artistic Director,
Eastern Angles,
St Peter’s Road,
Peterborough
30-Jul-2012 - Media Release
Eastern Angles in association with the Key Theatre Peterborough present I Heart Peterborough by Joel Horwood
Written and directed by Joel Horwood, acclaimed for his work with the Lyric Hammersmith, nabokov and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, I Heart Peterborough is a heartbroken howl about trying to work out who you are when you are stuck in a city in the Fens.
Trapped in their suburban living room with their rituals, chip sticks and rewritten memories Hew (played by Jay Taylor) and Lulu (played by Milo Twomey) are a dysfunctional double-act, born and bred in Peterborough, a sixties New Town best known for its brickworks, train station and Lovefilm.
I Heart Peterborough is a chaotic and darkly comic 70-minute theatre piece.
It will be performed from August 1st - 27th at Pleasance Courtyard 2 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Joel Horwood, wrote Eastern Angles' 2008 Edinburgh hit I Caught Crabs in Walberswick, which went on to receive rave national reviews at the Bush Theatre. Following its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I © Peterborough will tour nationally including a two-week run at London's Soho Theatre.
"Horwood has genuine comic flair"- Evening Standard
"I Caught Crabs in Walberswick is as sharp as a pin...exhilarating dialogue" - The Independent
"Try your hardest to catch this outstanding performance" Edinburgh Festivals Magazine - (I Caught Crabs in Walberswick)
‘Outstanding' Three Weeks (on Eastern Angles' 2007 Edinburgh hit, Truckstop)
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Joel Horwood burst on to the Edinburgh scene in 2005 with the musical Mikey the Pikey which won a Cameron Mackintosh Award. The following year, Food, about a troubled celebrity chef won a Fringe First Award. His bittersweet depiction of East Anglian teenagers, I Caught Crabs At Walberswick (an Eastern Angles/Hightide co-production) was a 2008 hit at the Bush Theatre. Joel's adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo opened at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2010. He is currently under commission to Paines Plough, Northampton Royal and Derngate and Cowboy Films/Channel 4 and co-writes Christmas shows for the Lyric Hammersmith.
Eastern Angles was founded in 1982. Since then the company has achieved national recognition for their East Anglian-inspired new writing and for engaging with audiences in Peterborough working in partnership with Peterborough's Cultural Trust, Vivacity, and the city's Key Theatre.
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard 2, Venue 33
Tickets: £9 - £11.00, Previews £5
Dates: 1 - 27 Aug 2012 (not 7,14, 21)
Box Office: 0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk/edinburgh
Time: 17.35
For more info, images & interviews contact: Karen Goddard, Press Officer, Eastern Angles Theatre Company.
Tel: 01473 218202/07789 933558 E: Karen@easternangles.co.uk
or Sarah Mennell, Marketing Assistant, Eastern Angles Theatre Company Tel: 01473 218202 sarah@easternangles.co.uk
03-Jul-2012 - Eastern Angles 30th Anniversary Gala Event
Eastern Angles Theatre Company celebrate 30th Anniversary in style!
Eastern Angles marked their thirtieth anniversary at the weekend with a Gala performance of their current show at an event sponsored by Barker Gotelee Solicitors.
On Sunday 1st July the company staged a special afternoon showing of their nationally acclaimed production Margaret Catchpole for an audience including former Eastern Angles actors, directors, playwrights, founder members and Barker Gotelee sponsors and guests.
James Skellorn, Partner at Barker Gotelee said: "It is a new development for us to work with Eastern Angles. Margaret Catchpole is a first class show and the energy and attention to detail of their marketing team gives us great confidence. We look forward to working with them in the future".
Members of the public also came along to the fundraising Gala event aimed at boosting the amount of money the company raises through business sponsorship, philanthropic giving and private donations.
The Gala performance took place at the Hush House, a unique theatre space situated on the former Bentwaters airbase at Rendlesham. Eastern Angles have transformed the atmospheric aircraft hangar into a performance area using their impressive stage set, lighting and specially constructed tiered seating.
After the show audience members enjoyed a champagne reception followed by speeches from Eastern Angles' Chair of Trustees Dr Peter Funnell and the theatre company's Artistic Director, Ivan Cutting.
Dr Peter Funnell said: "Today we are celebrating 30 years of success. Looking forward we will build on the successes and the lessons of the past to ensure that the next 30 years are as successful! We will achieve this by producing theatre of quality that is original, contemporary and relevant, that satisfies the diverse demands of our existing audiences and attracts new audiences."
Margaret Catchpole, written by Alastair Cording and directed by Eastern Angles' founder Ivan Cutting, has been described by The Times' chief theatre critic Libby Purves as "Remarkable and moving" and by the Guardian critic Lyn Gardner as a show with "intelligence, openness and big-hearted appeal".
The Margaret Catchpole production will continue to run until Sunday 8th July. Over the weekend the company will be staging performances at 3.30pm & 7.30pm on Saturday & Sunday. Full-price tickets range from £16.50 - £21. For more information ring: 01473 211498 or visit: www.easternangles.co.uk
For more info contact: Karen Goddard, Marketing Officer, Eastern Angles T:01473 218202 E:karen@easternangles.co.uk
03-Jul-2012 - Eastern Angles Charity Auction
We are delighted to be holding our first auction and particularly thrilled at the wonderful items that have been donated to us. Please bid generously as every penny raised will go towards the continuation of Eastern Angles’ work. So many of these lots make PERFECT PRESENTS! You can bid from 21st June - 9th July-Auction ends at 5pm on the 9th. To find out the current bid see our news page or Facebook page here:http://tinyurl.com/7tnxrw8 or email admin@easternangles.co.uk Happy Bidding!
THE LOTS
1. Brewer for a Day with Adnams
2.Butchery Workshop with Food Safari
3. Ultimate Theatre-Going Bundle
4.Tango Class for Two
5. Tea & Tour at The Houses of Parliament with Therese Coffey
6. X 4 Christmas Tickets for Ipswich
7. X 4 Christmas Tickets for Woodbridge
8. A ‘Best of East Anglia’ Hamper from Tastes of Anglia
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BID PLEASE WRITE ON OUR FACEBOOK WALL, TWEET US @easternangles OR EMAIL sarah@easternangles.co.uk
More Details:
1. BREWER FOR A DAY WITH ADNAMS
CURRENT BID: £60
A very rare opportunity to experience what it is like to be a brewer for the day. The winner of this lot will go along to the Adnams brewery in Southwold with a friend, spend time with the brewing team learning how Adnams is made, have a fantastic lunch courtesy of Adnams and will be sent some of the beer they’ve made once it has fermented!
2.BUTCHERY WORKSHOP WITH FOOD SAFARI
CURRENT BID: £45
Food Safari hosts a packed programme of butchery workshops, wild food forays, fishing trips, cookery courses and visits to artisan producers from bakers and brewers to cheese makers and smokehouses.
You are bidding for a workshop in butchery for one person with The Food Safari this Autumn.
Evening Butchery Workshop
Join charismatic butcher, Gerard King, for our monthly series of evening butchery classes at the award-winning Broxtead Butchery at the Suffolk Food Hall. These hands-on workshops tackle different types of meat each month – lamb, pork, beef or poultry. You will learn some simple butchery skills to use in your own kitchen and take home the meat you’ve prepared to show off to friends and family and of course to eat!
**You will need to book your chosen class by Friday 20th of July**
**Booking subject to availability**
3. ULTIMATE THEATRE GOING BUNDLE
CURRENT BID: £120
You are bidding for the following:
X 4 tickets for any Eastern Angles production
X 2 tickets for a film at the Riverside cinema in Woodbridge
X 2 tickets for a Mercury Theatre in house production (excl Panto)
£10 off any booking for Theatre Royal Norwich
X 2 tickets for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds upcoming production ‘Mansfield Park’
X 2 tickets for the brand new musical opening at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich this Autumn called Mods and Rox which is inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac
X 2 preview tickets for Red Rose Chain’s Theatre in the Forest production ‘King Lear’ including parking on either Tuesday 24th or Wednesday 25th July
X 2 tickets to see ‘The Thinking Drinkers Guide to Alcohol’ (Edinburgh preview) including dinner for 2 at The Thatchers Arms, Mount Bures including a chance to taste unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. The event date is Saturday 21st July 6.45pm dinner & 7.45pm show. You must be over 18 to attend.
