Author: Grace Coppin

Panto is back in Hornchurch for 2021! Oh yes it is! Christmas is coming and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are overjoyed to announce the cast and creative team for the much-loved traditional pantomime Aladdin, playing from 25 November 2021 – 2 January 2022.

Hop aboard a magical carpet ride to a far-away land. Join the adventure as Aladdin falls in love with the Princess, discovers an enchanted lamp and with his hilarious mum Betty Bagwash and a mysterious Genie sets out to make a fortune. But hiding in the shadows is the evil Bjӧrn Nastee, who will stop at nothing to get his hands on that lamp…boo! hiss!

The cast consists of Miiya Alexandra Amelie the Musical, The Criterion Theatre; Dominic Gee-Burch One Man Two Guvnors, Derby Theatre, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch; Stacey Ghent Sweet Charity, The Watermill Theatre; Lucy Keirl The Hired Man, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Hull Truck, Oldham Coliseum; Elliot Mackenzie Million Dollar Quartet, UK Tour; Emma Jane Morton Amelie the Musical, The Other Palace & UK Tour; Aaron Teoh The King & I, UK & International Tour; and Alex Wadham Sunny Afternoon, UK Tour.

Brought to you from the team behind Robin Hood. With original tunes played live for all ages and plenty of panto antics, this is a laugh-out-loud Christmas treat not to be missed.

Aladdin is written by Andrew Pollard, directed by Douglas Rintoul, with original music and lyrics by Tom Self, set and costume design by Richard Foxton, lighting design by Stephen Pemble and choreography by Ryan Munroe.

Douglas Rintoul, the Theatre’s Artistic Director and Director of Aladdin states ‘We’re really excited to be bringing panto back! Our lovingly made production of Aladdin is going to be one to remember! It’s full of music, dancing, spectacle, great sets and costumes, and of course lots of jokes. It features a tip-top cast that can’t wait to bring this traditional story to life and make this a very special return to Christmas at the Queen’s Theatre’ 

The theatre is offering several access performances; a Dementia Friendly performance on Thursday 16 December at 1.30pm, an Audio described performance on Thursday 30 December at 2pm, a British Sign Language interpreted performance on Thursday 30 December at 6.30pm, and a Relaxed (SEN/Autism Friendly) performance on Saturday 1 January at 6.30pm.

Aladdin will be performed at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch 25 November 2021 – 2 January 2022. Tickets are £12.50 – £34 (plus 65p QRenew Fee per ticket) with discounts for groups and schools. To book, call the Box Office on 01708 443333, visit the theatre in person, or go online.

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch would like to thank our Principal Sponsor McDonalds Romford along with our Media Partner Time FM.

Long before the Salem witch trials in America, there were the Manningtree witch trials in Essex!

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch has today announced the exciting world premiere of Beth Underdown’s chilling and creepy tale of Essex witch hunts, The Witchfinder’s Sister. Based on the true story of the infamous witchfinder Matthew Hopkins, with one of the most memorable heroines in recent historical fiction. Playing in Hornchurch 7 – 30 October 2021.

This spellbinding and haunting historical thriller was Beth Underdown’s debut novel, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and winner of the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award 2017. The Theatre has commissioned Vickie Donoghue, an acclaimed playwright from Thurrock, to adapt the novel for the stage. Vickie was recently one of three Essex creatives commissioned by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch to develop a Creative Estuary co-commission, Tales from the Thames. This new play successfully brought live theatre to parts of South Essex where it is rarely, if ever, staged. Vickie has worked at The Bush, the High Tide Festival, New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, the Royal Court and Sheffield’s Crucible. She is Paines Plough’s playwright Fellow 20/21. Her 10-part Podcast drama The Piper, co-written with fellow playwright Natalie Mitchell and produced by Somethin Else for BBC Sounds, was broadcast in November 2020. It starred Tamsin Outhwaite and Kacey Ainsworth.

Set in 1645, The Witchfinder’s Sister follows the story of Alice Hopkins, who comes home to Manningtree to live with her brother after her husband is tragically killed. But home is no longer a place of safety, as rumours of witchcraft spread through the town. Alice discovers her brother much changed, as a reign of hysterical terror takes hold. Alice begins a desperate race to reveal what’s compelling the obsessively cruel Witchfinder General, before more innocent women are found guilty.

