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Written by L. P. Hartley | Adapted by Ben Musgrave
Eastern Angles, 2026 | Directed by Jake Smith
“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”
When young Leo Colston spends the summer of 1900 in rural Norfolk, he becomes the unwitting messenger between two forbidden lovers. What begins as an innocent errand soon unravels into a dangerous web of love, loss and betrayal in a summer that is destined to end in tragedy.
Inspired by L. P. Hartley’s classic novel, this bold new stage adaptation is a haunting showcase of the beautiful landscape of Norfolk and the thrilling power of live theatre. With original live music, striking visuals and a powerful sense of place, the quiet intensity and pressures of rural life are brought vividly to life in this new play.
Discover The Go-Between and experience a summer that’s impossible to forget.
Eastern Angles toured The Go-Between across East Anglia from 13 August–19 September 2026.
Reviews
★★★★★ “gorgeous… a theatrical high”
— Paul T. Davies, Broadway Baby
★★★★ “A bittersweet, sharply observed exploration of nostalgia, memory, and the permanent fractures left by childhood experience… a moving and beautifully performed production.”
— Zelly Lisanework, UK Theatre Network
“Ben Musgrave’s brilliant new adaptation captures the heat, tension, and quiet heartbreak of Hartley’s classic.”
— Hayley Clapperton
“Economical, succinct and frequently moving.”
— David Vass, Diss Express
“A very enjoyable and thought-provoking production.”
— Clare Phillips, Suffolk on Stage
“I thought The Go-Between was brilliant… genuinely captivated from start to finish.”
— Pia Howe, Living in Suffolk
Creative Team
Adapted by Ben Musgrave
Directed by Jake Smith, CEO & Artistic Director of Eastern Angles
Associate Director & Movement Chris Cuming
Set & Costume Design Amy Watts
Composer Anna Pool
Sound Design James Cook for Warehouse Digital
Lighting Design Pete Hazelwood for Warehouse Digital
Production Manager Adam Jefferys
Company Stage Manager Helena Pettitt
Costume Supervisor Faby Pym
Scenic Build Durham Scenic
Scenic Painter Cait Penny
Production Assistant David Barton
Marketing Artwork Design Jess Baker
Rehearsal & Production Photographer Mike Kwasniak
Creative Engagement Lead Ben Musgrave
Cast
Howard Saddler — Leo Colston
Emily Outred — Mrs Maudsley & Chorus
Jack Solloway — Ted Burgess & Chorus
Hilary Greatorex — Marian Maudsley & Chorus
Isaac Franklin — Marcus Maudsley & Chorus
Jake Ashton-Nelson — Hugh Trimingham & Chorus
Sophie Crawford — Balladeer & Chorus
The Go-Between Tour
Following a wonderful ACE-funded R&D last year at Norwich Theatre Royal, I’m thrilled that my adaptation of L.P. Hartley’s beloved The Go-Between will tour the Eastern Region in August and September this year, produced by Eastern Angles and directed by the wonderful Jake Smith.
More here.
The Go-Between R&D receives ACE funding
Exciting News: The Go-Between Project Receives Arts Council England Funding
I’m thrilled to announce that my adaptation of L.P. Hartley’s The Go-Between has been awarded funding for an R&D by Arts Council England. The Go-Between is one of the great novels of the Norfolk, and – in collaboration with the brilliant Eastern Angles, Norwich Theatre Royal, St George’s Great Yarmouth, and Karen Goddard, this will be an exciting project for the Eastern Region and we’re really looking forward to working with communities across the region.
The novel is also timeless and exquisite exploration of memory, and in particular we want to work with older people across Norfolk to create a fresh, contemporary adaptation of this beloved story. The process has already been a rewarding journey of discovery – and we have a number of engagement events still to come – including creative writing and drama workshops (details tbc) – and this event in the village of Bradenham (which inspired the novel) on the 5th October.
We will be sharing a work-in-progress showing of the adaptation at Norwich Theatre Royal on the 23rd of October, from 3-5pm (booking details tbc). This will be an exciting opportunity to see the early stages of this project and to witness how The Go-Between is being reimagined for the stage.
I’m really grateful to Arts Council England for their support in making this project a reality.
INDIGO GIANT – UK PRODUCTION
INDIGO GIANT UK TOUR
We’re delighted that a UK Production and tour of Indigo Giant, produced by Komola Collective will begin in spring ’24. Please find full details on the Komola website.
We’re also thrillled that the play will be published by Salamander Street Press as a programme playtext alongside the production. Get your copy here.
Indigo Giant in Bangladesh
From INDIGO GIANT, Dhaka Production Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed
Indigo Giant was performed at Dhaka’s Mohila Samity in September 2022 in a really stunning production.
Please see the Indigo Giant website for more information, and there are links to some reviews below.
We hope to produce the play in the UK in Autumn 2023.
Reviews
Forget being shackled by social conventions; these women fly through the boundaries of time to bend, provoke, and rescue history. They render a future for the past. – Sarah Anjum Bari, Daily Star.
Theatre is that magic carpet which can make anyone travel between past and present… undoubtedly an excellent production. – Proggna Paromita Majumder, Dhaka Tribune
Indigo Giant: A poetic tale of oppression and rebellion – Dowel Biswas, Daily Star
INDIGO GIANT in Bangladesh, 2022
My play Indigo Giant will be performed in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September 2022:
https://www.komola.co.uk/indigogiant
Vital Signs on BBC R4
New radio Vital Signs was broadcast on the 6th January.
Here’s the link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00132v5
The Indigo Giant
Alongside Komola Collective and Jatinder Verma Productions, we were hoping to finally perform my new play The Indigo Giant in Bangladesh in 2021. Unfortunately, Covid made this impossible. We’re still hoping for 2022, but in the meantime, we’ve made a really terrific film of an extract from the play.
Have a look at this:
Do also have a look at the new website for details of the broader context for this project.
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Scriptwriting at UEA
Lots has happened since I last posted – I’ll try and update this one day soon, but you may be interested to know that (since 2018), I’ve been a Lecturer in Scriptwriting at the university, where I teach on the excellent MA in Scriptwriting, and also undergraduate courses in scriptwriting:
https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/postgraduate/ma-creative-writing-scriptwriting
In search of Indigo
In search of the Indigo plant (a legume), which - because of the taboo surrounding its tainted history, was not grown in Bengal for over a century. But the plant continued to grow as a weed on the sides of roads.
What ghosts remain in the eerie ruins of a Nil Kuthi, an Indigo plantation house?
Terrible secrets, forgotten but not forgotten, in the ruined tanks by the mango trees.
But in Rangpur farmers are reclaiming this strange plant with a tainted history...
...And making something beautiful (at LIVING BLUE)