**All tickets subject to availability so book quickly once you have won**
**All tickets are non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives**
4.TANGO CLASS FOR TWO
CURRENT BID: £40
You are bidding for a one hour private lesson. This is suitable for any level from complete beginners to advanced at the dance studio in Norwich. This lesson is for a couple to bid on-it’s a very intimate dance!
Tango is a beautifully simple, beautifully complex dance - a journey which for beginner and experienced tanguero alike begins with un abrazo de tango - a tango embrace.
Kate and Tony, two of the founder members of the Norwich tango scene, dance a close milonguero style tango which emphasises simplicity and musicality - a style, which ultimately derives from the crowded dance floors of Buenos Aires.
They teach a tango for social dancing which suits all ages and levels of dance experience – a way of moving together to the music, without fixed patterns, where the aim is simplicity, musicality, creativity, and dialogue.
**The lesson time would need to be decided by mutual agreement following winning the lot**
5. TEA & TOUR AT THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT WITH THERESE COFFEY
CURRENT BID : £40
Further details are to be confirmed but you are bidding for a tour of the Houses of Parliament followed by tea with Therese Coffey who is the Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal
6. X 4 CHRISTMAS TICKETS FOR IPSWICH
CURRENT BID: £40
You are bidding for the ultimate Christmas experience…
Your party will be booked into the best seats in the house (or your favourites depending on availability when you book), be given complimentary signed programmes, mince pies, a drink of your choice and scrummy ice creams in the interval.
*Tickets subject to availability so book as soon as possible once you have won*
7. X 4 CHRISTMAS TICKETS FOR SECKFORD
CURRENT BID: £70
You are bidding for the ultimate Christmas experience…
Your party will all be booked into the best seats in the house (or your favourites depending on availability when you book) and be given complimentary signed programmes.
*Tickets subject to availability so book as soon as possible once you have won*
8. A HAMPER FROM 'TASTES OF ANGLIA'
CURRENT BID: £45
You are bidding for a delicious hamper kindly donated by Tastes of Anglia. It will be jam-packed with the best products offered in the East for you to enjoy at your leisure.
The Rules:
-Bids are binding
-Bidders must be over 18
-The lots have their own terms and conditions - please read them carefully before bidding
-Eastern Angles reserves the right to withdraw lots
22-Jun-2012 - Eastern Angles Charity Auction
We are delighted to be holding our first auction and particularly thrilled at the wonderful items that have been donated to us. Please bid generously as every penny raised will go towards the continuation of Eastern Angles’ work. So many of these lots make PERFECT PRESENTS! You can bid from 21st June - 9th July-Auction ends at 5pm on the 9th. To find out the current bid see our news page or Facebook page here:http://tinyurl.com/7tnxrw8 or email admin@easternangles.co.uk Happy Bidding!
THE LOTS
1. Brewer for a Day with Adnams
2.Butchery Workshop with Food Safari
3. Ultimate Theatre-Going Bundle
4.Tango Class for Two
5. Tea & Tour at The Houses of Parliament with Therese Coffey
6. X 4 Christmas Tickets for Ipswich
7. X 4 Christmas Tickets for Woodbridge
8. A ‘Best of East Anglia’ Hamper from Tastes of Anglia
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BID PLEASE WRITE ON OUR FACEBOOK WALL, TWEET US @easternangles OR EMAIL sarah@easternangles.co.uk
More Details:
1. BREWER FOR A DAY WITH ADNAMS
CURRENT BID: £60
A very rare opportunity to experience what it is like to be a brewer for the day. The winner of this lot will go along to the Adnams brewery in Southwold with a friend, spend time with the brewing team learning how Adnams is made, have a fantastic lunch courtesy of Adnams and will be sent some of the beer they’ve made once it has fermented!
2.BUTCHERY WORKSHOP WITH FOOD SAFARI
CURRENT BID: £45
Food Safari hosts a packed programme of butchery workshops, wild food forays, fishing trips, cookery courses and visits to artisan producers from bakers and brewers to cheese makers and smokehouses.
You are bidding for a workshop in butchery for one person with The Food Safari this Autumn.
Evening Butchery Workshop
Join charismatic butcher, Gerard King, for our monthly series of evening butchery classes at the award-winning Broxtead Butchery at the Suffolk Food Hall. These hands-on workshops tackle different types of meat each month – lamb, pork, beef or poultry. You will learn some simple butchery skills to use in your own kitchen and take home the meat you’ve prepared to show off to friends and family and of course to eat!
**You will need to book your chosen class by Friday 20th of July**
**Booking subject to availability**
3. ULTIMATE THEATRE GOING BUNDLE
CURRENT BID: £100
You are bidding for the following:
X 4 tickets for any Eastern Angles production
X 2 tickets for a film at the Riverside cinema in Woodbridge
X 2 tickets for a Mercury Theatre in house production (excl Panto)
£10 off any booking for Theatre Royal Norwich
X 2 tickets for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds upcoming production ‘Mansfield Park’
X 2 tickets for the brand new musical opening at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich this Autumn called Mods and Rox which is inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac
X 2 preview tickets for Red Rose Chain’s Theatre in the Forest production ‘King Lear’ including parking on either Tuesday 24th or Wednesday 25th July
X 2 tickets to see ‘The Thinking Drinkers Guide to Alcohol’ (Edinburgh preview) including dinner for 2 at The Thatchers Arms, Mount Bures including a chance to taste unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. The event date is Saturday 21st July 6.45pm dinner & 7.45pm show. You must be over 18 to attend.
**All tickets subject to availability so book quickly once you have won**
**All tickets are non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives**
4.TANGO CLASS FOR TWO
CURRENT BID: £25
You are bidding for a one hour private lesson. This is suitable for any level from complete beginners to advanced at the dance studio in Norwich. This lesson is for a couple to bid on-it’s a very intimate dance!
Tango is a beautifully simple, beautifully complex dance - a journey which for beginner and experienced tanguero alike begins with un abrazo de tango - a tango embrace.
Kate and Tony, two of the founder members of the Norwich tango scene, dance a close milonguero style tango which emphasises simplicity and musicality - a style, which ultimately derives from the crowded dance floors of Buenos Aires.
They teach a tango for social dancing which suits all ages and levels of dance experience – a way of moving together to the music, without fixed patterns, where the aim is simplicity, musicality, creativity, and dialogue.
**The lesson time would need to be decided by mutual agreement following winning the lot**
5. TEA & TOUR AT THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT WITH THERESE COFFEY
CURRENT BID : £40
Further details are to be confirmed but you are bidding for a tour of the Houses of Parliament followed by tea with Therese Coffey who is the Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal
6. X 4 CHRISTMAS TICKETS FOR IPSWICH
CURRENT BID: £40
You are bidding for the ultimate Christmas experience…
Your party will be booked into the best seats in the house (or your favourites depending on availability when you book), be given complimentary signed programmes, mince pies, a drink of your choice and scrummy ice creams in the interval.
*Tickets subject to availability so book as soon as possible once you have won*
7. X 4 CHRISTMAS TICKETS FOR SECKFORD
CURRENT BID: £70
You are bidding for the ultimate Christmas experience…
Your party will all be booked into the best seats in the house (or your favourites depending on availability when you book) and be given complimentary signed programmes.
*Tickets subject to availability so book as soon as possible once you have won*
8. A HAMPER FROM 'TASTES OF ANGLIA'
CURRENT BID: £30
You are bidding for a delicious hamper kindly donated by Tastes of Anglia. It will be jam-packed with the best products offered in the East for you to enjoy at your leisure.