Playing Bridget is Debra Baker (Russell T Davies’ It’s a Sin, Channel 4), with Miracle Chance as Grace (Be More Chill, Shaftesbury Theatre, West End and Other Palace), George Kemp as Matthew (Bridgerton, Netflix), Lily Knight as Alice (Saint Maud, Film 4, BFI and Escape Plan Productions), Jamie-Rose Monk as Mary (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bridge Theatre) and Anne Odeke as Rebecca (The Winter’s Tale, Royal Shakespeare Company).

The production is directed and choreographed by Jonnie Riordan (Nigel Slater’s Toast, West End/UK Tour), with design by Libby Watson (The Philanthropist, Trafalgar Studios, West End), lighting design by Matt Haskins (Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Apollo Theatre West End, UK, Australasian Tours) and sound design by Owen Crouch (I, Cinna (The poet), Unicorn Theatre).

The Witchfinder’s Sister is a highlight of the Theatre’s Essex On Stage programme, made possible by the generous support of The Clothworkers’ Foundation.

Tickets to The Witchfinder’s Sister cost £12.50 – £29 plus 65p QRenew Fee, tickets for under 26s are just £8. A pre-recorded audio description is available at all performances from 11 October. There will be a live audio description on Saturday 16 October at 2.30pm. To book, visit queens-theatre.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01708 443333.

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted that its world premiere of Douglas Rintoul’s critically acclaimed new musical Love Letters, has received a nomination in the Off West End Theatre Awards.

Assessors from The Offies (Off West End Theatre Awards) have nominated the show for New Musical.

The OffWestEnd.com website, which champions London’s independent theatres, launched the annual awards – also known as The Offies – in 2010 to celebrate excellence in productions outside the West End. Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is one of over 80 participating venues across the capital.

This brand new musical premiered at the Theatre in July and is written and directed by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul. This funny and popular working class love story includes hits from Essex’s very best, and songs ranging from 60s to today, artists featured are Alison Moyet, Billy Bragg, Billy Ocean, Blur, David Woodcock, Depeche Mode, Jessie J, Olly Murs, Sandie Shaw and The Tremeloes.

Douglas Rintoul, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s Artistic Director, and the writer and director of Love Letters said: ‘We’re thrilled that our new musical has been nominated for an Offie. It’s always a risk making something new, especially during these uncertain times, so it’s a joy that the show is being enjoyed by our returning audiences and recognised by the industry in this way.’

Glowing reviews include:

★★★★ ‘Warm and gentle humour keeps things lively and engaging. The production pulls at the heartstrings but is never overly sentimental. An enjoyable and entertaining experience’ LondonTheatre1

★★★★ ‘The band’s playing is so brilliant, it’s likely many of the audience will be heading to iTunes after the show, keen to keep listening to Essex music’ Musical Theatre Review

‘Love Letters is the all-singing, all-dancing and all-Essex musical which the world didn’t even know it was missing’ Romford Recorder

‘If you’re a fan of films like ‘When Harry Met Sally’ or ‘The Last Letter from Your Lover’, ‘Love Letters’ may be the show you’ve been waiting for. With authentic characters and a fantastic soundtrack, this is not a show to be missed’ Polka Dot Pages

‘It’s a ‘good ole knees up’ night out to reminisce about the area many grew up in and share many memories with a selection of songs from some of Essex’s most successful singers’ London Theatre Reviews

‘The night was lots of fun and I really felt part of the show as we clap along and even found myself singing along to all of the well-known songs that originated in Essex’ Hornchurch Life

‘A jukebox musical full of fast paced fun. This is a show for everybody and will have you clapping in your seats’ The Havering Daily

This production is a highlight of the Theatre’s Essex On Stage programme, made possible by the generous support of The Clothworkers’ Foundation.

Love Letters runs until 21 August. For more information and tickets, click here or call the Box Office on 01708 443333.

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to announce that the first show of its autumn 2021 season will be a revival of the National Theatre’s 2017 production of Beginning by David Eldridge. This ‘gorgeous new play’ (Independent) has been eagerly waiting in the wings since last September.

Amanda Ryan, best known for her role on Channel 4’s Shameless as Sgt. Carrie Roger, will play Laura in Beginning. Ryan’s numerous acting credentials include the BBC adaptation of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt starring Ben Whishaw, Harriet Walter and Alex Jennings, due for release later this autumn; Casualty (BBC); The Forsyte Saga (Granada Television). For the big screen, Ryan has starred alongside Bob Hoskins, Anthony Head and John Shrapnel in the rom-com Sparkle and with Cate Blanchett in the Academy Award-winning film Elizabeth. Ryan has performed in many theatre productions including plays at the following prestigious London venues: the Criterion Theatre, the Playhouse Theatre, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre and the National Theatre.

