YOUR THEATRE NEEDS YOU!

To mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, The Marlowe, in partnership with the Port of Dover and community partners from Dover and across east Kent, will stage Return Of The Unknown.

A journey into the world of remembrance, Return Of The Unknown will tell the stories, known and unknown, of the towns and people of our region. From Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 November, Dover Marine Station will be brought to life with drama, dance, music and digital art created by a team of 400 professional and community artists.

As part of Return Of The Unknown, we want to shine a spotlight on the stories of the thousands of Kentish men and women who served in the First World War. Do you have an ancestor that fought in the conflict? We want to tell their story as part of an exhibition in Dover Marine Station during Return Of The Unknown, remembering the part they played in the Great War.

We’d like to feature as many people as possible, so please contact Return Of The Unknown Producer Fiona Banks, and she will let you have full details of how you can get involved. You can contact Fiona via email or by post; Fiona Banks, Producer, Return Of The Unknown, The Marlowe, The Friars, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2AS.

Return Of The Unknown is sponsored by Pharon Independent Financial Advisers.

 

KIT CATCH UP

There’s lots going on at The Marlowe Kit.

As you may be aware, The Marlowe Kit is Canterbury’s newest venue (the former Heritage Museum in Stour Street) and is named after Christopher “Kit” Marlowe.

The Marlowe’s creative classes have been held at The Kit since September, and this weekend, they will present Emperor Of The Moon (by The Marlowe Youth Theatre, supported by Paul Roberts) and The Rover (The Marlowe People’s Company). Both are written by Aphra Behn, from Canterbury and often overlooked as one of the first women to make her living from writing.

In May half term, Little Words Festival (formerly Canterbury Children’s Festival) will see performances at The Kit, as well as at The Theatre and The Studio. Monthly tours for the public who wish to see the building and hear about our plans will also be held.

A programme for young people will run from June, and a Pioneering Canterbury exhibition will open in October, coinciding with a launch weekend. An exciting new escape room, based on the life of Christopher Marlowe, is being planned. Watch this space for details of all these events at The Kit – and more!

 

SHOWSTOPPERS

Reiltin Tighe, Jeulz Gambrill, Yolanda Varney and Amanda Gerrard (pictured left to right) were the stars of dance theatre show, Coal (The Theatre, February). None had dance experience and only Amanda had acted (non-professionally), but all had links to the mining industry. Nerves and excitement were evident in equal measures, but the over-riding emotion was pride: Jeulz, whose grandad was one of the youngest to go down the pits (at the age of 11), said: “I was incredibly close to grandad, so this is beyond a thrill for me. He would have been very proud.” And Amanda said: “I can’t think of a better way of celebrating my working-class heritage.”

The Marlowe Dance Network’s (MDN) first presentation is Steam, in July. Inspired by Coal, this sees young dancers from 20 schools across Kent and leading choreographers in residence at Canterbury Christ Church University come together to present an exciting mixed programme of all dance genres. This continues the tradition established by Spires Academy.
The second MDN presentation, also in July, is Dance Warehouse’s The Little Match Girl, a reinterpretation of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale. Both are at The Theatre.

Ballroom couple Anton and Erin’s show at 3pm on Friday 16 February was performance number 2,500 at The Marlowe Theatre.

Ben Aldridge, star of Run The Beast Down – produced by The Marlowe and Libby Brodie Productions – has won an Offie (Off West End award) for his performance. The play, which was developed under Roar, The Marlowe’s new writing project, opened at The Studio in January 2017 and transferred to London’s Finborough Theatre. Ben was joint winner of Best Male in a Play (with Ken Nwosu for his role in An Octoroon at the Orange Tree Theatre).

Peter Pan was seen by more than 100,000 people, making it the biggest pantomime at The Marlowe and in the south east. Producer Paul Hendy was “over the moon” with the news, and thanked everyone who had seen it. The royalty figure for Great Ormond Street Hospital is £86,877.62.

Cinderella, our 2018/19 panto, sees Phil Gallagher (Mister Maker from CBeebies) making a welcome return (more casting news to come), and will be sponsored by Iconic Jewellery Store, Canterbury.

Our new season is on sale from Monday 26 May (The Marlowe Friends)/Monday 9 April (public). Highlights include Rock Of Ages, Avenue Q, and Doctor Dolittle, all at The Theatre. At The Studio, there’s A Brave Face (a full-mask drama from Vamos), Lucy Porter (comedy), and Belshazzar’s Feast (folk).

 

MEET OUR TRUSTEES

We are delighted to introduce the first trustees of The Marlowe Trust.

Clive Relf, Lady Alison De Haan, Jonathan Church CBE (Chair), and David Harrel (pictured, left to right) all have successful business careers and all, except Jonathan, are based in east Kent.

Lady De Haan has a law degree from Oxford University. She practised in London as a solicitor (specialising in corporate and commercial law), and has experience in executive search (she worked for a London search firm specialising in placing senior women in city jobs).

Lady De Haan has experience in the charity sector (Action Medical Research and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), and is currently a trustee of The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and a trustee of The Creative Foundation and member of its management sub-committee. Both focus on regeneration projects in east Kent.

