At the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, it is a priority for us to encourage the development of emerging artists based in East London and Essex. As such, we are opening up the opportunity for local artists and companies to propose small-scale productions to be performed on our Foyer stage this Autumn.
We have a number of slots from late August through to January 2019 and preference will be given to shows that have already been created, already touring and/or booked for any festivals.
Technical information: The Foyer stage sound desk can handle 12 sound inputs including mics, iPod and laptops. As well as the sound desk, a production on the foyer stage will have access to 5 microphones, a cd player and two PA speakers and an FX unit for microphone reverbs. Lighting is 4 stage lights (Par Cans) in a warm white colour. These are at a constant level throughout.
To apply, please complete the application form and email to our Programming and Producer Co-ordinator, Tom Hurley, at artistcallout@queens-theatre.co.uk
From 3 – 7 April, the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch will be hosting its first ever Take Part Festival. It features fantastic work performed by its youth theatre as well as other local young people including dance troupes and schools and community groups.
The festival begins with six youth companies presenting brand new work from 3 – 5 April as part of the National TheatreConnections Festival 2018. Each year the National Theatre commissions ten new plays for young people to perform, bringing together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. The Queen’s Theatre is thrilled to be partnering with the festival for the third year running and is looking forward welcoming five drama groups from across Essex to its stage.
On Tuesday 3 April, audiences will see two thrilling performances; St. Bernard’s High School is performing The Free9 by In-Sook Chappell and Store Room Youth Theatre will be bringing Chris Thompson’s Dungeness to life.
The drama continues on Wednesday 4 April with Outloud Productions performing Chris Bush’s The Changing Room and Green Shoes Arts get political by staging a performance of These Bridges by Phoebe Éclair Powell.
Finally, Big Deal Young Actors Company will be presenting a unique piece of theatre using [Blank] by Alice Birch and the Queen’s Theatre’s Cut2 Company will be performing The Free9 on Thursday 5 April. Performances start at 7pm and tickets are £6. (Cut2 recently performed TheFree9 in the atmospheric Barn at Thames Chase Forest Centre last month).
The 20th anniversary of the Queen’s Theatre’s dance showcase First Feat will take place on Friday 6 April at 7pm. First Feat celebrates the creativity and diversity of young dancers in East London and Essex. The showcase enables local dance groups aged 11 – 19 from different backgrounds with varying styles and interests to be united through a passion for dance. The Queen’s Theatre QDance group will be performing their new work, titled Boiling Point. Tickets are £7.50.
Take Part Festival concludes with the QYouth One Act Play Festival 2018 Twisted Tales on Saturday 7 April at 7pm. This celebratory evening features four one-act plays brilliantly performed by over 100 members of the Queen’s Theatre’s youth groups. Tickets are £10.
James Watson, Learning and Participation Producer at the Queen’s Theatre says, ‘We are so proud of all the young people we work with, and what better way to celebrate than a week jam-packed with young talent presenting powerful, vibrant and inspiring pieces of theatre.’
For more information about Take Part Festival and tickets call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or visit queens-theatre.co.uk
Ilford-resident Hella Pearlman, who came to Britain on the Kindertransport, attended the matinee performance of Kindertransport on Thursday 22 March at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and was given the opportunity to meet the cast after the show.
Hella Pearlman was one of 10,000 Jewish children ferried from Austria and Germany to safety in Britain before the outbreak of the Second World War. She was almost 7 years old when her father arranged for her and her sister to travel to Britain. ‘I arrived at London Liverpool Street station, with a ticket around my neck. We were only allowed one suitcase. I can still remember the hat I wore. I couldn’t speak a word of English. A man from Thrapston (Northamptonshire) who was quite well off picked me up; he had two businesses, a grocery shop and a pet shop.’
After watching the performance of Kindertransport, Hella joined the cast on stage to share her story with them – including the loss of her parents, her memories of being on the train, about her life now in Britain, how she met her husband, and how she went back to her birth place to see where she used to live.
