Celebration – 21st Birthday

Eastern Angles

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How it all began…

Five actors living in Suffolk decided they wanted jobs on their doorstep. Having worked for other companies touring village halls we thought, “We could do that”. The bank happily accepted our partnership account and watched us career into overdraft.

Pivotal moments

1984 – refusal of bank to transfer the overdraft to the new Limited Company account.

1985 – grant from Equity Emergency Theatre fund to pay National Insurance I.

1997 – ‘The Wuffings’, a 3-week run, a cast of 16, a 400-seat theatre in a very large potting shed, and a sell-out.

The organisation today

We tour community spaces in the spring, provide 2-3 day market town residencies in the autumn, spend Christmas at home in our own Sir John Mills Theatre, and create site-specific shows in summer. We tour nationally when appropriate. All our work is new, has some flavour of the region, finds new audiences and challenges our old ones.

A big thank you to…

Suffolk County Council – who first challenged the former Eastern Arts Board to match their funding.

The National Lottery – for our mobile raked seating system.

Charlie Stringer – who told me about the horseman’s magic: “You got a frog’s bone in yer pocket you can do anything with a horse, only that got to be the right frog’s bone…”.

Celebration events planned

Tour of tithe barns with Bone Harvest; national tour of David Copperfield; and revival of East Anglian Psychos for 16-24 year-olds.