Author: Grace Coppin

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in partnership with Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, are delighted to be launching a new project ‘Spring Into Creativity’ this week for residents of Orchard Village and Passive Close in Rainham, Essex.

The project provides positive creative activities residents can engage with from their home while social distancing restrictions continue. Designed for all ages, with specific focus on adults who are shielding, these free resource packs contain everything needed to join in. Activities include crafts to make, recipes to bake, adult colouring, games, quizzes and puzzles, creative writing challenges and competitions with prizes including 60 theatre tickets to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch productions later this year.

Key to the project has been the ambition to generate something special, personalised to the local community and celebrating the huge number of brilliant partners who would usually be delivering activities and events but have been limited over the last year, including; the Mardyke Community Centre, Newtons Primary School, Rainham Foodbank, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, West Ham United Foundation, Havering Changing, the Y.M.C.A, the Youth Service and Sports Development teams and others at the London Borough of Havering.

Celebrating the local touch included supporting local artists and businesses, including Gemma Compton (Craftschmooze stationary), born on the old Mardyke estate (now Orchard Village) and still a Rainham resident, who was commissioned to generate brand artwork as well as resources for the pack.

‘Spring Into Creativity’ also aims to share valuable local resources such as London Borough of Havering’s #LookAfterYourNoggin campaign as well as signposting digital and non-digital community initiatives including Havering Changing and upcoming digital and telephone based creative workshops.

Clarion Futures has previously funded the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s participation work though regular dance and drama workshops at the Orchard Village estate as well as commissioning digital and telephone based activities. Clarion Futures is also a member of the Havering Changing consortium, a partnership of 8 local organisations that will seek radical new ideas to engage local communities in arts and culture, support local decision makers and share learnings, led by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

 James Watson, Head of Learning and Participation at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, said ‘We hope everyone will find something inside to make them smile, give them pause to think or a chance to explore something new. Spring is here, new opportunities and initiatives are starting up and we are so excited to be at the heart of it continuing this valuable partnership with Clarion Futures and delivering more creative projects within the community.’

 Matt Parsonage, Head of Communities at Clarion Futures, said: ‘We’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch which has evolved to meet the changing needs of residents during the pandemic. The ‘Spring into Creativity’ project will be fantastic for local people, providing opportunities to take part in activities and engage with the community and I’m sure it will prove to be very popular.’

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to announce that it has received further funding from Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, to reinstate its offering of two strands of free digital classes for the next six weeks. In addition, Clarion Futures is funding six weeks of weekly telephone based workshops.

The classes are aimed at connecting our shared community from their own homes while in lock-down, streaming live from the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch Facebook page each week and via conference calls.

Clarion Futures funded six weeks of workshops last summer and these proved to be hugely beneficial in bringing focus and positive engagement to people of all ages, racking up 27,000 views from 1,700 individual households.

Participants stated that ‘Everyone needs dance right now for their mental and health wellbeing – thank you’ and ‘We’ve been safe at home for 17 weeks now and this means so much to [my husband] and I.’

Thanks to the funding received from Clarion Futures, the digital sessions will run for six weeks beginning Tuesday 6 April. Previous sessions are also available to catch-up via the Theatre’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Dance workouts will be hosted by Choreographer and Movement Director Sundeep Saini from her living room every Tuesday at 11am, with a brand new routine to try each week. These sessions will be delivered seated to support access and mobility needs, subtitled, and audio described in delivery. Each session goes live on the Theatre’s Facebook and YouTube pages at 11am on a Tuesday.

Musical theatre sing-a-long’s return with local musician and Musical Director Andrew Linham every Thursday at 11am, (additionally supported by Ardleigh Green Learning Federation). Andrew will lead a warm up session followed by the chance to learn a classic musical theatre number each week.

In addition, non-digital telephone based workshops are being introduced on Wednesdays at 11am. Tiny Telephone Plays is an extension of a hugely successful initiative the Theatre ran online last summer and reimagined this January for people without access to the internet. Sessions will offer a playful introduction to storytelling and playmaking activities designed to help unleash creativity led by established Theatre Director Jules Tipton and will be exclusively for residents of Orchard Village and Passive Close in Rainham, Essex.

Clarion Futures has previously funded the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s participation work though regular dance and drama workshops at the Orchard Village estate. Clarion Futures is also a member of the Havering Changing consortium, a partnership of 8 local organisations that will seek radical new ideas to engage local communities in arts and culture, support local decision makers and share learnings, led by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

The digital classes and telephone based workshops have been made possible thanks to a grant from Clarion Futures’ Emergency Support Fund which has been created to offer direct financial support to some of its longstanding partners during the coronavirus outbreak.

