In Spring 2020 – together with Eastern Angles and Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round – I successfully toured THE BALLAD OF MARIA MARTEN by Beth Flintoff. Following that success we are looking to tour the show again in Autumn 2021 – details of that here on the show mini site mariamarten.com
Our goal was to develop a high-quality production and to reach as wide an audience as possible, with a particular focus on audiences outside of the East region.
The Spring 2020 tour visited 3 venues , 17 performances playing to audiences in excess of 4,000. The show played to significant critical acclaim:
**** Flintoff restores dignity to Maria Marten…unexpectedly joyous” The Guardian★★★★
“***** Extraordinary, brilliant and powerful” Charles Hutchinson Press ★★★★★
“A thrilling and poignant retelling” Grapevine Magazine
“It is vital, layered and empowered, a beautiful piece of theatre” ★★★★
“This is a gem of a production” – Yorkshire ON Magazine
The sizzle
‘It’s been a year since I died and still nobody has found me’
Summer. 1827. In a Red Barn Maria Marten awaits her lover. A year later her body is found under the floor of the barn in a grain sack, barely identifiable.
Maria’s story sent shock waves throughout the country. The Red Barn Murder (as it became known) was national news, inspiring writers and filmmakers down the ages. The sort of gruesome tale that had all the hallmarks of a classic crime drama – a missing body, a country location, a disreputable squire and a village stuck in its age old traditions.
But in all this hysteria Maria’s own story gets lost. Until now – Hal Chambers and Beth Flintoff’s spine tingling retelling rediscovers her story, bringing it back to vivid, urgent life.
Read moreThe Ballad of Maria Marten – national tour 2020, Autumn 2021