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Eastern Angles' Getting Here brings together the experience of Polish, Portuguese and Afro-Caribbean immigrants in a 'promenade' (walking around from room to room) performance that requires the audience to migrate with the characters.

Written by Ivan Cutting, the performance began in the upstairs of Isaac's Bar on the Ipswich waterfront. I was happily sipping my drink, scanning the programme and watching the audience gradually arrive when a bustling air hostess announced that 'our' flight had been delayed.

In action at Peterborough Museum

Having been crammed into a caravan with four actors during the recent Pulse Fringe Festival, this actor-audience proximity was not a completely foreign experience. However, after being herded down the corridor into a second room only to queue up in pairs and be briefed by 'our' pilot, I can readily admit I was out of my comfort zone.

Allow me to explain. Getting Here is a play about people and travelling. When a Portuguese couple (played by Chara Jackson and Pedro Reichert) find that their flight is delayed on its way to Stansted, they are taken by an air hostess (Beata Majka) to identify their luggage.

They soon discover that this is no ordinary flight and that luggage containing memories from their past has mysteriously been brought with them. Amidst the confusion a young polish woman (Noeleen Comiskey) appears from a trunk and demands to know why she has none of her things.

All the time the pilot (Adé Sapara) knows more than he's letting on and insists on taking them on a journey of self-discovery before they complete the final part of their actual journey.  

Walls come tumbling down

This was theatre with a difference. Not only was the fourth wall between ourselves and the actors broken down but we became an integral part of the story.

During a particular scene, one character stole an mp3 player from another and gave it to the unsuspecting woman beside me. I found this level of audience involvement exciting.

It was like when computer games suddenly jumped from having two dimensions to having '3-D' perspective.

The story was also intriguing. The mystery surrounding the character of Captain John reminded me of that surrounding the Inspector in J.B Priestley's An Inspector Calls.

Captain John commands a similar authority over the other characters and was determined to teach them a socio-moral lesson. The play also asked difficult questions - should we celebrate our cultural differences or our essential similarities? Does a community’s nostalgia for its past hinder their sons and daughters’ futures?

Noeleen Comiskey

The mixture of live music, multi-media presentation and traditional storytelling produces an exciting piece of theatre. The promenade style of moving from room to room meant that I shared the travellers' journey and their feelings of dislocation. 

As a play it encouraged me to value the importance of remembering where we come from. It also made me more aware of the cultural 'baggage' that second and third generation immigrants still carry in our multi-cultural society.

The acting was brilliant and the high standard of performance is something that we've come to expect from Eastern Angles. The characters were developed, their accents convincing and I never once stopped believing in them or their stories.

I particularly enjoyed moments from the luggage scenes when José found items from his childhood that released familiar sounds when opened. The script was entertaining, funny and delivered social truths with eloquence.

If you enjoy new experiences then go and see this play.  The style of viewing will make you see theatre in a whole new light.

This is one journey worth making.

Performance details

Getting Here's first public performance was at Peterborough Museum on 29 June 2009. The tour runs until 25 July and takes in Wingfield, Haverhill, Thetford, Halesworth, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Wivenhoe and Maldon.

Ring the Eastern Angles box office on 01473 211498 or visit the website for full dates and venue details.

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