By Beth Flintoff

Commissioned by Eastern Angles
On tour Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022.
Produced by Matthew Linley Creative Projects and Eastern Angles.

Playtext published by Nick Hern Books.
To buy a copy directly from Eastern Angles, please click here.
For future production rights, please click here to contact Nick Hern Books.

‘The history books are re-written in this luminous, compassionate production. Unexpectedly joyous.’
★★★★  THE GUARDIAN

‘A glorious piece of folk theatre … Flintoff’s play pulses with invigorating new life.’
★★★★  THE TELEGRAPH

‘Flintoff’s terrific script is enacted, wonderfully, by an all-female ensemble’
★★★★  THE TIMES

'Beth Flintoff’s powerful historical drama tackles issues of domestic abuse
with passion and sensitivity'  
★★★★  THE STAGE

“It’s been a year since I died, and still nobody has found me”

A thrilling retelling of Suffolk’s real-life murder mystery… 

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, and the manhunt begins.

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 was lost - until now.

With this new take on a classic story, the play re-examines the life of Maria Marten and the events that led up to her murder.  As part of my research I worked with Lighthouse, a charity supporting women who have experienced domestic abuse, and a group of survivors. Their own writings, which explore their own experiences and the responses to Maria's murder, were displayed at the venues of the original tour.

TOUR DATES 2022
MERCURY THEATRE, Colchester, 8th - 9th February
WILTONS MUSIC HALL, London, 15th - 19th February
FESTIVAL THEATRE, Malvern, 22nd - 23rd February
MARINA THEATRE, Lowestoft, 1st - 2nd March
HAYMARKET THEATRE, Basingstoke, 4th - 5th March
NORTHCOTT THEATRE, Exeter, 8th - 12th March
NEW WOLSEY THEATRE, Ipswich, 17th - 19th March
OLDHAM COLISEUM, Oldham, 22nd - 26th March

TOUR DATES 2021
THEATRE ROYAL, Bury St Edmunds 16th - 18th September
THE LOWRY, Salford, 21st - 25th September
EVERYMAN THEATRE, Cheltenham, 28th - 30th September
STAHL THEATRE, Oundle, 1st October
THEATRE ROYAL, Winchester, 5th - 8th October
HAYMARKET THEATRE, Basingstoke, 12th - 13th October
MARINA THEATRE, Lowestoft, 14th - 15th October

TOUR DATES 2020
STEPHEN JOSEPH THEATRE, Scarborough, 11th - 15th February
NEW WOLSEY THEATRE, Ipswich, 20th - 22nd February
NEW VIC THEATRE, Stoke, 26th - 29th February

For more information about the original 2018 tour (when the play was called POLSTEAD), click here

For more information about Lighthouse Women's Aid, click here

Photographs by Mike Kwasniak

Directed by Hal Chambers
Designed by Verity Quinn
Lighting by Zoe Spurr
Music by Luke Potter
Movement by Rebecca Randall
Associate Director (2021) Beth Flintoff
Assistant Director (2021 & 2022) Becca Chadder
Stage Managers Nikki Colclough & Sarah Fallon

2022 Cast: Elizabeth Crarer, Sarah Goddard, Susanna Jennings, Hanora Kamen, Bethan Nash, Jessica Dives

2021 Cast: Elizabeth Crarer, Lydia Bakelmun, Sarah Goddard, Susanna Jennings, Bethan Nash, Jessica Dives

2020 Cast: Elizabeth Crarer, Suzanne Ahmet, Sarah Goddard, Susanna Jennings, Jessica Dives, Emma Denly

Original 2018 Cast: Elizabeth Crarer, Lydia Bakelmun, Sarah Goddard, Lucy Grattan, Roxanne Palmer, Bethan Nash

Originally produced by Eastern Angles Theatre Company
2020 tour produced by Eastern Angles and Matthew Linley Projects, in association with the Stephen Joseph Theatre

Developed with support from Arts Council England

'Beth Flintoff’s powerful historical drama tackles issues of domestic abuse with passion and sensitivity' 
★★★★ THE STAGE

'Beth Flintoff's spirited new play .... well worth catching on its tour'
★★★★  LIBBY PURVES, THEATRE CAT

'Beth Flintoff’s dazzling new play, bursting with life and energy .... This has to be not only one of the best theatre experiences of the year but one of the best shows that Eastern Angles has ever staged. '
EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES

'This is a tale of a real place and time far more than just another one of violent death and retribution.'
★★★★  FOUR COUNTIES THEATRE

'Beautifully written .... an amazing piece of theatre that carries you along with twist and turns a plenty...With a clever set design, fabulous lighting and music and brilliant costumes, this is one piece of theatre that will really move you.'
IPSWICH24 MAGAZINE

'Eastern Angles at their best - an old story with contemporary resonance, narrative and music rooted in the region but universally powerful. Beth Flintoff's marvellous piece, brought thrillingly to life by six young women, reclaims Maria Marten's legend from the myth and the melodrama.'
MICHAEL GRAY