Eastern Angles is a professional rural touring theatre company based in
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
. The company specialises in touring new writing across the East of England to theatres, village halls, community venues in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Eastern Angles has been running since 1982 and have also toured shows to Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Artistic Director is Ivan Cutting.
History
Eastern Angles was established in 1982 by Ivan Cutting, Pat Whymark, David Caddick, Lawrence Werber and Jan Farmery. The theatre company's work focuses on new writing and themes of place and heritage. Ivan Cutting is the Artistic Director of the company.
Eastern Angles toured its first show, ''Marsh Fever'', in April to June 1982 in Suffolk. Since then, the company have been running for over 30 years and extended its work to venues in Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Some of Eastern Angles' work has toured to London venues including ''I Caught Crabs in Walberswick'' at the
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a s ...
in 2008, ''I Heart Peterborough'' played at the
Soho Theatre in 2012 and ''The Long Life & Good Fortune of John Clare'' at
The Pleasance
The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University S ...
in Islington. They tour work to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, most recently with ''Chicken'' in 2015 at
Summerhall
Summerhall is an arts complex and events venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly home to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies of the University of Edinburgh, it is now a major Edinburgh Festival Fringe visual and performing arts venue. ...
in
Paines Plough
Paines Plough is a touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams.
The company specialises exclusively in commissioning and producing new plays and helping playwrights develop their craft.
Over the past f ...
's Roundabout venue.
As well as performing at established theatres, the company is known for transforming non-conventional places into performance spaces including fire stations, garden centres, airfields, aircraft hangars and farmyard barns.
Since the 1980s, Eastern Angles have based themselves at the Sir John Mills Theatre in Ipswich. In 2008, the company set up a second base in
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...
and are currently based at Chauffeur's Cottage in the centre of the city. Eastern Angles also own a theatre space in Peterborough known as The Undercroft at
Serpentine Green Shopping Centre.
Eastern Angles is funded by Arts Council England. The company is a National Portfolio Organisation and has secured funding until 2022.
Notable actors and creatives that have worked with the company include
Alistair McGowen in ''Goodbye America'' in 1990,
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill (born 17 June 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in ''Legends of Tomorrow'' ...
as composer for ''I Heart Peterborough'' in 2012 and writer
Molly Davies for ''Chicken'' in 2015, the first female winner of the Pinter Commission at the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...
. Eastern Angles' patron is
Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...
collaborator,
Neil Innes
Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...
.
Productions
1980s:
* Marsh Fever
* Vital Statistics
* When the Boats Came In
* No Song No Supper
* Barters Green
* Marsh Fever (revised)
* The Reapers Year
* Natural Causes
* Devil on the Heath
* On the Home Front
* Medieval Miracle
* Tale of the Turf
* John Barleycorn
* Moll Flanders
* Mr Pickwick's Victorian Christmas
* Waterland
* Shout!
* Mr Pickwick Goes to Town
1990s:
* Peddars Way
* Goodbye America
* Sherlock Holmes & The Missing Carol
* The Way We Live Now
* Waterland
* Phileas Fogg's Great Eastern Gallivant
* Peculiar People
* Song of Provence
* When The Boats Came In (Revival)
* Father Brown
* Hereward: The First English Rebel
* Beneath the Waves
* Inheritance
* Lord Peter Wimsey & The Bergholt Bells
* A Bad Case of Love
* The Sutton Hoo Mob
* Kid
* Sherlock Holmes & The Mummy's Tomb
* David Copperfield
* The Reapers Year (Revival)
* Sexton Blake & The Orford Oysters
* Blending In
* Fields
* Pirates of Pin Mill
* No Name
* The Wuffings
* The Ghost of the Old Rep
* A Warning to the Curious
* The Bluethroat
* Ferry Across The Waveney
* Message from Neptune
* Days of Plenty
* Joans Quick and the Temple of Time
2000s:
* Margaret Catchpole
* In the Bleak Midwinter
* Timelords of Tacket Street
* Tithe War!
* Crossroad Blues
* Parson Combs & The Ballad of Mad Dog Creek
* The Walsingham Organ
* Boudicca's Babes
* East Anglian Psychos
* Bats Over Bleedham Market
* The Last Laugh
* Bone Harvest
* David Copperfield (National Revival)
* Doubloon!
* Edge of the Land
* Margaret Down Under
* Another Three Sisters
* Masters of Mayhem
* A Dulditch Angel
* Beyond the Breakers
* The Day the Earth Wobbled a Bit!
* The Anatomist
* The Sutton Hoo Mob (Revival)
* Birds Without Wings
* East Anglian Psychos (Revival)
* Blood Beast Horror
* Truckstop
* Peapickers
* Crampons of Fear!
* I Caught Crabs in Walberswick
* Cuckoo Teapot
* Tiata Delights
* We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea
* The Haunted Commode
* Egusi Soup
* Return to Akenfield
* The Lion & Unicorn
* Lincoln Road
* Getting Here
* Masnfield Park & Ride
2010s:
* Palm Wine & Stout
* The Long Way Home
* Tales from the Middle of Town
* Bentwater Roads
* Our Nobby
* Gills Around The Green
* Up Out O'The Sea
* Crossed Keys
* Round the Twist!
* Private Resistance
* Margaret Catchpole
* I Heart Peterborough
* The Long Life & Great Good Fortune of John Clare
* Dial M for Murgatroyd
* Dark Earth
* Parkway Dreams
* The Brontes of Dunwich Heath (& Cliff)
* Once Upon A Lifetime
* Palm Wine & Stout (Revival Tour)
* Ragnarök
* River Lane
* The Mystery of St Finnigan's Elbow
* Oysters
* Sid & Hettie
* Mary and the Midwives
* Chicken
* Parkway Dreams (Revival Tour)
* Nativity Blues
* Holy Mackerel!
* Somewhere in England
* Red Skies
* We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (Revival Tour)
* Future Floodlands
* Ground
* The (Fletton) Railway Children
* Stoat Hall
* The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart
* The Trials of Mary
* The Ladykillers of Humber Doucy Lane
References
*
External links
Official Website
{{authority control
Theatre companies in England
Culture in Suffolk