News
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