Little Angel Theatre announce summer season as the 60th anniversary year continues

Little Angel Theatre have today announced their upcoming summer season programme, to continue their 60th anniversary celebrations.

Nature Elly, a co-production with Barmpot Theatre and Lincolnshire One Venues, will be performed in the Main Theatre from 2-31 July. It is written and directed by John Hewer and performed by Jane Crawshaw.

Elly runs the best little farm in Lincolnshire, but not everything is going to plan. The corn has been trampled, all the apples have vanished and there’s hay everywhere! What could have happened? Come and help Elly and Bob the Pheasant fix the farm in time to save the harvest, and discover the secrets of the mystery animal hiding in the hay-stack. 

Aimed at children between 2-5 years, Nature Elly is full of interactive fun, beautifully written original music and a cast of stunning and adorable animal puppets for little ones to meet.

Little Angel Theatre’s annual outdoor festival Puppet Picnic will take place in Islington Square throughout August. Visiting productions will include The Puppet Van’s The Lost Colour on 11 & 12 August, LAStheatre’s The Lion Inside on 16 & 17 August and Garlic Theatre’s The Bag That Went Boo on 23 & 24 August.

Six magical trees designed by six different artists are the backdrop for outdoor performance, The Wishing Tree, at Islington Square from 9-29 August; a highlight of the Puppet Picnic, inspired by a new Joseph Coelho poem and created in collaboration with local school children.

Created with young people at Great Ormond Street, Little Angel’s co-production with GOSH, If Not Here…Where? has been adapted into a digital production that will tour hospitals and hospices throughout the summer including St George's Hospital, London and Darent Valley Hospital, Kent. 

The previously announced new musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s classic book, The Smartest Giant in Town, has also been extended until 15 August due to popular demand.

Looking forward to a summer of community, creativity and live theatre (both indoors and out), artistic director Samantha Lane and executive director Peta Swindall said: “We are so excited to announce our summer season of work. Both Nature Elly and The  Wishing Tree have been developed in close collaboration with school and community  groups which is really important to us. Little Angel Theatre runs a dedicated schools partnership programme and a dedicated community outreach programme in order to  break down barriers to engagement and serve the needs of our entire community in a  creative way, and we are delighted to be sharing these nature-inspired stories with  children and their families. We are especially pleased to be giving away hundreds of  tickets for each show to local children and their families who have helped us to develop  the work. Alongside these shows, we are also running puppetry projects with  partnership organisations including Solace Women's Aid, Age UK and Islington Council,  as well as working with local food banks to support their work and provide enrichment  activities for their beneficiaries.

“We are very disheartened to hear about the four week delay to Covid restrictions. As a small charity who relies heavily on box office income, this is a huge blow and will have a big impact, putting increased pressure on our already inflated fundraising targets and future income targets.Not to mention the workload of our staff team.We will continue to be proactive and creative about the many ways in which we can engage with audiences –both digitally and in-person –as we have done throughout the pandemic.The safety of our performers and audiences will always be our top priority, and we very much hope that the new date of 19 July will remain on track.”

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.