Kindertransport is co-produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg in association with Selladoor Productions. It finishes at the Queen’s Theatre on Saturday 24 March but transfers to Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg from 27 – 31 March. It then embarks on a UK tour to the New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich (17 – 21 April), Richmond Theatre (24 – 28 April) and Manchester Opera House (1 – 5 May).
For more information about the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch visit queens-theatre.co.uk
Full casting has been announced for the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch’s regional professional premiere of the glamorously feel-good musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It runs at the theatre from 27 April – 26 May.
Mark Inscoe is thrilled to be reviving the role of Bernadette having previously performed the part in the West End production. Playing Tick is Tom Giles (Ragtime, Charing Cross Theatre; Muse of Fire, Shakespeare’s Globe) and Adam will be performed by Daniel Bailey (Motown the Musical, Shaftesbury Theatre; The Lion King, Lyceum Theatre).
They will be joined by Miracle Chance, Michael Cuckson, Molly-Grace Cutler, Clara Darcy,Lemuel Knights (Finalist on BBC1’s The Voice), Natasha Lewis, Tom Self, Lauren Storer and Josh Tye.
This uplifting and heart-warming production will be directed by the Queen’s Theatre’s Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul (Rope, The Crucible, Made in Dagenham). He says, ‘Following on from our hit production of Made in Dagenham, I was keen to make another regional premiere of a great modern musical at the Queen’s Theatre. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is absolutely ripe for a new more intimate, stripped back, actor-musician midscale production. The film blew me away back in the mid-1990s – it’s a great story of friendship and empowerment and is packed full of top tunes, fierceness, fun and poignancy – what more could one ask for?’
The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to announce that it will be providing a dementia-friendly performance on Thursday 24 May at 1.30pm in addition to an Audio Described Performance on Saturday 19 May at 2.30pm and a Sign Language Interpreted Performance on Wednesday 16 May at 7.30pm.
Based on the smash hit movie starring Terence Stamp and Guy Pearce, audiences are promised a highly entertaining new take on an iconic musical. It’s jam-packed with 70s, 80s and 90s dance floor favourites including I Will Survive, Hot Stuff, I Say A Little Prayer and Finally. So hop aboard the party bus, it’s time to feel fabulous!
For more information about Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at the Queen’s Theatre visit queens-theatre.co.uk.
The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to receive such high acclaim for its inspiring production of Diane Samuels’ heart-felt drama Kindertransport including three five-star reviews.
★★★★★ Everything Theatre was deeply moved, claiming it was a ‘beautiful and poignant production of a timely play’ and ‘the cast is a five star one’.
★★★★★ ‘This is a deeply poignant and an emotionally intelligent production’ was the verdict given by London Theatre1 who became fully immersed and absorbed in the performance.
★★★★★ ActDrop was ‘satisfyingly engrossed for the duration’ by this ‘sensitive and compelling production’.
Here’s what the other critics have been saying:
‘Kindertransport is certainly not one to miss’Romford Recorder
‘Fantastic’ Hornchurch Life
‘A truly inspirational show’ Bedrock FM
‘The performances are excellent’Anne at the Theatre
Kindertransport is co-produced by Queen’sTheatre Hornchurch and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg in association with Selladoor Productions.
There’s egg-cellent fun to be had this Easter half-term with plenty of children’s activities at the Queen’s Theatre.
Don’t missThe Teddy Bears’ Picnic, an enchanting new interactive show for under 5s, their families and their favourite teddy bears on Sunday 8 April at 11am! Bursting with sing-along songs, funny stories, audience participation and non-stop fun and games, The Teddy Bears’ Picnic will leave youngsters singing with glee and laughing until they are tired little teddy bears! Tickets are £10 or £35 for families of 4.
Children aged 4 – 6 can enjoy three Easter Create and Play Mornings, two hours of jam packed fun involving drama games, storytelling and craft activities – Up, Up & Away on Tuesday 10 April, Egg-cellent Adventures on Wednesday 11 April and Treasure Trails on Thursday 12 April, from 10am – 12pm. Tickets are just £10. Customers booking two Create & Play Mornings receive the third for free!
