Production notes for "Sherlock Holmes & The Mummy's Tomb"
Bits of polystyrene and wood chips flying around the theatre, mince pies on order, fraught actors pacing in and out of the office mumbling lines to themselves and a life size mummy propped dup again the bar - all are heavy hints for us here that an Eastern Angles Christmas show is upon us once again!
I am delighted to welcome you to this year' festive production of "Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Mummy's Tomb", the seventh of our increasingly popular detective stories written especially for the company. Last year 4,002 of you came through our doors in just 4 weeks and we hope that this show proves just as popular. Also, I would like to take the opportunity to welcome back our director, Ivan Cutting, from his six month sabbatical, just in time to add his unique sense of humour to the finer parts of the plot (sorry Ivan!). We survived without him (just) but it is great to see him back and I know that he is brim-full of ideas for some future shows based on his research in the Americas - so watch this space!
Sherlock Holmes last made an appearance at the Sir John Mills Theatre in 1990 when he and Watson solved "The Mystery of the Missing Carol" and we have been looking for a chance to bring him back ever since. Therefore we were very pleased when, earlier this year, Julian Harries suggested a possible story line to us and said he would live to don his deerstalker once again and play the role of Holmes. Since then, Julian has been immersing himself in the finer aspects of mummification and Victorian skullduggery - as well as his favourite "Carry On" films - to bring you the show you see today.
Eastern Angles certainly seems to have had a fascination with the world of archeology this year with both "Sherlock Holmes" and "The Sutton Hoo Mob", and it is a theme we will be returning to again in 1997 with our planned production of "The Wuffings", an epic story of the dynasty of warrior kings buried in the mounds at Sutton Hoot, near Woodbridge. It is being written by the well know writer and Saxon expert, Kevin Crossley-Holland, and will be performed in large, (Indoor) open spaces where, using earth, fire and water, we will re-enact the magnificent, ceremonial ship burial. If you have any suggestions of suitable spaces, please let us know.
More immediately, in 1995 we will be reviving our production of "The Reapers Year", a musical celebration of rural life and the moving story of the passionate struggle of the East Anglian farm workers to win the right to vote. It will be more than just a simple revival of the original though, because we think there is an opportunity to look again at the themes of rural life and re-write some parts of the play. However, it will still retain our ever popular, original music to add an extra dimension to the show, so it will remain classic Eastern Angles - but with an extra twist for a decade later.
Following that we will be bringing you our stirring, new adaptation of "David Copperfield". This was Dickens' own favourite and with its fascinating insight into the relationships of life and its classic characters - including the appallingly villainous Uriah Heep and the marvelously flamboyant Mr Micawber - it is not hard to see why. It is also a moving story with some glorious moments of, often unexpected, humour and we are sure it is a production you will not want to miss.