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Shappi Khorsandi to headline October Marina Comedy Club

With Shappi Khorsandi, Josh James, Joe Foster and hosted by Jason Stampe!

Headlining the show is Shappi Khorsandi! Shappi established herself as one of the UK’s finest comedians with her sell-out Edinburgh show, Asylum Speaker. Despite the basis for the show being her experiences as a child refugee fleeing Iran and terrorists attempting to murder her father, Shappi’s sensitive yet witty exploration of these events created an instant comedy smash hit.

It also led to the publication of her childhood memoirs, “A Beginner’s Guide To Acting English“, her best-selling literary debut, described by the Scotsman as  ‘filled with laughter, wonder and compassion’. Emma Thompson said “This very funny, acute book also made me cry”. Shappi went on to publish her first novel, Nina Is Not Ok, which was described by the Telegraph as ‘moving, funny and shocking’ and received tremendous acclaim from critics and readers alike.

Shappi’s career has taken her to all corners of the globe. She has appeared on countless TV & Radio shows, including: Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here, Mock The Week, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, MasterChef, Have I Got News For You, QI, Pointless Celebrities, Question Time and Just a Minute, as well as her own show, Shappi Talk.

Opening the show is Josh JamesJosh James is one of the UK stand-up circuit’s best up and coming club comedians. His killer punchlines about modern life and his easy-going audience interactions have meant he has previously been voted Essex Comedian of the Year. Though you won’t just catch him on stage, Josh’s online sketches have gone viral several times – digesting Football culture, relatable characters and the big news stories through this Essex chap’s view of the world.

With Brighton comic Joe Foster! His dry wit and likeable persona established him as a firm favourite with audiences and promoters alike. In 2015 Joe won the Fosters South Coast Comedian Of The Year Competition which cemented his reputation as one of the fresh new voices on the UK comedy circuit.

Hosted by the very funny Jason Stampe!

Please note, that while we do our best to ensure that we deliver the published bill, line-ups can be subject to change at short notice.

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Marina agrees feasibility contractor as redevelopment moves to next stage

The Marina Theatre Trust has signed an agreement with Foster Wilson Size as lead consultants to undertake a feasibility study and draw up plans for their future redevelopment as part of the Towns Fund.

 

Foster Wilson Size is a leading architectural practice with an international reputation for the design of cultural buildings and creative spaces. Their previous clients include theatres from across the country and at a range of sizes, including well-known establishments like Polka, Trafalgar Theatre and Hammersmith Apollo in London; as well as the Everyman in Cheltenham and Norwich Theatre Royal.

 

Ed Wilson, Foster Wilson size said, “We are delighted to have been appointed to work on improvements to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft. The Marina is a wonderful historic theatre, and a great space to see live performance. We look forward to helping the team at the Marina upgrade the theatre, improve spaces for the audience and achieve their vision for the future.”

 

Accessibility will be at the heart of improvement plans with audience experience being key to the Marina’s goal.

 

Marina Chef Executive Emma Butler Smith said: “all of us that work at the Marina have spent many hours in conversation about what we’d like to achieve in this redevelopment and having such experienced architects taking our dreams and turning them into reality is a great boost for our staff. There’s still many stages of planning and consultation ahead before the builders arrive, but this is a really encouraging step in the right direction. We look forward to sharing prospective plans with our customers in the coming months.”

 

The projects is part of the £24.9M Towns Deal developed by East Suffolk Council & the Lowestoft Place Board and announced earlier this year. The Marina Theatre has been allocated £3.5M of this fund for planned redevelopments. As the building owner & principal stakeholder of the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft Town Council are looking forward to working with the Marina Theatre Trust in assessing and agreeing any plans for the future redevelopment of the Theatre.

 

Speaking about the project, Cllr Alan Green, Mayor of Lowestoft said, “I am delighted that this important step towards drawing up plans to redevelop the Marina Theatre has been taken.  This appointment will help to make sure that everyone in Lowestoft will have access to a 21st-century theatre experience into the foreseeable future. I look forward to seeing how the plans develop.”

 

With projects under the Towns Fund expected to be completed by March 2026, the Marina intends to submit plans for consultation and agreement in the next 12 months.

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The Young Reviewers verdicts are in!