There’ll be a double dose of fun on Saturday 14 April. Children aged 5 – 7 will be able to build, make and decorate Birds & Butterflies in this hands-on fun packed creative craft workshop at 10am. Tickets for this Crafty Kids workshop are £5, no adult ticket is required. Afterwards, be sure to meet the amazing Wizard Stonering with his colourful and exciting show with lots of comedy, participation and surprising magic at 11.30am. Tickets are £5 per person and suitable for ages 3 – 7 years.
For more information about any of these events and tickets call the Queen’s Theatre’s Box Office on 01708 443333 or visit https://queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/
To mark the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is co-producing Diane Samuels’ extraordinary heart-felt play with with Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg in association with Selladoor Productions.
The Kindertransport ferried 10,000 Jewish children from Austria and Germany to safety in Britain before the outbreak of the Second World War. Children travelled through Harwich and London Liverpool Street and were placed into British foster homes, hostels, schools and farms.
The Queen’s Theatre has spoken to a number of Kinder children and their families in the run up to the production, here are some of their stories and memories.
‘Sitting in our lounge, I was told I was being sent to England for safety, with the parental promise that they would hopefully join me. Tragically they never did as they were deported to Izbica Camp in Litvia and died there in 1942. How did my parents feel at having to send their 8 year old son away, perhaps never to see him again? How was I to face the future? I knew no English, except for a sentence my parents taught me: ‘I am hungry, may I have a piece of bread?’ In March 1939 my mother accompanied me to Hamburg, from where I sailed with other youngsters to Southampton. The travel was part of the Kindertransport, as one of the 10 000 children that came to the UK as an outcome of Crystal Night. My sister came a couple of months later; she is some 7 years older than me. From Southampton I went to a Jewish hostel for boys, where I was the youngest. Now I had to start anew life, alone as yet. I started to lean English, adjust to living with others and take on board English life. The latter included collecting cigarette cards, playing hopscotch and seeing The Wizard of Oz; cinemas, theatres, etc. were forbidden to Jews in Germany. Pocket money was 2 old pennies which I used for sweets or stamps to write home. My parents did write to me and stupid as I was to listen to an older boy, who after the war broke out, advised me to destroy those letters in case the Germans come!’ Bernd Koschland MBE
‘I was only four when I came to England on the Kindertransport with my seven year old brother. Because our non-Jewish mother was able to come on the train and bring us to England, right to our first foster home, I just thought it was a family outing – that is until Mutti was no longer there. I thought I must have been so naughty that she didn’t want me anymore, as she did not come back. And then I thought she must be dead, when the war started and she still didn’t come back. Our foster-mother was very cruel to us once war started. My brother said she blamed the Jews for the war, including us. Luckily we were sent to a lovely Quaker boarding school we both enjoyed, and after that two more very nice foster families. I had really come to terms with having no parents other than our third foster-parents, when in 1949 my mother appeared in England and wanted to take me back to Germany. I flatly refused because I was very scared of Germany from all the British propaganda against Germany in the war. My father served a court order on my foster-parents and they had to bring me to Germany and leave me in a terrifying place and my parents were complete strangers. I felt completely betrayed by everyone and it was the worst year of my life, until I got back to England.’ Ruth Barnett
Ruth Barnett as a child with her brother and birth mother
‘On the 3rd September 1939 I sat on a chair in the large hall, which served as a dining room in the hostel in Margate-Cliftonville, clutching the square cardboard box firmly to my chest, as it contained my gas mask. I had only been evacuated here yesterday from London with 5 other boys. Some 60 children sat in a circle round a table, on which stood a wireless. I had only arrived in England 9 days earlier, on the 25th August, as a Jewish Refugee from Germany with a group of children. For nine days I had experienced an unknown freedom. I was not suppressed any more. I was suddenly an equal. I could walk down the road freely without being afraid that I might be beaten up by a group of Hitler Youth. My English was still poor, but I had understood every word of Neville Chamberlain’s speech. We were at warwith Germany. We were at war. My parents were still there. How could I now help them to get out of Germany? How could I communicate with them? In spite of being in a hostel with other refugee boys, I felt very alone. But my mother would find a way. Somehow or other she would manage to write to me and make contact. She knew I was safe in England; I would have to be patient and wait.’ Ken Ward
‘I had a guarantor in Middlesbrough but, having missed one transport date because I had to have my tonsils out, there seemed little prospect of any early escape from Vienna. My mother was getting desperate. So every day, she packed my case and we haunted the station. I was getting quite used to these trips, me in my best clothes with a little label saying who I was and where I was going. Then, on 13th June, we were standing by a crowded train when we saw a mother who was in a dreadful state. She just couldn’t bear to part with her child and at the last moment held her back. My mother took her chance and literally threw me on to the train. The doors slammed shut and off I went – no kiss goodbye, no time for hugs or soft words. I remember holding my doll and crying all the time. I wanted my mother but of course she wasn’t there anymore. We arrived at Harwich and then went onto Liverpool Street Station where we were met by members of the Refugee Children’s Movement (RCM), shortly after that another journey up to Middlesbrough to meet the family I would be living with.’ Sonja Altman born Fleischer
Fred Rosner and Edith Rosner share their experiences about travelling on the Kindertransport. The video has been produced by Anthony Rosner and has been shared with the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch by Martin Rosner.