Simon Darwen will be playing Danny in Beginning. Darwen’s TV credits include Russell T Davies’ Years and Years for BBC/HBO starring Emma Thompson, Rory Kinnear and Russell Tovey; The Bletchley Circle, Silent Witness and the BBC’s Call the Midwife. His theatre credits include Missing People (Leeds Playhouse/National Theatre Tokyo), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), Mad About the Boy (Young Vic), Lizzie Siddal (Arcola), Love Love Love (Paines Plough), Our Country’s Good (Out of Joint) and The Merchant of Venice (RSC).

Every story starts somewhere… It’s the early hours of the morning and Danny from Upminster is the last straggler at Laura’s party. The flat’s in a mess. And so are they. One more drink?

Beginning takes a touching look at the first fragile moments of risking your heart and taking a chance.

This will be the second play of David Eldridge’s produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, with 2019’s homecoming revival of In Basildon playing to national critical acclaim. Beginning will play at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch from 3 – 18 September 2021.

This tender and funny critically acclaimed smash hit received its world premiere at the National Theatre before transferring to the West End. It’s being revived and relaunched in Hornchurch before embarking on a national tour.

Tickets to Beginning cost £12.50 – £29 plus 65p QRenew Fee, tickets for under 26s are just £8. There’s an audio described performance on Saturday 11 September at 2.30pm. To book, click here or call the Box Office on 01708 443333.

Your upbeat musical to celebrate the very best of Essex this Summer opens soon!

We’re just a couple of weeks away from the first preview show of our brand new musical, Love Letters. We hope that you’re just as excited as us to finally be able to see this world premiere and we’re looking forward to welcoming you to the Theatre to celebrate the very best of Essex.

With the Government Covid 19 guidelines relaxing on the 19 July, we wanted to let you know that we’ve made the decision to continue with socially distanced seating throughout the run of Love Letters.

We will be keeping other safety measures in place including the provision of hand sanitisers within all areas of the theatre. We will strongly recommend and kindly request that customers continue to wear face coverings, and to keep a safe distance from others. The very popular At Seat Service app, where food and drink orders are taken and delivered to your seat, will also continue. We will maintain our non contact temperature checks for anyone entering the theatre as well as cashless payments, e-tickets and an enhanced cleaning rota. All of these measures are to ensure that both our audiences and staff can feel safe and confident as they return to our venue.

There may be some instances where we need to reconfigure the seating arrangements. If this is the case, we will contact you if needed, but do please get in touch with the Box Office by emailing or calling 01708 443333 if you have any questions about your booking.

Thank you for your continued support.

We can’t wait to welcome you back to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch soon!

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch have announced today that they will be streaming their new epic play that tells the story of five lives colliding on a single day along the banks of the river Thames, free to view.

Tales from the Thames is currently touring to sold out venues across South Essex where theatre is rarely, if ever, staged. From a village hall in West Tilbury to a historic pub on Canvey Island, a Heritage Barn in the Wat Tyler Country Park to a Leisure Centre in Pitsea, Tales from the Thames is charting its way along the Estuary, visiting ten diverse, intimate community locations over 13 performances.

The online premiere will take place on Monday 12 July 2021 at 7.30pm and will then be available for one week on the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch YouTube channel and via their website.

Tales from the Thames is the first of a new series of exciting Creative Estuary Co-commissions – the initiative which aims to showcase 60 miles of the North Kent and South Essex region as one of the UK’s most dynamic and creative areas in the whole of the UK – working on this occasion with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch (QTH).

Written by QTH Associate Artist Rebecca Brewer and playwright Vickie Donoghue, both from Thurrock, with Southend-based songwriter M G Boulter, Tales from the Thames begins as the sun rises over the river, and everything’s coming to life. The soundtrack of the Estuary is heard, from the dawn chorus of birds to engines starting, front doors closing and metal containers being loading onto waiting ships; across South Essex journeys are about to be made.