Two lucky winners were invited to our press night and here’s what they thought…


Ella-Rose Cook, aged 9

It starts off with the Evil Queen, “hahaha” she said. The evil Step-Mother of Snow White, the Princess of the town, but the Queen does not like Snowy, so she wants to kill her so she put Herman the Henchman under a spell and put her heart in a box but the others: Dame Dolly Doolittle and Muddles saved Snowy by undoing the spell. They all left and the Forest Fairy told Snowy to go to a safe place. So she headed to a cottage that belonged to the Seven Dwarfs. Inside the cottage Snowy found seven beds “I am a bit tired” Snowy said and goes to sleep in one of the beds. When she awoke she saw: Fun-Guy, Hoarder, Petal, Rummage, Tuffty, Twitch and Whittle…”Oh dear, sorry if I frightened you” she said.

Go to the Marina Theatre to see what happens next…

What I loved:

I loved the ending and all the jokes. I loved the ending because the Prince got married to Snowy and their suits and dresses were amazing and beautiful. Also I hated the part when we had to go home because I wanted to watch more.


Grace Ogilvie, aged 7

I was invited to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft to watch their pantomime, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was very excited as I love pantomimes and find them very funny.

When it was time to start, the curtains went up and it started with the queen talking to her magic mirror, who made lots of funny jokes. My nanny told me that the lady in the magic mirror was Jo Brand who is a comedian. Then we met the forest fairy who looked beautiful, she had a light up fairy wand and her dress was green, blue and yellow and she had pretty flowers in her hair. She introduced the first part of the story and also was the narrator during the show.

The first time we met snow white, it was her birthday and she had birds flying around her head and I thought it was very clever as they had been made on sticks so the male dancers behind her was swinging them over her head so it looked like they were flying.

All of the costumes used in the show were very colourful. They all suited the characters and looked great on stage. Dame Dolly Doolittle had a different costume for every scene and her costumes were very funny. My favourite costume of Dolly’s was the bright stripy dress she wore when they sang the 12 days of Christmas.

The dwarf costumes were really cute, and I loved all of their big hats. They had different names to the dwarfs I know from the Snow White film. I can’t wait until I’m old enough to audition to be in the pantomime.

The music and dancing in the show was fantastic. My favourite dance was when the forest fairy danced ballet with the angels. Then my favourite song was Your Song sung by Snow White and Prince Michael. They sung it so lovely, but I also laughed because Muddles wasn’t happy that they were in love and kept doing silly things behind them.

My favourite character in the show was Muddles. Terry Gleed is always very funny, and I love him being in the show. He always makes lots of jokes and makes the audience laugh. I was chosen to go on the stage during the show to dance to Grey Squirrel. The actions were easy but that made it lots of fun for everyone. I had to score my part of the audience and I gave them 7 out of 10.

Out of the whole show my favourite part was the 12 days of Christmas song because they changed the words to make everyone laugh and then at the end muddles let go of the toilet rolls and they went flying round the audience. I couldn’t stop laughing!

I am really lucky as I get to go and watch snow white again with my school next week; and I can’t wait! I think everyone should buy tickets and go and enjoy the show!

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New Dame Ian Parkin Brings Cabaret Glamour to Lowestoft Panto!

As the countdown to panto begins, 4 Poofs and a Piano Star steps in to play Dame Able Mabel

Shiploads of nautical fun will sail into town next week as The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan begin on Thursday 13 December. The talented cast will perform an incredible 32 performances over the run which concludes with a New Year’s Day show at 3pm. Captain Hook (Eastenders Sid Owen) will be trying to outwit our hero, Peter Pan (Anthony Sahota) in Never Land. We will also meet Wendy Darling (Sophie Holt), Tiger Lily (Naomi Slater) and the delectable Dame Able Mabel now being played by 4 Poofs and a Piano’s  Ian Parkin.

Ian appeared regularly on TV’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC) for nine years as part of house band 4 Poofs and a Piano. The group went on to play 6 times at Glastonbury Festival and had three national tours with television appearances on Daybreak, This Morning and Loose Women.

Marina Theatre CEO, Emma Butler Smith said “We are delighted to have Ian with us for this year’s Pantomime. We have no doubt he’ll be a hilarious and dazzling dame!”