James Watson, Head of Learning and Participation at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, said ‘We are so excited to be back, live in your living room and hoping to spread a little joy during this difficult and isolated period. We regularly hear from participants how important this digital and non-digital content has been in supporting positive wellbeing and social connection and remain incredibly grateful for the funding partnership with Clarion Futures that is enabling such valuable activity to continue.’

Matt Parsonage, Head of Communities at Clarion Futures, said: ‘Initiatives like this one run by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are so important in terms of keeping communities connected at the moment. We’re delighted to be building on our partnership and funding these new sessions which we hope will help improve the mental and physical wellbeing of local people.’

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to be able to reopen its doors to the public on Monday 17 May 2021 (subject to the Government’s Roadmap).

The new season of produced work at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch gets underway with a new production of Tim Firth’s hit comedy Neville’s Island, from 20 May – 12 June and 22 June – 3 July 2021 (socially distanced seating will remain in place at least throughout May and June).

Four out-of-condition clueless middle managers are forced on the outdoor awayday from hell. Shipwrecked, wrapped in thick fog and cut off from civilisation with one cold sausage between them, Gordon, Angus, Roy and the hapless Neville‎ are about to experience the misadventure of their lives…

From the critically acclaimed Tim Firth, writer of Calendar Girls, The Band and Our House. This fresh new production of an award nominated West End comedy, is the perfect entertainment to welcome audiences safely back to live theatre, on their doorstep this summer.

From 30 July – 21 August 2021, the main stage will be filled with all the best of Essex pop throughout the heart of the summer as the postponed premiere of Love Letters, a brand-new jukebox musical, promises audiences an unmissable post Lockdown treat. It is the next step in the Theatre’s Essex on Stage programme, an ambitious new two year programme led by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and made possible by the generous support of The Clothworkers’ Foundation, championing positive notions of Essex, celebrating theatre made by working class people and raising aspirations for emerging artists from Essex and Outer East London.

In early autumn 2021, Romford-born David Eldridge (In Basildon) returns home with a ‘gorgeous new play’ (Independent) that takes a touching look at the first fragile moments of risking your heart and taking a chance. This tender‎ and funny critically acclaimed smash hit received its world premiere at the National Theatre before transferring to the West End. Beginning is being revived and relaunched by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch from 3 – 18 September 2021.

Details of the rest of the Autumn 2021 season of productions, including a newly commissioned play, will be unveiled in late June 2021.

Finally, tickets are on sale for our traditional family pantomime Aladdin returning to Hornchurch this Christmas.

The Theatre is also offering a range of socially distanced comedy, dance and family guest shows throughout May and June 2021. Acts such as comedy favourites Scared Scriptless, Bring the Laughter, Queen’s Theatre Comedy Club and Shake It Up Theatre – the improvised Shakespeare show. Children aged 4 – 13 can join the Mad Science team for an exciting journey through the world of Chemistry! For dance enthusiasts the Theatre are hosting Ballet Central – the renowned company of young graduate dancers. The annual National Theatre Connections Festival, celebrating young people and theatre-making also takes to the main stage. Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch will be showcasing new work from local artist Maria Ferguson with Essex Girl as part of its Outer Limits programme on its newly renamed The Other Stage, as well as continuing the sing-a-long musical for people living with dementia and their carers, Down Memory Lane.

The popular community Café will reopen, and the Theatre’s impressive learning and participation programme continues with a range of online and in-person activities.

We are pleased to be partnering with Metta Theatre – one of the UK’s leading production companies devoted to British musical theatre – to announce the release of a film of a brand-new musical, Cells, written, developed and recorded entirely during lockdown by the award-winning writer/director P Burton-Morgan and composer Ben Glasstone and starring Metta’s recently announced Patron, the Olivier award-winning Clive Rowe alongside rising star Lem Knights.

A university science lab. A kebab shop at 2am. An online gaming forum. Two strangers’ lives become intertwined. Alan Bennett meets The Streets in this tender and uplifting new work, giving voice to the lives of two everyday blokes.

Metta are partnering with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and two other major regional venues – Royal & Derngate in Northampton and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough – and we will being hosting episodes of the film on our websites. The first episode will be launched on Monday 19 April, with subsequent episodes released daily, and the full film will be available on Monday 26 April, along with the album to be released on Spotify and other digital platforms.

The film, in episode form and then in its entirety will be free to all to access via YouTube with a suggested donation (£3 per episode, £10 for the whole film) – all of which will go to the three theatres to help support their recovery.

Cells is written and directed by P Burton-Morgan (Madam Butterfly UK tour, In the Willows, UK tour, Jungle Book UK & International Tour), with music by Ben Glasstone, mixed and mastered by Simon Small and the Musical Director is Phil Cornwell. The Director of Photography is Jon Dickinson, the films are edited by Will Reynolds. Phil Cornwell plays keys and double bass and Curtis Volp is on guitar.

