A new collaboration and a new play.

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