The Rules:
-Bids are binding
-Bidders must be over 18
-The lots have their own terms and conditions - please read them carefully before bidding
-Eastern Angles reserves the right to withdraw lots
17-May-2012 - Theatre Company's fundraising campaign receives £120k boost!
Eastern Angles is celebrating today after receiving news of an £120,000 award from the Arts Council
Theatre Company's fundraising campaign receives welcome boost!
Eastern Angles is celebrating today after receiving news of an award that could bring in up to £120,000 from the Arts Council.
The cash injection comes as a result of an application to ACE's Catalyst scheme, a capacity building and matching funding programme aimed at helping organisations reach their own fundraising targets. Eastern Angles have launched an ambitious three-year fundraising campaign which aims to raise £100,000 over the next three years through private giving, philanthropic donations and funding from Trusts and Foundations. The potential £120,000 from the Arts Council will help equip Eastern Angles with the fundraising skills and match-funding it needs to reach its £100,000 target.
Eastern Angles is one of a handful of organisations in the East region to receive a Catalyst grant. The company has a reputation for taking high quality theatre to rural communities who would otherwise miss out on the chance to experience the arts.
The Catalyst grant will enable the company to invest in developing the next generation of writers, theatre directors and actors, to devote more resources to working with older people, and to continue our investment in the highest quality of rural touring.
Eastern Angles' Artistic Director, Ivan Cutting said:
"This match-funding award is a massive vote of confidence from the Arts Council. They have responded to our creative and innovative fundraising ideas and want to invest in our three-year campaign to raise money over the next three years"
Eastern Angles' General Manager, Matthew Linley said:
"This award recognises the hard work we've been doing to build audiences and fundraise in these difficult times. In this sense the award is a tribute to Eastern Angles' many and varied loyal supporters from those who volunteer their time to Copperfield members who each month donate what they can to support our work. Regardless of your political persuasion this really is big society in action and without them we would not be celebrating today."
For more info: Contact Karen Goddard, Marketing & Press, karen@easternangles.co.uk Tel: 01473 218202 or 07789 933558
16-May-2012 - Your last chance to catch Private Resistance!
Spring Tour nears the finish line.
One more week to go, and one more week left for you to catch Private Resistance before it finishes its run. We're performing at the beautiful Blackthorpe Barn in Rougham, and then we don our best camping gear to present the last 4 performances from inside a tent at Parham Airfield. Wish us luck with the weather!
01-May-2012 - East Anglian Railway Museum this weekend!
We are coming to the East Anglian Railway Museum this weekend and if you are attending we are delighted to announce there is a licenced bar avaialble which will be serving food platters and a beer festival at the local pub if you were planning to make a day of it! Details here...
If you are attending a performance of 'Private Resistance' this Friday or Saturday at the East Anglian Railaway Museum you may be interested to know that there is a new catering company there called Platform 2 Catering Limited who will be running the bar and providing the light refreshments this coming Friday and Saturday evenings.
They have asked us to let you know the following...
We focus very much on what is available locally and is seasonal wherever and whenever possible. We are delighted to provide vegetarian and vegan alternatives.
Sandwich platters for pre-performance eating must be booked. Platters for the interval can be booked on the evening.
We can offer mixed platters of :
• Sandwiches made with local bread and the following deep fillings:
o Hand carved Essex ham with Suffolk mustard
o Local Free range egg mayonnaise and cress
o Taw Valley Cheddar and Suffolk Pickle
o Tuna mayonnaise and sweetcorn
• Handmade sausage rolls with local pork
• Local crisps
• We can offer vegetarian platters if required substituting ham for hummus and mushroom pate instead of tuna.
The platters are priced at £20 for a platter to serve 4 people and £10 for a platter to serve 2 people.
There will also be local ice creams!
We will be offering a bar with House Red, White and Rose wines at £3.00 per glass or £13.50 per bottle, local bottled lager and local bottled beer at £2.99 a bottle, local premier cru cider at £3.75 per bottle, local fruit juice and a small selection of soft drinks at between £1.50 and £2.25. The bar will be open from 6pm until 11pm.
If you would like to book a platter in advance please call Clare Craknell on 07526 568364 or email clare.cracknell@gmail.com
You may also be interested to know that the local pub The Thatchers Arms has a BEER FESTIVAL running that weekend so if you wanted to make a day of it it is only 2 miles from the railay station and will be serving the best beers from the East of England all weekend-full beer festical details can be found at www.thatchersarms.co.uk
We will be heading straight there after the show!!
19-Apr-2012 - Community Performers required!
Community Chorus needed for our Summer production, Margaret Catchpole
WANT TO GET IN ON THE ACT?
A unique opportunity to perform in Eastern Angles' 30th Anniversary Production of MARGARET CATCHPOLE, at the HUSH HOUSE on Bentwater Parks.
In the Summer of 2010, we presented BENTWATER ROADS in a former aircraft test hangar on the old Bentwaters Base in Rendlesham. What made these performances extra special was the inclusion of a Community Chorus of local volunteer performers, playing a multitude of roles throughout the show.
And this year, we are returning to Rendlesham with MARGARET CATCHPOLE, a revival of our hugely successful 2000 production, telling the classic tale of a Suffolk lass and her smuggler sweetheart.
Running from 21st June - 8th July, we need YOUR help to make MARGARET CATCHPOLE happen. Once again we are on the look-out for a company of local people (age 16 and over) to play a variety of roles - smugglers, revenue men, farmers and servants, who will appear throughout the show. You'll be singing too, but we're happy with all levels of ability and we'll give you plenty of help along the way! We are looking for people with a real desire to perform, and the commitment to put the work in to make it happen.
You don't need any previous experience, and it is free, although you will need to make weekly rehearsals in Ipswich from April to June, and have transport to get you to and from Rendlesham for the rehearsals and performances in June/July.
Up for it? Want to know more? Then contact Jon Tavener on 01473 218202, or via email at jon@easternangles.co.uk
We look forward to meeting you!
02-Apr-2012 - Eastern Angles 30th Anniversary production is Inspired!
Eastern Angles Theatre Company's latest production has been granted the Inspire mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme
Eastern Angles Theatre Company's latest production has been granted the Inspire mark.
Based on the story of Margaret Catchpole the exciting theatre production will be performed this summer between June 21st - July 8th to celebrate the company's 30th Anniversary.
Staged in the atmospheric Hush House venue, an aircraft hangar on the former Bentwaters airbase near Woodbridge, the Margaret Catchpole production will be seen by thousands of audience members from across the Eastern region.
The London 2012 Inspire programme recognises innovative and exceptional projects that are directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Margaret Catchpole was famous for her epic, overnight horse ride from Ipswich to London, a feat requiring great stamina and determination. It is this equestrian adventure that chimes so well with the values of the 2012 Games.
With the addition of a cast of local community performers, the Margaret Catchpole production also promotes the positive idea of participation in theatre.
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games said: "The Margaret Catchpole show is encouraging community performers to fulfil their potential. I am proud that with the help of partners such as Eastern Angles we are delivering our vision to use the power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to boost participation in exciting new theatre projects."
Ivan Cutting, Eastern Angles Artistic Director said: "The Margaret Catchpole show will be very special for Eastern Angles marking our 30th year of producing theatre for community audiences across the region. Being granted the Inspire Mark by the London 2012 programme is a real honour and a fitting tribute to the real-life character of Margaret Catchpole whose exploits made her such a famous figure of East Anglian folklore"
01-Mar-2012 - Ivan Cutting on touring to unusual venues
The following article appears as a Case Study on the Arts Professional website: www.artsprofessional.co.uk
Under the radar
From aircraft hangers to potting sheds, Eastern Angles has toured to all sorts of unexpected, rural venues.
Ivan Cutting tracks the company's long road to success.
