<img src='' title='Author: Natalie Hewis' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Author: Natalie Hewis

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Marina agrees feasibility contractor as redevelopment moves to next stage

The Marina Theatre Trust has signed an agreement with Foster Wilson Size as lead consultants to undertake a feasibility study and draw up plans for their future redevelopment as part of the Towns Fund.

 

Foster Wilson Size is a leading architectural practice with an international reputation for the design of cultural buildings and creative spaces. Their previous clients include theatres from across the country and at a range of sizes, including well-known establishments like Polka, Trafalgar Theatre and Hammersmith Apollo in London; as well as the Everyman in Cheltenham and Norwich Theatre Royal.

 

Ed Wilson, Foster Wilson size said, “We are delighted to have been appointed to work on improvements to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft. The Marina is a wonderful historic theatre, and a great space to see live performance. We look forward to helping the team at the Marina upgrade the theatre, improve spaces for the audience and achieve their vision for the future.”

 

Accessibility will be at the heart of improvement plans with audience experience being key to the Marina’s goal.

 

Marina Chef Executive Emma Butler Smith said: “all of us that work at the Marina have spent many hours in conversation about what we’d like to achieve in this redevelopment and having such experienced architects taking our dreams and turning them into reality is a great boost for our staff. There’s still many stages of planning and consultation ahead before the builders arrive, but this is a really encouraging step in the right direction. We look forward to sharing prospective plans with our customers in the coming months.”

 

The projects is part of the £24.9M Towns Deal developed by East Suffolk Council & the Lowestoft Place Board and announced earlier this year. The Marina Theatre has been allocated £3.5M of this fund for planned redevelopments. As the building owner & principal stakeholder of the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft Town Council are looking forward to working with the Marina Theatre Trust in assessing and agreeing any plans for the future redevelopment of the Theatre.

 

Speaking about the project, Cllr Alan Green, Mayor of Lowestoft said, “I am delighted that this important step towards drawing up plans to redevelop the Marina Theatre has been taken.  This appointment will help to make sure that everyone in Lowestoft will have access to a 21st-century theatre experience into the foreseeable future. I look forward to seeing how the plans develop.”

 

With projects under the Towns Fund expected to be completed by March 2026, the Marina intends to submit plans for consultation and agreement in the next 12 months.

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Story of The Land Girls comes to Lowestoft

Lilies On The Land: New national tour of Women’s Land Army play coming to Lowestoft

Lilies On The Land explores and celebrates the sometimes overlooked role of women in the country’s effort during the Second World War. First created 10 years ago, this play is embarking on a national tour including performances here at the Marina.

Throughout the countryside farmers were struggling to meet demand as most able men were drafted to fight leaving their workforces decimated. However, it was the women of this country that took up the call to keep Britain’s mouths fed.

Whether fondly remembered through rose-tinted glasses, or glumly felt like an old shrapnel wound, the selfless women of the Land Army never forgot their experience during the war. It is from these letters, diaries and remembrances that Theatre company ‘The Lions Part’ originally created Lilies on the Land.

Emma Butler Smith – now Chef Executive of the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft – worked for the Lions part, the company who devised the piece back in 2001. Following an open letter in Saga Magazine asking for any memories of the Women’s Land Army, 140 letters flooded in with memories, recollections, newspaper cuttings & wartime memorabilia. “It took days to sift through the boxes of letters received – many accompanied by photographs – with stories of hardship, comradery, friendship and adversity leaping off the page. The company devised Lilies on the Land from all those memories.”

Emma was General Manager for the Lions Part and played a fundamental part in bringing the show to a wider audience and getting the script published. Having then produced the West End London run of 2010 and further UK tours in 2011 and 2012, Emma was particularly excited to be able to bring this new tour from Apollo Theatre Company to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft. “Working on Lilies on The Land framed a really memorable part of my life and the show still holds a very special place in my heart. As a history freak, a theatre maker, and as a woman Lilies has a lot of resonance with me. So naturally when Apollo Theatre Company approached us with this tour It didn’t take me long to say yes. I also think that as a rural area which played a big part in Britain’s agricultural progress during the 1940s, the play will really resonate with people in Lowestoft and East Suffolk.”

You can see Lilies on The Land at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft on Thursday 6th October 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Both performances will be accompanied by stage text and British Sign Language interpretation. Book now!

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Panto Cast Announced

Our annual pantomime produced by Paul Holman Associates is back this year with classic title, Jack & The Beanstalk. Jack, the hero of this well-known tale, will be played by singer and TV star Sam Callahan.

Sam rose to fame during the 10th series of The X-Factor and previously trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre school. After the series finished, he performed in The X-Factor Arena tour and has been releasing Pop, House, and Dance music popular the world over. Having toured almost non-stop since, he has supported the likes of Little Mix, The Vamps, Joe McElderry and many more. He has amassed a large social media following with hundreds of thousands of ‘Callafans’ supporting him.

