1 Mar 2024
Coming up in March
Welcome to March! And a more on-time newsletter this month!
While Hastings Musical Festival takes over the White Rock, we're going to do things a little differently this time, and focus on one venue in particular: the Stables Theatre!
As always, if you want to feature your theatre news or events in the newsletter, visit this page ahead of the last Friday of the month and we'll do our best to include it.
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There's lots of exciting events happening at the Stables this month, but the one we're most excited about is a three-night-only affair from 21st to 23rd March. Last year, Bev Lee Harling's Ploughing the Salt Sea took the Stables by storm, weaving history, music and fishing together to tell a story of Hastings and its overlooked women. Since then, Bev has taken the show on a coastal tour, developing the show on the road and linking our town's story with those of other seaside communities. This run promises new material, so even if you saw it last time there's a reason to rebook! It's a gem of a performance, with some of the most inventive uses of a loop pedal you'll see this year. This one is not to be missed.
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Next week, there's a double bill of short plays from American writers - one new, one old. One Night in the Many Deaths of Sonny Liston by JB Heaps, which was one of the winners of the Stables' 2022 New Writing Competition, tells the story of World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, his meeting with a stranger, and the secrets they hold.
The second part of the double bill comes from that titan of American drama, Arthur Miller. Elegy for a Lady is a late play of his, hasn't had much of a life in the UK, and was itself originally presented as part of a double bill, so will be an interesting counterpoint to Sonny Liston.
(Incidentally, how good are double bills? Like a little tasting menu for plays. Let's do more of them.)
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Sadly, the theatre has just today announced the cancellation of Joe Orton's classic comedy Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Those who have already booked are being advised to contact the box office for a refund.
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So if you're sat at home twiddling your thumbs this March, hop on over to the Stables and enjoy the delights within (but remember there's road closures on the Bourne, so you may need to check travel arrangements before you set off).
And that's it from the HTP newsletter until April (by which point we'll have already celebrated Easter - what is time?)