The Stage

Getting Here

Published Friday 3 July 2009 at 11:05 by Hugh Homan

Eastern Angles could never be accused of standing still. Their latest piece, written and directed by the company’s artistic director Ivan Cutting, lasts seventy minutes and is a promenade performance in ‘two rooms and a corridor’. It addresses the recent appearance of Polish, Portuguese and other ethnic groups in Eastern England.

I caught the production at the recently restored Isaac’s Bar, in part of an ancient building overlooking Wherry Quay, now encased by some of the most fashionable and striking apartment blocks and university buildings in the newly gentrified Ipswich dock area. This was yet another ‘non-velvet’ space the company has ventured into over the years. Firstly we were shuffled into rows by the smartly dressed Beata Majka as our Polish air hostess. The cast was sweating in the heat and the audience was sweating too - I suspect most were wondering whether they were going to be involved in the action. We need not have feared - we were observers only. Going down the short corridor and into the second room revealed what we were observing: airport trolleys crammed with suitcases.

Our captain - who learnt his English from James Bond films - the statuesque and commanding Ade Sapara, orders two would-be Portuguese immigrants - the heavily pregnant Catarina (Chara Jackson) and her new husband Jose (Pedro Reichert) - to open their luggage. It reveals memories - old photos, CDs, a guitar, some clothing from adolescent years. Should they cast these off to make a clean break and enable a pristine start to their new lives? Malina, another Pole (Noeleen Comiskey), is discovered hiding in a trunk, but it’s not clear why.

The cast manages their difficult and very technical roles - much use made of MP3 players, a laptop and so on - with considerable skill and panache. But was it desirable or necessary to shuffle around to get the message? I don’t think so. But EA certainly catches the zeitgeist and keeps us on our toes.