Touring is in the DNA of Eastern Angles. Even when we come to rest in one place there is a sense of the itinerant traveller about our set up - everything is designed to be lifted up and put somewhere else at the drop of a hat. Over the last thirty years we have toured to many non-traditional theatre spaces. Fire stations, warehouses, historic tithe barns and wind-battered marquees, and this summer we will return to one of our favourite and most spectacular spaces: a huge aircraft hangar on a former airbase.
We started Eastern Angles with two main ambitions. Firstly, to produce shows with a regional flavour; to create work with local audiences in mind, addressing, exploring and celebrating the collective experience of an area that rarely makes it on to the stage or into the media. And secondly, to take that work to its audience and stretch our constituency across an area almost the size of Wales, encompassing many different areas from coastal to agricultural, breckland to broad, bleak fenland to cosy village.
When we started out in 1982 it quickly became apparent that a catholic approach was required. Restricting ourselves to local themes could become parochial and concentrating on village hall touring took us under the radar; out of the view of funders, councillors, reviewers and some theatregoers. I sometimes compared our work to that of the SAS.
Our initial solution was to up our profile by hiring halls in significant market towns, setting up our own box office and mailing lists, attracting previews in local papers, and generally boosting our regional presence.
In the meantime we had also acquired our own small theatre in Ipswich, seating 120 in traverse. We put on an alternative Christmas panto (for kids over 16) and encouraged audiences to come to us. This cemented our box-office development, strengthened the link between our autumn and spring tours and encouraged further audiences onto our database.
So far so good, although this approach demanded a larger investment in marketing. We hired a dedicated marketing officer and developed a computerised box office system, which is more than most touring companies can justify. We sold more seats, however on tour the more seats you sell the lousier the experience for the last people to arrive - they are stuck at the back. We couldn't exploit our success.
We started to look at raked seating options. The plan? Take over a space for a few weeks and make audiences travel to us; or arrive ‘en caravanserai' for three-day residencies in community centres and town halls.
First we tried the extended stay. With our show The Wuffings we pitched-up at Notcutts Warehouse, the largest potting shed in Europe, and borrowed the RSC's mobile seating rig. It was a fantastic success but we only survived by the skin of our teeth. Our box office system, created from a £75 Amstrad software pack, creaked and groaned and our two-line telephone system overheated. But we packed in 8,000 people over three weeks. It was 1997 and event culture had arrived.
With Lottery grants for a new Databox ticketing system, 300 mobile seats, a truck and support from the New Audiences programme, we tried the residency option. But this also posed problems: only school halls could offer us three nights in succession, and they either wanted work that was on the curriculum or smelt of school dinners. We either had to change our programme or think again.
We re-thought and opted for extended stays in atmospheric locations that really chimed with the shows. Tithe barns offer excellent opportunities for traverse staging, whilst simultaneously dwarfing our own theatre space and keeping people close to the drama. Marquees offer the flexibility to site shows in appropriate locations: the Sutton Hoo burial site for our play about the discovery of the Sutton Hoo treasure; a dockside for We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea; and a war museum for our current production, Private Resistance, about the Auxiliary Units in World War II.
This summer we will return to the airbase for a thirtieth birthday production. The Hush House, where the Americans tested their jet engines, has proved quite a discovery. It has the acoustics of an intimate recording studio and the scale of an aircraft hanger. It was a perfect venue for our 2010 production Bentwater Roads, which we commissioned from Tony Ramsay especially for the space and which incorporated a community chorus. We plan to perform in this and other unexpected places for many years to come.
Ivan Cutting
This article appeared as an online Case Study on the Arts Professional website: www.artsprofessional.co.uk
Follow Arts Professional on Twitter - @artspro
14-Feb-2012 - COPPERFIELD NEWS
Test for Copperfield News
TEst for online Copperfield Exclusive content
13-Feb-2012 - MARGARET CATCHPOLE NEEDS YOU!
Community Chorus needed for our Summer Spectacular
WANT TO GET IN ON THE ACT?
A unique opportunity to perform in Eastern Angles' 30th Anniversary Production of MARGARET CATCHPOLE, at the HUSH HOUSE on Bentwater Parks.
In the Summer of 2010, we presented BENTWATER ROADS in a former aircraft test hangar on the old Bentwaters Base in Rendlesham. What made these performances extra special was the inclusion of a Community Chorus of local volunteer performers, playing a multitude of roles throughout the show.
And this year, we are returning to Rendlesham with MARGARET CATCHPOLE, a revival of our hugely successful 2000 production, telling the classic tale of a Suffolk lass and her smuggler sweetheart.
Running from 21st June - 8th July, we need YOUR help to make MARGARET CATCHPOLE happen. Once again we are on the look-out for a company of local people (age 16 and over) to play a variety of roles - smugglers, revenue men, farmers and servants, who will appear throughout the show. You'll be singing too, but we're happy with all levels of ability and we'll give you plenty of help along the way! We are looking for people with a real desire to perform, and the commitment to put the work in to make it happen.
You don't need any previous experience, and it is free, although you will need to make weekly rehearsals in Ipswich from April to June, and have transport to get you to and from Rendlesham for the rehearsals and performances in June/July.
Up for it? Want to know more? Then contact Jon Tavener on 01473 218202, or via email at jon@easternangles.co.uk .
We look forward to meeting you!
10-Feb-2012 - PRIVATE RESISTANCE: Wivenhoe Radio
Private Resistance Radio Feature
Take notice all you radio heads. Crystal sets at the ready...
Private Resistance, our Spring Play, is the subject of a special feature on Wivenhoe Radio this weekend! Tune in this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 1pm to hear Eastern Angles' General Manager Matthew Linley talk about this fascinating look at the unsung heroes of World War II, and share a glimpse into an alternative history where Dunkirk was a failure, the Germans win air superiority, and Hitler suceeds in his planned invasion of Britain. A Britain where the unthinkable happens, and Churchill's Secret Army come into their own.
You can tune in at Radio Wivenoe
Check back here next week, and you can hear edited highlights of what should be a fascinating programme.
09-Dec-2011 - Eastern Angles playwright wins top award!
Janice Okoh, writer of Egusi Soup, has won one of the UK's leading scriptwriting awards.
Janice Okoh's play Egusi Soup, a co-production between Eastern Angles and Menagerie Theatre Company directed by Paul Bourne, toured East Anglia back in October 2009 as part of that year's Black History Month celebrations.
Now, Janice has won the £16,000 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting for her script for Three Birds, a play about three young siblings who are left home alone.
Playwright Simon Stephens, who chaired the judging panel, praised the play's "humanity and imagination".
Janice, from south-east London, worked in the City for seven years before taking an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. She has written three plays for BBC Radio 4 and teaches English as a foreign language.
Ivan Cutting said; "Egusi Soup was a fantastic story full of emotional baggage all about a British-Nigerian family who head back to Africa for a family funeral. The ‘script-in-hand' performances we staged back in 2009 were a great success. We really enjoyed working with Janice and congratulate her on her well-deserved prize"
03-Nov-2011 - Forty Years On Launches
On Thursday 20th October the company launched its ambitious project designed to preserve Peterborough's past using the city archives, oral histories and theatre.
Here is Ivan sharing just a few gems from the archive:
Gems from the Peterborough Archive from matthewlinley on Vimeo.
The project has been developed in partnership with Vivacity - the independent trust charged with leading on Peterborough's arts, libraries and archive provision. Here Vivacity chair Shelagh Smith talks about just why she is excited about the launch of Forty Years On!
The project is using local volunteers to catalogue and conserve the archives of the Peterborough Development Corporation. Participants will also collect over 150 oral histories from residents who moved to the city during the city's rapid expansion as a new town. All this information will be used to develop a ‘docu play' entitled The Peterborough Effect which will tour throughout Peterborough in Autumn 2012.
