The Ballad of Maria Marten National Tour
5 November 2019
Eastern Angles & Matthew Linley Creative Projects in association with the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough are delighted to officially announce the national tour of The Ballad of Maria Marten from 11th - 29th February 2020.
Beth Flintoff’s captivating drama The Ballad of Maria Marten, which toured previously in 2018 under the title POLSTEAD and following great audience and critical success, embarks on a spring tour in 2020. Hal Chambers directs an all-female cast with Elizabeth Crarer returning as the eponymous role and Susanna Jennings as Lucy.
The production opens on Tuesday 11 February at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough before touring to the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (20 – 22 Feb) and the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme (26 – 29 Feb).
“As soon as Ivan Cutting approached me to write the story of Maria Marten I was intrigued. I hadn’t heard about her murder but was fascinated to hear about not just the story itself, but how it has been told to us. From the moment of the trial, the focus was on the murderer, not Maria. No one seemed to be looking carefully at the intricacies of her life, beyond the basics. So, I wanted to tell the story entirely from her point of view. We are often presented with stories of women as a ‘victim’ rather than as interesting, complicated people who had hopes and dreams, friends and lives of their own.”
Beth Flintoff, Writer of The Ballad of Maria Marten
"Ever since I first saw Polstead in a tent on Debach airfield I knew that this was a show that needed to see a wider audience. It’s a thrilling true life tale which is as joyful as it is murderous! So, I’m delighted to be working with Eastern Angles and Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough to bring Polstead back to life as The Ballad of Maria Marten."
Matthew Linley, Producer of The Ballad of Maria Marten
A thrilling retelling of Suffolk’s real-life murder mystery… Summer, 1827. In a red barn Maria Marten awaits her lover. A year later her body is found under the floor of the barn in a grain sack, barely identifiable, and the manhunt begins.
Maria’s story sent shock waves throughout the country. The Red Barn Murder (as it became known) was national news, inspiring writers and filmmakers down the ages. The sort of gruesome tale that had all the hallmarks of a classic crime drama – a missing body, a country location, a disreputable squire and a village stuck in its age-old traditions.
But in all this hysteria Maria’s own story gets lost. Until now. Hal Chambers and Beth Flintoff’s spine-tingling retelling rediscovers her story, bringing it back to vivid, urgent life.