Staff, trustees and supporters of the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are currently training for the Brentwood Half Marathon to raise money for its wide-reaching Learning and Participation projects.
Last year, the theatre rose over £3,000 and is setting a target of £5,000. Running the Brentwood Half-Marathon on Sunday 18 March are Douglas Rintoul (Artistic Director), Leanne McDonald (Scenic Artist), Tom Lowe (Relationships Officer) and Phil Cleaves (Community Champion). Participating in the fun run on the same day will be Mathew Russell (Executive Director), Lauren Bracewell (Executive Assistant) and Sara Thompson (Theatre Trustee).
The Queen’s Theatre offers a variety of programmes that enables everyone the chance to discover and nurture their performing arts talents. Last year, it created over 24,000 engagement opportunities across Havering, East London and Essex with people of all ages and backgrounds.
This includes producing high quality productions involving the local community, training young people in theatre skills both on stage and behind the scenes and assisting schools in delivering the curriculum in an innovative way.
Oliver-Award winning actress Suzan Sylvester is playing Evelyn in Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport. She is excited to be returning to the production, which marks the 25th anniversary of the playwright’s heart-felt play, having performed as Faith in the premiere production in 1993.
Suzan is best known for appearing in the BBC TV drama Cherished and crime thriller Murder on the Home Front. Other TV credits include EastEnders, Kingdom and London’s Burning. She reveals more about the play, Kindertransport and how it has been working with an international cast and creative team.
1) For those that don’t know the play, can you tell us what Kindertransport is about? ‘History – Kindertransport, the children. Relationships between mother and daughter and about children as refugees who have to leave their homeland in order not to be killed.’
2) You starred in the original production of Kindertransport in 1993, how does it feel to be returning to the show and playing a different role? ‘I feel lucky I am able to revisit this 25 years older with a different perspective.’
3) Can you tell us about your character Evelyn and why you took on this role? ‘I wanted to play ‘mother’ as a tribute to my dear friend Elizabeth Bell who played Evelyn in the original production for Soho Theatre. I am also fascinated to work in a multi-national cast!’
4) How has the rehearsal process been so far? ‘Really good! Very much enjoying working with a multi-lingual cast!’
5) Who are your idols? ‘My aunt Suzan, My Grandmother, My Mother, Leonard Bernstein, George Michael. I admire Millar, Shakespeare, Gershwin.’
6) If you hadn’t become an actor, what would you have done? ‘I wanted to be a pilot until I found out you need maths and physics. Other than that teaching is close to my heart.’
7) What have you seen on stage recently? ‘Arcola – Insignificance, Hampstead’s Christmas play. In Luxembourg: Dancing Grandmothers, Révolte and Strangers.’
8) What would your dream role be? ‘A really good Comedy’
9) What do you do to unwind in your spare time? ‘Painting, Gardening, Cooking, Walking and drinking Guinness’
Kindertransportruns at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch from 8 – 24 March. For more information and tickets call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or click here
From May 2018 the law is changing regarding your personal information. This new regulation is called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
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