Production Notes for The Long Way Home

Welcome to The Long Way Home by Charles Way.

It's pretty rare for us to pick up a script off the shelf, so to speak, but this is the second time we have taken down one of Charlie's plays for a further outing. You may remember his In The Bleak Midwinter that we toured in 2000 with the Welsh shepherds. Charlie is one of the most performed writers on the rural touring circuit with a particular knack for creating a play around dilemmas that are world-wide, then giving them a local feel and conjuring up a kind of folk-wisdom that plays tricks with our expectations. Frankly, I take my hat off to him.

And it's good to see Naomi, who directed Return to Akenfield for us last year, along with Lincoln Road for our Platform Peterborough project, returning to tackle something with a different feel and committing to her third project for us. We are planning to bring Lincoln Road back in the autumn for an extended run in Peterborough and beyond.

Currently we are all very excited about Bentwater Roads, the large site-specific project we will be staging on the old airbase in July. The excitement stems from several different sources: first, it's another wonderful play from Tony Ramsay, but this one has a special flavour since it was deliberately commissioned for this particular venue and no other. As a result it captures absolutely the mission of this company to create work around a sense of place. Second, the venue itself conjures up memories of the old Notcutts warehouse in Pettistree, where we created The Wuffings, and all the opportunities that come from presenting a show in one place. This time we will have tours of the bunkers, a focus on the very special Wantisden church, which lies just outside the perimeter fence and features strongly in the story, and Q & A sessions, all along with the usual bars, food and picnic areas.. We've scheduled this show to avoid the major World Cup clashes so you can book in advance and we can cheer if England does well. However, the excitement that is very new is the special digital programme that accompanies the project. Through all sorts of outlets (website, Twitter, Facebook, etc) you can meet the characters before you even arrive at the venue. And, in case you think that sort of stuff is not for you, watch out for Charlie's Campervan (it may even be at this performance) where you can learn how to follow these leads. It's important to stress that none of this is necessary to understand the play when you see it, but it could be a lot of fun to recognise people on stage that you have been following elsewhere. Why not start by reading blogs by Tony and I. They will give all the background twists. Visit www.easternangles.co.uk/bentwaterroads and follow the links..

Finally, we will shortly be advertising for new staff to help develop our links with the communities we serve to secure the future for Eastern Angles. There could be difficult times ahead for the arts, especially those operating outside of the main urban centres, so we believe it is important to plan for this and create an endowment fund to secure this work for the future. We will be asking for your help, both financial and ambassadorial, to help us create our legacy. You can find out more about this by looking up our newly-designed website on www.easternangles.co.uk.

Ivan Cutting

Artistic Director