Sunderland theatre company prepare for North East socially distanced tour

With the doors of many theatres getting ready to reopen, a Sunderland based theatre company will be one of the first to return with the Northern Premiere of a new play.

Theatre Space North East, have been rehearsing their new show, Wild East, which begins it's run here in the North East later this week.

They're using socially distanced performing spaces to help audiences transition back into the theatre,

Wild East by April de Angelis will be toured throughout the area in a specially constructed outdoor ‘office pod’ in its first appearance onstage outside the capital.

Charting the story of Frank and what can only be described as the job interview from hell, the production comes off the back of the company’s socially distant winter show Hansel & Gretel.

The show has been cast with local actors and rehearsed under strict controls in Sunderland, with the tour taking in outdoor and socially distanced performing spaces from South Tyneside to Hexham.

Thanks to a boost of £50 000 from the Government's Cultural Recovery Fund, Theatre Space NE have been able to keep going through the pandemic, and provide income and work for people in the creative industry.

That money will now fund three part time positions, working remotely and at the company’s Borough Road HQ, help the company to stage this tour and an additional tour in early 2021, as well as helping to develop more online learning for schools, youth groups and community organisations, so more locals can gain from the magic of live theatre.

The company’s artistic director Corinne Kilvington has been calling for the government to step in to save the industry that collectively contributes over £100bn to the UK economy every year;

“The UK’s creative industries are the lifeblood of the nation and it was the talents of creatives that saw the country through the darkest days of lockdown. The Cultural Recovery Fund will hopefully ensure that we protect our most precious cultural assets both here in the region and around the country. We fought tooth and nail to bring culture to back Sunderland from the moment we were able to do so safely and this award of £50,000 will help us to continue to innovate, delight audiences and support the wonderful creative industry we have here in the North East,”

Corinne also discusses how exited the company is to get stuck into something new:

“We’ve become renowned for our unique take on Shakespeare and our family friendly festive shows, so getting the opportunity to work on April de Angelis’ Wild East, with its dark themes and seriously hard-hitting drama has been a real treat. This new show has slotted in perfectly alongside our preparations for our usual summer season and marks an exciting and terrifying step for the company as we begin to diversify and create work that reflects our amazing diverse communities here in Sunderland and beyond,”.

You can find out how to see the show and support Theatre Space North East through their website, or Facebook.