Production notes for "Blending In"
Welcome. This Autumn season is our fifteenth! It's an exciting programme that culminates next year in our fifteenth birthday celebrations and a daring production of "The Wuffings". Since it ends with a funeral, the magnificent ship burial of Sutton Hoo, it seems entirely appropriate that the season should begin with a play about birth and include two plays about voyages, our Christmas adventure story, "The Pirates of Pin Mill", and the return of our celebrated production of "David Copperfield". All human life is in this season, so why not encourage some friends who haven't seen us before to accompany you on your next trip?
Last year I went to see Mary Cooper, whose writing had impressed me and who had just written a play about families on two sides of the river Humber, and asked if she was interested in turning to East Anglia, perhaps on a theme of a black midwife in a rural community. It is a mark of Mary's ability that she didn't merely fulfil the order but wrote her own play.
We looked at the possibility of music, although admitting that the subject did not immediately conjure up any obvious musical opportunities. Mary enthused about a growing hobby amongst women of singing competitively in either a barbershop chorus or quartet. We agreed she would investigate further and try to think of a catchy title, something the whole project depended on.
About a week later I took a call in the office from an excited Mary, detailing the importance of voices blending together and debates in the barbershop world about the role of artistic expression. Could gospel and blues be sung with more soul as their provenance demanded? How rigid should the rules be? That got us as far as the title and the music. The rest you will have to weigh up for yourselves.
After "David Copperfield" and "Fields" you will have noticed that babies in Eastern Angles productions seem to have become like London buses - none for years and then they come in threes. Yes, you can blame it on me.
Ivan Cutting - Artistic Director