Then in 2013 the same source material will be used to create a large scale community play - a part of the project which has been generously supported by Arts Council England. The play is being researched and written by former Peterborough resident Tony Ramsay (@ramsaytony)- http://vimeo.com/30897235:-
For more information on how to take part in the community play and contribute your stories contact tina.bramhill@vivacity-peterborough.com
The whole project has been made possible by an award of £160,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. At the launch Anne Mason spoke eloquently congratulating the bid team on their success and talked about what made the project special:-
The Forty Years On project will end in Spring 2014 with a completed and fully accessible archive and website with resources aimed at Peterborough residents, social historians, school staff and pupils.
You can follow the progress of the project right here on the Eastern Angles web site.
Matthew Linley
Shelagh Smith from matthewlinley on Vimeo.
28-Oct-2011 - Vacancy for Deputy Theatre Manager
New job opportunity at Eastern Angles
If you love theatre, are good with people, confident with computers and have 12-14 hours a week spare between 23 November and 21 January this could be the job for you. We are looking for a Deputy Theatre Manager for the up coming run of our witty, wacky 'panto alternative' Round the Twist.
JOB SPECIFICATION
Job Title: Deputy Theatre Manager
Responsible to: Theatre Manager
Job Description:
The Deputy Theatre Manager when on duty will have responsibility in the following areas:
- The overseeing of the whole FOH operation at the SJM and Seckford Theatre.
- Box Office operation at the venues (on-door sales, reservation, collection, ticket queries etc.)
- Demonstrate exemplary customer care to our audiences at all times
- Answering and dealing with box office telephone calls as required
- Preparation and selling of interval refreshments and other merchandise including the set up and take down of the bar and catering offer
- Co-ordinating Front of House staff (all volunteers)
- Managing the implementation of Health and Safety procedures relevant to the FOH operation (evacuation procedures etc.) and overseeing the safety of audiences while they are on the premises;
- Ensuring sufficient stock levels are maintained (bar, programme and ice cream sales);
- Cashing up and keeping adequate financial records of all FOH activities including production of Box Office returns following each performance;
· Ensuring the bar area and all FOH areas are kept clean and all signage and seat naming tags are maintained.
- Enabling the correct maintenance of safety and fire –exit equipment.
- Representing the public face of Eastern Angles and answering all customer, performer and volunteer enquiries as required.
- Locking up the building at end of shifts in liaison with the Company Stage Manager.
2. GENERAL
· Being a key holder for the building
· Acting as a contact for the Company’s volunteer network of Angels, including assisting with recruitment and management as required.
· Throughout all areas of responsibility, ensuring that work done is up-to-date and accurate
· Any other duties as deemed necessary.
DEPUTY THEATRE MANAGER
This is a part-time position, with an aggregate 12 hours per week. Hours may include evenings, weekends and bank holidays. The post is offered for the run of Round the Twist between 23 November 2011 and 21 January 2012
Pay: £7.50 per hour
No overtime is payable, but time off in lieu is encouraged and will be apportioned monthly.
There is a 2 week probationary period.
Applicants must be available on shift days throughout Christmas and New Year.
Person Specification
· For this position we are looking for someone who is free to work Saturdays (between 3pm and 10pm) and one evening (between 6pm and 10pm)
· Organisational skills and an eye for detail are essential.
· Good inter-personal skills
· Punctual, smart, well presented
· Responsible individual with the ability to stay calm under pressure
· You must be able to work well (and lead) a small team and have the capacity to organise your own time effectively, ensure that all work is up to date and accurate and be able to operate a word processor and spreadsheets – we use the Microsoft Office Suite. The successful candidate will also have a good knowledge of computers and computer programs and be able to pick up software packages quickly and easily.
· Enthusiasm and knowledge of theatre
· Recent first aid qualification an advantage, willingness to be trained up if otherwise
· Over 18
· Car owner with clean driving licence.
About Round the Twist
Eastern Angles anarchic Christmas shows are always a sell-out. Over the years our reputation for producing witty, wacky 'panto alternatives' has grown and grown.
Round The Twist is a Dickensian musical mashup incorporating outrageous innuendo, witty wordplay and plenty of quick-fire comedy. A glance at the list of characters, which includes Miss Haversack, Obadiah Snoop and The Artful Codger, gives a clue as to how Eastern Angles have approached Dickens’ classic tales – with tongue firmly in cheek!
To apply
Please email sarah@easternangles.co.uk for an application form and equal opportunities form or contact the office on 01473 218 202 for further information.
Closing date for applications
5pm Thursday 10th November
Interviews – 14th November
23-Sep-2011 - Crossed Keys opens next week!
Greg Lyons' fantastic new play Crossed Keys opens in Peterborough on Wednesday 28th September.
Crossed Keys - a new half-hour play from Eastern Angles Theatre Company.
Eastern Angles' 2011 Platform Peterborough season kicks off with a tour of a new play by Greg Lyons. Entitled Crossed Keys this thirty-minute drama is a short sharp insight into life in multi-cultural Peterborough.
Directed by Kate Budgen, Associate Director at Pentabus Theatre Company, Crossed Keys opens on September 28th at the Brewery Tap pub in the heart of Peterborough's city centre. The city tour continues for the next three-and-a-half weeks taking in community spaces, schools, colleges, workplaces, churches and Peterborough's beautiful cathedral.
Crossed Keys is a love story against all odds. It highlights the cultural tensions experienced by Shahruk, a young Muslim woman torn between the expectations of a bullying uncle and her desire to pursue a fulfilling career as an architect. Shahruk is taken on trip down memory lane by her young husband Hussein. Following a chance encounter with Michael, an old Irish road worker, the couple become embroiled in a conversation with Hussein's former colleague that turns out to be both poignant, comical and ultimately illuminating.
Crossed Keys tours Peterborough until Saturday 22nd October.
For more info contact: Karen Goddard on 01473 218202/07789 933558 karen@easternangles.co.uk
01-Sep-2011 - NEW GENERAL MANAGER FOR EASTERN ANGLES
Eastern Angles are delighted to welcome Matthew Linley as their new General Manager
Matthew cut his teeth as a venue manager running the Michael Tippett Centre (Bath), 21 South Street (Reading) and Phoenix Arts (Leicester) where he oversaw the development of the new capital build Phoenix Square. Since moving to the East region Matthew has had a busy freelance career working for a range of clients including Arts Council England, the hub, BBC, Dartington and EM Media.
Matthew said: "As someone who has always been interested in words and new writing and the relationship between arts companies and place the opportunity to work for Eastern Angles was one I had to grab! With four new plays opening in the next six months and an ambitious project with Vivacity, Peterborough's Cultural Trust, called Forty Years On to launch, it's a very exciting time to be joining the company."
Eastern Angles' Artistic Director, Ivan Cutting said: "We are very lucky to have found a new General Manager with Matthew's experience, energy and enthusiasm. Having survived the last six months without a General Manager it's a great relief to have him on board and he already feels like an established member of the team. He comes to us with lots of new, exciting ideas - we are all really looking forward to working with Matthew and introducing him to the delights of the Eastern Angles Christmas show!"
Matthew can be contacted on matthew@easternangles.co.uk
16-May-2011 - My Final Curtain.
Well - after 9 years of holding Eastern Angles together, I am at last taking my final bow.
Over the years I have had many and various tasks - counting money, booking tour venues, stuffing envelopes, sticking on stamps, paying the actors' wages, booking train tickets, counting money, putting up posters, handing out leaflets, paying staff salaries, arranging accommodation, organising First Aid courses, booking auditions, counting money, organising buffets, selling ice cream, booking transport, arranging building repairs, selling programmes, counting money, serving teas and coffees, tearing tickets, helping with scene changes, writing COSHH Assessments, counting money, selling tickets, filing, booking venues for auditions, counting money, paying out actors' subs, sewing curtains, making sails, brushing wigs, counting money, writing the Fire Evacuation Plan, checking the water for Legionnaire's Disease, counting money.........................