 

Alongside his music career, Sam has found time to forge an unlikely career as a professional racing driver. This year he competed in the Ginette GT4 Supercup.

When asked about playing Jack in this year’s pantomime, Sam said; “I can’t wait to play Jack! I’ve performed in various pantomimes now, but Jack & The Beanstalk is one I’ve never done. I also feel like the cheeky chappy Essex boy in me should fit nicely with the demeanour of Jack’s character. This is going to be a fun show for sure!”

Sam will be joined by two well-known returning cast members. First up, John Lyons best known for his long running role in A Touch of Frost, is back for his third appearance in Lowestoft having played Cinderella’s father in last years postponed panto.

 

And a Lowestoft Panto just wouldn’t be complete without Terry Gleed. Proclaimed ‘Lowestoft’s Favourite,’ Terry is back for his 7th year, bringing his signature comic charm and slapstick routines to the role of Simon – Jack’s hilarious brother.

Our Chief Executive, Emma Butler Smith said: “Jack and the Beanstalk must be one of the most quintessentially British Pantomime titles and we’re so happy to be presenting it this year. Sam Callahan will make a brilliant hero in this year’s production which is sure to entertain and delight. Magic beans, Daisy the cow, giants in the sky – we’ve got it all!”

Jack & The Beanstalk opens on 13th December for 27 gigantic performances. Expect laughs, songs, epic journeys, and a few surprises along the way! Tickets can be booked from marinatheatre.co.uk 01502 533200 or in person at the Marina Box Office.

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The Young Reviewers verdicts are in!

Two lucky winners were invited to our press night and here’s what they thought…

Ella-Rose Cook, aged 9

It starts off with the Evil Queen, “hahaha” she said. The evil Step-Mother of Snow White, the Princess of the town, but the Queen does not like Snowy, so she wants to kill her so she put Herman the Henchman under a spell and put her heart in a box but the others: Dame Dolly Doolittle and Muddles saved Snowy by undoing the spell. They all left and the Forest Fairy told Snowy to go to a safe place. So she headed to a cottage that belonged to the Seven Dwarfs. Inside the cottage Snowy found seven beds “I am a bit tired” Snowy said and goes to sleep in one of the beds. When she awoke she saw: Fun-Guy, Hoarder, Petal, Rummage, Tuffty, Twitch and Whittle…”Oh dear, sorry if I frightened you” she said.

Go to the Marina Theatre to see what happens next…

What I loved:

I loved the ending and all the jokes. I loved the ending because the Prince got married to Snowy and their suits and dresses were amazing and beautiful. Also I hated the part when we had to go home because I wanted to watch more.

Grace Ogilvie, aged 7

I was invited to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft to watch their pantomime, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was very excited as I love pantomimes and find them very funny.

When it was time to start, the curtains went up and it started with the queen talking to her magic mirror, who made lots of funny jokes. My nanny told me that the lady in the magic mirror was Jo Brand who is a comedian. Then we met the forest fairy who looked beautiful, she had a light up fairy wand and her dress was green, blue and yellow and she had pretty flowers in her hair. She introduced the first part of the story and also was the narrator during the show.

The first time we met snow white, it was her birthday and she had birds flying around her head and I thought it was very clever as they had been made on sticks so the male dancers behind her was swinging them over her head so it looked like they were flying.

All of the costumes used in the show were very colourful. They all suited the characters and looked great on stage. Dame Dolly Doolittle had a different costume for every scene and her costumes were very funny. My favourite costume of Dolly’s was the bright stripy dress she wore when they sang the 12 days of Christmas.

The dwarf costumes were really cute, and I loved all of their big hats. They had different names to the dwarfs I know from the Snow White film. I can’t wait until I’m old enough to audition to be in the pantomime.

The music and dancing in the show was fantastic. My favourite dance was when the forest fairy danced ballet with the angels. Then my favourite song was Your Song sung by Snow White and Prince Michael. They sung it so lovely, but I also laughed because Muddles wasn’t happy that they were in love and kept doing silly things behind them.

My favourite character in the show was Muddles. Terry Gleed is always very funny, and I love him being in the show. He always makes lots of jokes and makes the audience laugh. I was chosen to go on the stage during the show to dance to Grey Squirrel. The actions were easy but that made it lots of fun for everyone. I had to score my part of the audience and I gave them 7 out of 10.

Out of the whole show my favourite part was the 12 days of Christmas song because they changed the words to make everyone laugh and then at the end muddles let go of the toilet rolls and they went flying round the audience. I couldn’t stop laughing!

I am really lucky as I get to go and watch snow white again with my school next week; and I can’t wait! I think everyone should buy tickets and go and enjoy the show!