Her interests include theatre and the visual arts, poetry and literature.

Mr Harrel has worked in the City as a lawyer, including 14 years as senior partner of SJ Berwin. He moved out of his executive career a decade ago, and has a well-developed non-executive portfolio. He is well connected across the arts world, and has experience on arts boards, including the Royal College of Music (despite being self-confessed tone deaf!); he has recently stepped down from English National Opera.

Mr Harrel, who lives in Sandwich, is passionate about the world of theatre and sees arts organisations as a huge part of the development of the cultural, political and economic climate of a region.

Mr Relf is private client tax partner at Kreston Reeves, Canterbury, a top 25 practice of chartered accountants and financial advisors. Having held various leadership roles within the practice, Clive is currently partner in charge of business development, with responsibility for the firm’s activities in Asia.

A regular speaker on tax-related topics, Mr Relf was educated in Canterbury and has been treasurer trustee of The Marlowe Development charity (which has raised £5 million towards the new theatre) since 2008. Mr Relf is chair of Canterbury’s Business Improvement District.

Mr Church, who was announced as Chair of the Trust in November last year, is one of the country’s top theatre directors and producers. He held the position of Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive at Chichester Festival Theatre and Artistic Director at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse, and is credited with transforming their fortunes.

His award-winning successes include West End transfers from Chichester of Gypsy, Enron, Sweeney Todd and The Young Chekhov Trilogy.

He currently runs his own production company, Jonathan Church Productions, which was formed in association with Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. He is also Artistic Director for the Theatre Royal Bath’s Summer Season, and is on the board of the Almeida Theatre, London, and the National Youth Music Theatre.

Mr Church said he was delighted to welcome Lady De Haan, Mr Harrel and Mr Relf to the board: “Between them, they bring a wealth of expertise and knowledge – and a passion for theatre – which will be of huge benefit to The Marlowe as it moves into this next exciting phase.”

Mr Church and the newly-formed board will oversee the transfer of the theatre to The Marlowe Trust Ltd in the summer. This includes recruiting the remaining trustees. Formal approval to hand over the running of The Marlowe from Canterbury City Council was unanimously given in January.

 

HEAR ALL ABOUT IT

Lemn Sissay, Canterbury’s Poet Laureate, will unveil his poem for the city at the Cathedral on Saturday 9 June.

Commissioned as part of his three-year laureateship, this very special evening will also feature Canterbury Cathedral Choristers. World-famous writer Lemn is using the River Stour as the inspiration for his Poem For Canterbury. It will become a permanent landmark in the city when it is made into a public art installation.

Lemn’s Laureateship is in partnership with The Marlowe and Wise Words, with funding from Arts Council England. It is supported by The Marlowe Theatre Development Trust.

 

GETTING TO KNOW US

We’d like to introduce you to Marlowe team members (but not all at once!).

Who are you and what do you do?
Hi! I’m Phoebe Hopwood, I’m 21 years old and I am the Marketing Assistant at The Marlowe. I’ve been here just over four months now. I graduated in summer with a (first class –woo!) Drama and Theatre Studies degree and was working three part-time jobs up until I started at The Marlowe in November.

What’s the best thing about working at The Marlowe?
I’ve felt supported since day one. My manager and team are great – they listen to me and humour all of my (often zany) ideas. I have the freedom to adapt my job to achieve my personal interests and goals. A highlight was the Fake That video that I pitched and directed – it was great fun, a different way to show off what The Marlowe does and I got to wear a blue and silver ABBA-style suit – what’s not to love?

What’s the most challenging thing?
I’m referring to this role as my first “big-girl job” and it can be difficult getting accustomed to full-time adult working life. Although I’ve had previous experience in my role, I’ve never had a paid job in this area before, so sometimes I feel the pressure of being quite new to everything. Luckily everyone supports and trusts me so I don’t feel like I’m ever fully on my own.

Describe The Marlowe in three words.
Variety of fun!

What do you get up to in your spare time?
I love anything creative and collaborative. At the moment I am focusing on performing, writing and creating art.

How would your friends describe you?
I’ve asked a few different friends to help me out with this one and recurring words are: strong, creative, caring.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?
I have no idea where life is taking me at the moment, so I’m going to hope something creative and world-changing, and probably still daydreaming about what I’ll have for dinner that night!

What’s the best thing you’ve seen at a theatre and why?
I went to see The Play That Goes Wrong on its first tour. I was crying with laughter within the first five minutes. It was the first show I’d seen that made me genuinely laugh throughout.

Tell us something about yourself which will make us laugh!
Anyone who knows me well knows I have a large resource of ridiculous stories. Let me just pull one out now: my parents and I once went to what we thought was a yoga class in Iceland. It turned out to be three hours of new-wave meditation where middle-aged burly Icelandic men raved and sobbed in the middle of the room whilst a woman poorly DJ-d from her iTunes account in the corner. I accidentally fell into the splits at one point and thought I’d broken my leg – in fact, about four months later I popped my leg again and the pain stopped so I think something had been trapped.