But today is different…

After Rebecca, Vickie and M G had written the script and music, the job of creating the show was undertaken by Rebecca as co-director, working alongside QTH’s Artistic Director, Douglas Rintoul. The set and costumes were designed by Southend’s Rachel Dingle with choreography by Nikki Watson, from Gray’s CoDa Dance Company. Southend – on – Sea based Harry Fitzpatrick is Assistant Director, while Michael Bennett, Romford, created the sound design and Josh Mead, Upminster, designed the lighting for the show. M G Boulter is Musical Director.

The cast includes Colchester’s Tim Freeman (A View from the Bridge, Protocol Productions), Southend-on-Sea’s Mia Jerome (Lost Lending Library, Punchdrunk), Chafford Hundred’s Tom Mangan is the co-artistic director of multi-award winning theatre company Rendered Retina and Southend-on-Sea’s Lisa Wright (Sunny Afternoon, UK Tour).

Featuring live music and songs by M G Boulter – whose new album Clifftown, has contributions from musicians in bands such as Bellowhead and Spiritualized – this newly commissioned piece is deeply inspired by the Essex Thames Estuary and is made for and by the people who live and work alongside it.

When audiences were asked their opinions about the show, responses included “Enlightened and entertained”, “Funny, engaging and awesome”, “Different, amusing and relevant”, “Lively, interesting and funny”.

Tracey Luck, Chief Officer and Co-founder of St Stephen’s Community Trust said “Monday was great! Everyone we spoke to really enjoyed the show – lots of positive feedback about how the show lifted spirits after such a stressful year. Well done to you all.”

Emma Wilcox, Creative Estuary Project Director says: “I was lucky enough to see the performance in Pitsea and I’m delighted that now even more people will now be able to experience the show.”

For more information about the production, visit www.queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/show/tales-from-the-thames

 

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is thrilled to announce the cast for its summer musical Love Letters, a brand new world premiere production written and directed by Douglas Rintoul. Love Letters runs 30 July – 21 August 2021.

Lucy Benjamin, who is best known for playing Lisa Fowler in EastEnders and Maggie in the BAFTA award-winning BBC Four series Detectorists, has been cast in Love Letters.

Love Letters sees the former EastEnders actress return to her local Theatre after performing in In Basildon in 2019 and Deadly Murder at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in 2015.

Lucy will be joined by Holly Ashton (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾, Menier Chocolate Factory), Kit Esuruoso (West Side Story, Royal Exchange Theatre), Dannie Harris (Christmas Carol Casebook: Away in a Danger, Lichfield Garrick Theatre), Mike Lloyd (Dreamboats and Petticoats, UK Tour), Hannah Price (Buddy, UK Tour), Steve Simmonds (Tommy, Ramps on the Moon and New Wolsey Theatre) and Luke Thornton (Footloose, UK Tour).

The production will be directed by Douglas Rintoul, the Theatre’s Artistic Director, with design by Jess Curtis, lighting design by Mark Dymock, sound design by Chris Murray, musical direction from Adam Gerber, choreography by Tara Young and fight direction by Haruka Kuroda.

Love Letters tells the story of an unposted love letter meant to be sent between a passionate young couple‎ dating, only to be delivered sixteen years later. With a raft of brilliant songs from Essex’s very best‎, and hits ranging from the 60s to today, this funny and popular working class love story promises to be an uplifting night out for everyone proudly calling Essex their home. Music featured is by Alison Moyet, Billy Bragg, Billy Ocean, Blur, David Woodcock, Depeche Mode, Jessie J, Olly Murs, Sandie Shaw and The Tremeloes. 

This production is a highlight of the Theatre’s Essex On Stage programme, made possible by the generous support of The Clothworkers’ Foundation.

Tickets to Love Letters cost £13.50 – £30 plus 65p QRenew Fee, tickets for under 26s are just £8 Mon -Thu. To book, visit queens-theatre.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01708 443333.

This summer, to help the artistic community recover from the pandemic that all but closed down the performing arts industry, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, supported by the Culture Recovery Fund, called out for submissions from local artists for projects that had a value between £1 and £500 which:

– help them move their practice or career forward post-pandemic
– that signify crossing a new frontier

– involves them coming and taking the theatre up on free rehearsal space and performance opportunities
– involves them interacting in real life with a new person in their community

All that the Theatre asked was that all of the artists:

– live in Outer East London or South Essex
– define themselves as ‘professional’

After an overwhelming response from the Outer East London and South Essex creative community, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch have supported 15 professional local artists to create 13 separate projects.  All of those who were not successful have been offered on-going in-kind support for their project from Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s Associate Producer, including rehearsal space, performance opportunities and careers and advice sessions.