P Burton-Morgan, who in 2020 won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for musical theatre book writing for In the Willows explains, ‘I’ve been talking to Clive about writing something specifically for him ever since we met 4 years ago, so I’m thrilled to have this opportunity. It’s been a wild adventure creating a music video musical for this brave new world of ‘digital theatre’ in which we find ourselves. Hopefully we’ve succeeded in taking the best of both theatre and film to create something intimate and unique.’

Douglas Rintoul, Artistic Director at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch said, ‘Musicals are at the heart of our programme here at QTH, and so we’re thrilled to be supporting this innovative digital project from our exceptionally talented colleagues at Metta.’

Calling out for directors, designers, choreographers, musical directors, composers, performers and stage managers, all living in South Essex

This summer, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is leading an exciting new collaborative project, a Creative Estuary Co-commission, stretching in impact across South Essex.

Together we’ll be creating a new piece of place making theatre that’s accessible and cross generational, touring to community venues, and reaching under served and under represented audiences.

We want to ‎make this with a diverse range of artists all living in the area itself, so it’s truly South Essex in its roots, helping build a regional community of creative practitioners, and fostering further relationships into the future.

So if you’re an artist living in South Essex – in the districts of Thurrock, Castlepoint, Southend on Sea and Basildon, plus the south of Brentwood district – and would like to find out more, please contact douglas@queens-theatre.co.uk with ‘Creative Estuary project callout’ in the subject line, explaining why you’d love to make collaborative work about the area in which you live, attaching your CV.

So we can consider your interest, please be in touch by Wednesday 31 March 2021

 About Creative Estuary Co-commissions

Creative Estuary Co-commissions is an ambitious creative programme taking place along the length of the Thames Estuary in Kent and Essex. The Co-commissions will support creative practitioners and organisations to make and present new work. These co-commissions will be delivered through a network of partners and at a range of scales, responding to local contexts and communities. From grassroots organisations to established cultural venues, as well as smaller-scale commissions working directly with local artists and collectives, the Co-commissions will create opportunities for creative innovation and new cultural production throughout 2021 & 2022.

CREATIVE ESTUARY has a vision to forge a new future founded on creative energy and innovation, along the length of the Thames Estuary. The project is supported by The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and led by a consortium of public sector and cultural organisations. They include the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), Kent and Essex County Councils, the Greater London Authority, 11 local authority areas represented by Thames Gateway Kent Partnership and opportunity South Essex, South East Creative Economy Network (SECEN), University of Kent, University of Essex, Locate in Kent and cultural organisations Metal and Cement Fields. In early 2019 the University of Kent was awarded £4.3m from the DCMS Cultural Development Fund on behalf of the partners. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport funds the Cultural Development Fund which is administered by Arts Council England.

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is today delighted to be announcing the appointment of five new Board members, and a new Fundraising Board member too.

These new trustees join this vibrant and ambitious producing theatre, working in Outer East London, Essex and beyond, at an important time where the theatre is playing an ever increasing role at the heart of a changing community, as well as providing important leadership culturally across the sub region.‎ QTH was recently awarded London Theatre of the Year 2020 (The Stage awards), the first Outer London theatre to receive this prestigious award.

The new Board members are:

• Andrea Cunningham – Assistant Regional Director at Metal in Southend, with a background in learning in national museums and galleries
• Dominic Hedges – a theatre maker from East Ham, with over ten years experience creating work with children and young people
• Dr Neha Issar-Brown‎ – director at one of the UK’s biggest medical research charities, and a Havering resident, who’s voluntary work reflects a broad commitment to diversity
• Sonja Lahiff – an experienced fundraiser, working at English Heritage, living in Hornchurch, who has worked in the arts and culture sector for ten years
• ‎George Morgan – a drama teacher, actor and writer, living in Basildon, with a passion for inclusivity amongst young people in the arts

And joining the Fundraising Board, is Natalie Chan, an arts fundraiser and producer from Hong Kong, currently working for Creative Youth and The Bread and Roses Theatre.

These appointments follow Claire Gevaux stepping down as Chair in December, after four years of successfully steering the charity through significant change, alongside retiring Trustees Asma Hussain and Steve Moffitt. Sara Thompson, Deputy Chair, has taken on the role of Chair on an interim basis, and David Shearing the role of Deputy Chair.

The Theatre is currently undertaking the search for a new Chair.

Sara Thompson said: ‘The existing trustees and I are delighted to be working with Andrea, Dominic, Neha, Sonja, George and Natalie, and pleased that the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch Board has members from an increasingly diverse range of backgrounds and lived experience. Despite the challenges of the last year, the Theatre has an impressive range of plans for the future, which as trustees we’re looking forward to playing our part in. We’re also exceptionally grateful to Claire, Asma and Steve for their considerable insight, support and dedication over the last four years.’

For more details about our board, click here.