Sir John Mills Theatre has been my second home, and Eastern Angles has been my second family - there for me in my times of need. I will miss them all, but I certainly won't miss the early mornings and the rat race down the A14. Instead, I am looking forward to lazy strolls through the sunlit fields with my dog, relaxing in the garden with my Kindle, and generally doing all the things I have been wanting to do for years!
But this isn't goodbye as I shall be back in the audience, and maybe helping out around the place, when they realise that they can't do without me!
Carla Firman - Administrator
28-Apr-2011 - Job Opportunity - General Manager
Eastern Angles are seeking a GENERAL MANAGER (£24-27k + pension/relocation costs)
Job Vacancy - General Manager
We seek a lynchpin to produce, develop and help resource our projects across the East of England and beyond.
Based in Ipswich, Eastern Angles makes great theatre with a sense of place, then presents it locally, regionally and nationally.
Recently we have developed a raft of new work in Peterborough and our new Heritage Lottery funded project, Forty Years On, will lead to two exciting productions at the heart of the city.
As a National Portfolio Organisation, our work mixes rural touring with cultural diversity, site-based residencies with our wacky Christmas shows, and there's room for more.
For a job description and application form ring 01473 218202 or email admin@easternangles.co.uk
Closing Date: Monday 23rd May
06-Apr-2011 - New celebrity patron for Eastern Angles!
New celebrity Patron for Eastern Angles!
Eastern Angles have announced the name of their new patron, the cult comedy songwriter Neil Innes.
Last week, the theatre company were one of thirty arts organisations in the Eastern region to win much sought after Arts Council funding. Eastern Angles will receive £230,000 a year for the next three years.
Whilst Eastern Angles are delighted to be part of the Arts Council's new National Portfolio of arts organisations, the company still need to raise money through donations and sponsorship in order to continue their rural touring theatre work.
This is where the support of a celebrity patron will come in.
Eastern Angles' Artistic Director, Ivan Cutting said: "In real terms our settlement represents a cut in funding of 9%. This means raising money through patron donation schemes, corporate sponsorship and philanthropy will be more important than ever."
"That's why we are really pleased that Neil has agreed to become our patron. Neil has lived in rural Suffolk for a long time and is a big fan of our work. He understands the importance of taking live theatre to audiences in more isolated areas of East Anglia and really wants to help support this community theatre work. Neil will be a big boost to our new fundraising appeal - The Copperfield Programme. He has agreed to front the campaign which is designed to encourage philanthropy, sponsorship and individual donations."
Neil Innes said:
"As a newly appointed "Patron" I am thrilled and delighted by the Arts Council decision. I shall be doing all I can to raise awareness of the splendid work that Eastern Angles do in villages and theatres around the region. Not even 4D television can compete with the thrill of living and breathing "Live Performance".
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Eastern Angles are best known for their rural touring theatre work. Over the past twenty-nine years the company have built up a national reputation for performing East Anglian-inspired plays to audiences in towns and villages across the Eastern region. More recently, the company have won praise for their Peterborough-based community theatre work. As part of their annual Platform Peterborough project, the company have created a series of new plays all set in the city. The project also includes educational theatre workshops which take place in primary & secondary schools in Peterborough.
Neil Innes is a Suffolk-based writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles. He also performs with The Idiot Bastard Band with Phil Jupitus, Adrian Edmundson, Roland Rivron and Simon Brint.
For further information and images, please contact: Karen Goddard, Marketing Officer, Eastern Angles Theatre Company Tel: 01473 218202 Email: karen@easternangles.co.uk
05-Apr-2011 - Cash boost for archive project
Ambitious archive project to preserve Peterborough's history receives boost from Heritage Lottery Fund & Arts Council England
Ambitious archive project to preserve Peterborough's history receives boost from Heritage Lottery Fund & Arts Council England
An exciting joint project run by Eastern Angles, the East of England's leading touring theatre company, and Peterborough Archive Service has been given the go-ahead following a successful funding bid.
Funding is now secured for the two stages of the project enabling the organisations to embark on an ambitious three-year programme of theatre and archive work entitled Forty Years On. The Eastern Angles/Peterborough Archive Service led project will explore, archive and creatively interpret forty years of Peterborough history from 1968 to 2008.
An award of £160,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will give local people the opportunity to investigate the history of Peterborough's development and see it celebrated in a touring documentary show, whilst £60,000 awarded through Arts Council England's ‘Grants for the arts' scheme will support the creation of a new Community Play based on this research.
Over 100 Peterborough-based volunteers will be given the opportunity to take part in the Forty Years On project.
Thanks to the support of HLF, local volunteers will catalogue and conserve the archives of the Peterborough Development Corporation. Alongside this, the participants will be trained to collect over 150 oral histories from residents who moved to Peterborough during the city's 40-year period of rapid expansion. Testimonials will also be gathered from Peterborough's established immigrant groups and more recent arrivers from Eastern Europe.
These archives will form the basis of a fascinating documentary-style theatre production created and toured by Eastern Angles. This will explore the background to the planning and creation of Peterborough's new townships. This play will be performed in five venues across Peterborough during Autumn 2012.
In the following year the interviews and further research will be turned into a Community Play, funded by the Arts Council grant, featuring up to a 100 community-performers culminating in a massive production in late 2013. The project will finish in Spring 2014 with a completed and fully accessible archive and website with special features for school curriculum projects.
Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson said: "It's important that Peterborough's modern history of change and adaptation is recorded and preserved for scholars and local people. This grant will help protect that heritage for future generations and it's to be welcomed as an innovative way of recording the past."
Ivan Cutting, Artistic Director of Eastern Angles, said: "The wonderful thing about these grants is that they will enable us to unearth valuable material and give us the chance, through theatre productions, to explore, explain and celebrate forty years of extraordinary history...and everybody has the chance to be involved."
Anna Sexton, Peterborough Archives Service, said: "We are delighted that one of Peterborough's most important modern archive collections is getting the attention that it deserves. We are excited about working alongside a large team of volunteers who will be helping us to enrich and promote the modern heritage of the City for the benefit of many generations to come."
Robyn Llewellyn, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, said: "The changing face of Peterborough over the last 40 years is an intrinsic part of local heritage and a real opportunity for residents - both young and old - to share their stories. Combining theatre, online technology and archives, lottery player's money will enable local people to celebrate their own history in new and exciting ways."
Helen Lax, Arts Council Director, East said: "This is very good news, building on Eastern Angles previous work in the city and bringing alive the rich and diverse stories of Peterborough communities"
-ENDS-
For further information and images, please contact:
Karen Goddard, Marketing Officer for Eastern Angles
Email: karen@easternangles.co.uk
Tel: 01473 218202
or
Emma Evans, Sales, Marketing & Communications Manager for Vivacity
Email: Emma.Evans@vivacity-peterborough.com
Tel: 01733 864273
Mob: 07747 587249
Notes to Editors
1) Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported 30,000 projects, allocating £4.5billion across the UK, including £290million to the East of England alone. Website: www.hlf.org.uk
"We are always looking for new project to fund in and around Peterborough - examples of other locally funded projects can found on our website, www.hlf.org.uk. If your group has an idea for a project and would like to discuss this, please ring 01223 224870 and ask to speak to a member of the Development Team."
2) Grants for the arts, funded by the National Lottery, are for activities carried out over a set period and which engage people in England in arts activities, and help artists and arts organisations in England carry out their work. For more information on Grants for the arts visit the Arts Council website www.artscouncil.org.uk
3) Eastern Angles is the regional touring theatre company for East Anglia. It has a reputation for producing high-quality, new writing with a regional flavour. Based at the Sir John Mills Theatre in Ipswich, the company has been touring professional theatre productions into the towns and villages of East Anglia for 29 years. Eastern Angles have also staged productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at London's Bush Theatre www.easternangles.co.uk
4) Peterborough Archive Service is based in the Central Library and is managed by Vivacity Culture and Leisure Trust, on behalf of Peterborough City Council.