THE NEW FRONTIERS: CATALYST COMMISSION ARTISTS are:

MICHELLE PAYNE	Michelle will work with an Essex based Virtual Reality specialist and an Oculus Rift headset to work out how this area of technology can influence her theatre-making practice.
SHARAN ATWAL	Sharan will undertake a professional development course at either RADA or Central School of Speech and Drama to give her new skills and new motivation to develop her projects.
CHARLOTTE PAYNE	Charlotte will provide a programme of free singing lessons to the community around Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
KNICKERS THEATRE	Knickers Theatre will break new ground for the company and produce an online performance – ‘The UnPlausibles: A Study of Dog Whistles and Echo Chambers’ – made up of an online zine, a series of mockumentary films and an online portal hosted on their website
DARYL BRANCH	Daryl will venture into podcasting with a series of 5 conversations with Essex based creatives – ‘Creative Conversations’ – who are attempting to get the creative and cultural sector back up and running in the area.
NATALIE DAY	Natalie will develop and trial a 45-minute set of music, developed for her Event Singer business, at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
ESTHER-RENNAE WALKER	Esther and her company Cities On Hills will work with 4 underrepresented actors to perform a series of 2-3min monologues that will be professionally recorded and released on their special channels, exploring a non- Christian perspective on faith and God.
KIMBERLEY CAPERO	Kimberley will work towards a work in progress short play exploring themes of class, sexuality and sexual freedom and a young woman’s experience with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD).
STACEY AND NICOLA BLAND	Stacey and Nicola will work on developing their second play, about two Essex Waitresses, with support of Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s rehearsal space and scratch performance opportunities.
MICHELLE PITTONII	Michelle will fulfil a long-held desire to develop a Drag King character whilst exploring drag as a performance style and experimenting with their look, sound and potential future performance ideas.
HANNAH BRAILSFORD	Hannah will develop her existing storytelling practice by working with local musician Cerys Hogg.
MARTIN JOHNSTON	Martin will write his first play and bring it to the stage of being ready for a round table reading
OLIVER YELLOP	Oliver will work with a local graphic designer to create new branding and a show brochure for their next production.

 

 

 

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is pleased to announce the cast of Tales from the Thames, touring to community venues in South Essex from 26 June to 10 July 2021.

The cast includes Tim Freeman (A View from the Bridge, Protocol Productions), Mia Jerome (Lost Lending Library, Punchdrunk), Tom Mangan is the co-artistic director of multi-award winning theatre company Rendered Retina and Lisa Wright (Sunny Afternoon, UK Tour).

Tales from the Thames is a Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Creative Estuary co-commission.

Five lives collide one day along the banks of the Thames, and their future is changed forever.

The sun rises over the river, and everything’s coming to life. Dawn chorus plays, jobs are started, engines turned on, containers crashed onto ships and journeys made. But today is different…

Can fractured relationships and fears of the future be overcome by stopping for a moment, taking in the vista and listening to the water as it brings stories and memories to the shore?

This is an epic story of the majestic Thames and its community. It’s about the power of coming together. And about winning a pop quiz…

With live music and songs written by MG Boulter, this newly commissioned piece is deeply inspired by the Essex Thames Estuary and is made for and by the people who live and work alongside it.

Tales from the Thames is free to attend for everyone – tickets available from Monday 7 June 2021.

The venues and dates of performances of Tales from the Thames are:

• Saturday 26 June at 7pm – West Tilbury Village Hall
• Monday 28 June at 7pm – St Stephen’s Community Trust, Purfleet
• Tuesday 29 June at 7pm – The Place, Pitsea Leisure Centre
• Thursday 1 July at 7.30pm – The Corringham Hall
• Friday 2 July at 6pm – Aveley Community Hub
• Saturday 3 July at 2pm – Wat Tyler Centre, Pitsea, Basildon
• Sunday 4 July at 6.30pm – St Edmunds Community Hall, Southend-on-Sea
• Tuesday 6 July at 7pm – Tyrrells Hall Working Men’s Club, Grays
• Thursday 8 July at 7pm – The Lobster Smack Pub, Canvey Island
• Saturday 10 July at 7pm – South Ockendon Royal British Legion

 

 

The show goes on for Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, as it receives a £100,000 grant from Havering Council to help the cultural landmark recover from Covid 19 restrictions.