The service's core provision is to provide information about, and access to, its archives and local studies collections. These collections range from 12th century charters to recent historic records including the Peterborough Development Corporation material. The service has a growing reputation as a centre for family history research and also runs a wide range of local history events, activities and projects based on its archive collections.
30-Mar-2011 - FUNDING SUCCESS
Eastern Angles Theatre Company have been informed that their application for future Arts Council Portfolio funding has been successful.
The regional touring theatre company for the East of England will receive a grant of £230,000 for the financial year 2012-13 and the same for the following two years.
In its assessment of the company, the Arts Council said: "The company has a good record for delivery, an experienced team and a proactive and engaged board. The proposal builds on the company's strengths, partnerships and opportunities. The organisation is performing well, galvanised by its recent success with urban and diverse communities and not afraid to challenge itself or its longstanding audiences"
Artistic Director, Ivan Cutting says:
"We are delighted that the Arts Council have decided to continue funding our work. This is the best possible endorsement - it's the equivalent of receiving a five star review! The decision shows that the Arts Council really value what we do and consider our theatre work to be of high quality"
He continues: "However, in real terms this grant settlement represents a cut in funding of 9%, if you take inflation into account, over the next three years. This means raising money through patron donation schemes, corporate sponsorship and philanthropy will be more important than ever."
"What's really important is that this money will enable us to continue touring quality theatre to the rural areas of East Anglia and carry on our exciting theatre projects in Peterborough and our public engagement with hard to reach communities there. It will also allow us to keep on providing opportunities for enthusiastic new writers, directors, actors and other theatre-makers to develop and grow"
Over 1,300 arts organisations applied for money as part of the Arts Council's new National Portfolio funding programme. However, only around 695 will receive money from the grant-giving body. They have also said that 110 new organisations have been ‘brought into the mix'.
28-Jan-2011 - Alison joins the team.
We welcome Alison Jones as our new Finance Officer
We're thrilled to welcome a new addition to the Eastern Angles office team. Alison has previously worked in local government, covering a range of areas from education and libraries to the probation service, and for local charities.
She is now looking forward to working in the theatre, as Eastern Angles' Finance Officer, and is sure it will be a new challenge.
Welcome, Alison!
18-Nov-2010 - And It's Goodbye From Me...
Jill Streatfeild, Eastern Angles' General Manager is leaving.
Jill Streatfeild, our General Manager for the last 10 years, is moving on in December.
AND IT'S GOODBYE FROM ME...
Some of you may have heard that, after 10 amazing years as General Manager, I shall be leaving Eastern Angles on 10 December.
I have greatly enjoyed the last 10 years with the company, particularly working with all the in-house team, plus our actors, writers, directors, designers and of course our wonderful group of Angels. I have always had enormous respect and admiration for the work produced here, often on very limited resources, and for the skill and dedication of all the staff.
But I have been working pretty well non-stop for some 38 years(!) now, having left ballet school to begin my career as a dancer at the age of 17 and I just want to stop for a while and take stock. I plan to give myself a break and spend more time at home in Woodbridge with my partner, as well as in Kent to sort out care arrangements for my 92-year-old mother. I will then hope to take on some freelance or part-time work in the East England arts world, so look forward to seeing or working with some of you again in the future.
This has been a very difficult decision and I will miss working here enormously. I will of course keep in touch - and will make sure I don't miss any of the new shows.
Jill Streatfeild
01-Jul-2010 - Sarah joins the team!
Sarah Mennell joins Eastern Angles as Marketing & Development Assistant
We're delighted to welcome Sarah Mennell, who has joined us as Marketing and Development Assistant.
Following a music degree, Sarah worked for Classical Opera Company and Independent Opera in London before moving to Suffolk to work as the Event Manager for Butley Priory.
Sarah will be based in the main office at the Sir John Mills Theatre, and can be contacted at: sarah@easternangles.co.uk.
Welcome to the team, Sarah!
21-Jun-2010 - A new face for Peterborough!
Keely Mills joins the Eastern Angles Team in Peterborough
We're delighted to welcome Keely Mills, who has joined us as Project Manager for our work in Peterborough.
Keely will be based in Peterborough, slap bang in the middle of the action, and she's already contacting schools and promoting our forthcoming work.
She can be contacted at: fentigerbohemian@yahoo.co.uk and is happy to answer any queries about our up and coming work in Peterborough.
Welcome to the team, Keely!
17-May-2010 - CALLING ALL PAGANS!
Fancy acting in our next show?
It could be YOU!
Eastern Angles Theatre Company are still looking for members of the public to perform in their exciting forthcoming summer production, Bentwater Roads.
Staged between 1st -18th July, this site-responsive play will be performed in the atmospheric Hush House - an old aircraft hanger on the Bentwaters Airbase site near Woodbridge.
Bentwaters Roads, written by local playwright Tony Ramsay, is the story of a place and uses Pagan, Medieval, Cold War and contemporary experiences to reflect life in the Bentwaters area.
Ivan Cutting , Artistic Director at Eastern Angles, says,
"We're very excited about Bentwater Roads, and especially about casting local people in the production........
According to the theatre company, Bentwater Roads will be another Wuffings - Eastern Angles' hugely successful, site-specific show which was staged at Notcutts' enormous Pettistree potting shed back in 1997.
This summer's production will have a cast of 10 professional actors. But Eastern Angles are also looking for a community cast of between 10-30 people to help ‘populate the world of the play' and appear on stage during the show.
If you are aged 16 or over and are able to commit to at least half the performances between 1st and 18th July, rehearsals on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons in June and technical rehearsals on 28th - 31st June, Eastern Angles want to hear from you.
Previous acting experience is not essential however the company are looking for people with an interest in theatre and the ability to commit to a busy rehearsal and performance schedule.
For more details contact Eastern Angles on 01473 218202 or email box1@easternangles.co.uk
13-Apr-2010 - CALLING ALL ACTORS!
Your chance to perform in our next show...
UPDATE: Next open meeting - SUNDAY 16th MAY at 7.30pm at the Sir John Mills Theatre - ALL WELCOME!
Eastern Angles are offering members of the public the exciting opportunity to perform in their new summer production, Bentwater Roads.
Staged between 1 - 18th July, this 'site-responsive' play will be performed in the atmospheric 'Hush House' - an old aircraft hanger on the Bentwaters Airbase site near Woodbridge.
Bentwaters Roads is written by Norwich playwright Tony Ramsay. It is inspired by the local landscape and uses Pagan, Medieval, Cold War and contemporary experiences to reflect life in the Bentwaters area.
Ivan Cutting , Artistic Director at Eastern Angles, said:
"We're all very excited about Bentwater Roads - with its large cast, atmospheric music and venue we think this show will be the theatrical event of Summer 2010. We are especially excited about casting local people in the production. Eastern Angles' work has always been firmly rooted in this area with a strong 'sense of place'. Having a 'community chorus' will emphasize the local authenticity of the piece."
This summer's production will have a cast of 10 professional actors. But Eastern Angles are also looking for a community cast of between 10-30 people to help ‘populate the world of the play' and appear on stage during the show.
The Bentwater Roads play will follow the company's tradition for producing large-scale shows based on local history. Theatre-goers will remember The Wuffings, Eastern Angles' successful site-specific production staged at Notcutts' enormous Pettistree potting shed back in 1997.
If you are aged 16 or over and are able to commit to performances between 1st and 18th July and rehearsals during May & June, Eastern Angles want to hear from you.
Previous acting experience is not essential however the company are looking for people with an interest in theatre and the ability to commit to a busy rehearsal and performance schedule.
Eastern Angles will be holding an 'Information & Participation' open meeting on Sunday 16th May at 7.30pm at the Sir John Mills Theatre, Gatacre Road, Ipswich for anyone wanting to find out more about this exciting opportunity.
Ivan Cutting said: "The information sessions are not auditions. Assuming we are not inundated with people, we hope to find something for everyone one to do regardless of age or ability".
To find out more information and to book a place contact Eastern Angles' Community & Outreach Manager Jon Tavener on 01473 218202 or email jon@easternangles.co.uk
04-Feb-2010 - Spring Tour 2010 - The Long Way Home
The Long Way Home on tour Feb 17th - May 22nd
The Long Way Home
Written by Charles Way, Directed by Naomi Jones
Designer Mika Handley, Music Rebecca Shanks, Puppetry Polly Beestone, Lighting Steve Cooney
Opens at Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh on Wednesday February 17th
Eastern Angles use music, puppetry and storytelling techniques to bring this contemporary folktale to life.
The story centres on a spirited old woman and her pilgrimage across country back to the seaside village of her childhood. As she treks across the land the ‘old mother' meets an abandoned dog-boy and a tender friendship is forged.
On the way, the two companions encounter a series of strange and unsettling characters - a distraught mother, a proud farmer, dangerous bandits and ghosts from the past all fighting their own personal battles.
Charles Way is an award-winning writer of over thirty plays. Eastern Angles audiences will remember his wonderfully atmospheric play In The Bleak Midwinter which toured the East of England back in 2000.
The Long Way Home will be directed by Naomi Jones whose 2009 Spring Tour Return To Akenfield gained glowing reviews from The Guardian and The Times.
This new production will tour to over fifty venues across the East of England between February 17th - May 22nd
Cast: Susan McGoun, Theo Devaney, James Bolt & Jumaan Short
Stage Manager: Penny Griffin
29-Jan-2010 - Booking opens for Bentwater Roads
Booking for our spectacular, site-specific production Bentwater Roads opens on February 1st!
Members of the Eastern Angles Friends scheme can book tickets for our exciting new production Bentwater Roads from 10am on Monday 1st February.
General booking will open one week later on Monday 8th February.
Bentwater Roads is written by Tony Ramsay. Eastern Angles audiences will remember Tony's plays The Bluethroat, Message from Neptune and The Anatomist.
The production will be directed by Eastern Angles founder, Ivan Cutting and designed by Rosie Alabaster (We Didn't Mean to Go Sea). Music is by Roger Eno.
Bentwater Roads will be performed at the Hush House, Bentwaters Park between July 1st - July 18th.
Tickets: £9 - £17.50
Pre-show airbase tours: £2.50
Ring the Eastern Angles Box Office on 01473 211498 for more details.
03-Jan-2010 - Mansfield Park & Ride is Guardian Pick of the Week!
This week's Guardian Guide has selected Mansfield Park & Ride as their Pick of the Week.
This week's Guardian Guide has selected Mansfield Park & Ride as their Pick of the Week, proclaiming Eastern Angles as "always purveyors of a good Christmas show".
Lyn Gardner wrote: "It has been a very fine 12 months for Eastern Angles, the East Anglian based company that, back in 2008, faced Arts Council cuts, but which has since reinvented itself, coming out with some interesting work like the superb verbatim piece Return to Akenfield. As its title suggests, Mansfield Park & Ride is going to be one of the company's lighter shows, as the cast don breeches and bonnets to liberate Jane Austen's novels from the corset of the page and smear them with puns, ditties and outrageous satire. Clearly a bit of festive silliness which the publicity assures us is "a long, long way after Jane Austen", it could be a fun way to start the new year if you fancy seeing whether Mrs Bonnet succeeds in marrying off her dotty daughters or why Betsy the Maid is in every scene."
30-Jul-2009 - A new collaboration and a new play.
Eastern Angles & Menagerie join forces.
Last year, as part of Black History Month, Eastern Angles teamed-up with London-based theatre company Tiata Fahodzi to present a series of rehearsed readings by up-and-coming British-African playwrights.
The collaboration was so successful that Eastern Angles have decided to work with Cambridge theatre company, Menagerie, to stage a new play, Egusi Soup, by British-Nigerian playwright, Janice Okoh. Once again, this production will form part of the October 2009 Black History Month celebrations.
Janice Okoh, who has completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, has written two plays for BBC Radio 4. Her first short play for the theatre was selected for the 2007 International Play Writing Festival.
Egusi Soup, Janice's first full-length play, premiered at Hotbed, the Cambridge New Writing Theatre Festival and is described as a funny, fast-paced family drama. The story focusses on two sisters, Anne and Grace, as they prepare to pack their bags and travel from London to a family funeral in the Nigerian city of Lagos.
The play, which will be presented as another 'rehearsed reading' with actors performing with ‘script-in-hand', will be directed by Menagerie's Artistic Director, Paul Bourne.
The Egusi Soup tour will begin on Thursday 8th October at the Eastern Angles base - the Sir John Mills Theatre in Ipswich - before visiting six other towns and cities across the East of England.
Tour dates & box office numbers:
Oct 8th & 9th Sir John Mills Theatre, Gatacre Road, Ipswich Tel: 01473 211498
Oct 10th Luton Hat Factory, Luton Tel: 01582 878100
Oct 12th Samuel Ward Arts & Technology College, Haverhill Tel: 01440 714140
Oct 13th Brightlingsea Community Centre, Brightlingsea Tel: 01473 211498
Oct 14th Seagull Theatre, Morton Road, Lowestoft Tel: 01473 211498
Oct 15th Key Theatre Studio, Peterborough Tel: 01733 207239
Oct 17th Sheringham Little Theatre Tel: 01263 822347
Egusi Soup contains some strong language and is not suitable for children under 15
26-Sep-2007 - Eastern Angles shortlisted for Special Achievement Award
Eastern Angles are on the shortlist for this year’s Stage Award for Special Achievement in Regional Theatre.
Eastern Angles are on the shortlist for this year’s Stage Award for Special Achievement in Regional Theatre.
Eastern Angles receives a nomination for 25 years of bringing high quality theatre to the towns and villages of East Anglia.The winner will be announced at the Theatrical Management Association Awards on October 21 at Hampstead Theatre.
Manchester property company Bruntwood, theatre organisation Chicken Shed and the Tivoli Theatre Trust were put forward by The Stage’s judging panel and join reader choices Eastern Angles theatre company, Nottingham Playhouse’s Young Critics’ Circle Scheme and Northumberland Theatre Company.
29-Aug-2007 - DOUBLE AWARD GLORY FOR EASTERN ANGLES!
JANET BAMFORD and EUGENIA CARUSO have jointly won The Stage Best Actress Award for Acting Excellence for Truckstop in Edinburgh.
DOUBLE AWARD GLORY FOR EASTERN ANGLES!!
Eastern Angles Theatre Company have brought back more than just fantastic reviews from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for their latest runaway success - TRUCKSTOP.
The show’s two actresses - JANET BAMFORD and EUGENIA CARUSO have jointly won The Stage Best Actress Award for Acting Excellence.
Beating off stiff competition from 4 other excellent candidates, they are understandably delighted with their victory!
When it comes to theatre, The Stage knows its stuff. Now in their 13th year, the awards are adjudicated by the newspaper’s festival review team, and aim to recognise outstanding theatre performances by individuals and companies on the Fringe. Nominees are selected from nearly 350 productions covered by the reviews team during the festival.
Co-produced with renowned theatre company Company of Angels, TRUCKSTOP is a beautifully written show which focuses on a controlling mother who will stop at nothing to protect her vulnerable daughter from her truck-driver boyfriend. But when a knife is drawn, their lives are changed. Forever.
TRUCKSTOP won the highly prestigious Van der Vries prize in 2005 for the best new play in the Netherlands and was selected for the Escalator East to Edinburgh 2007.
Being described as “Compulsory viewing for anybody with half a heart”(Three Weeks), “Wonderfully powerful, exceptionally acted by all and delightfully staged” (one4review.com) and “A captivating tale of maternal love” (The Independent) there is no excuse to miss out as it plays at the Sir John Mills Theatre Thurs 6th - Sat 8th September and will tour the region until 4th October before going into London.
For full booking details ring the Box Office on 01473 211498 or log onto www.easternangles.co.uk
