Little Angel Theatre Announces Touring Plans

After years of being one of London and the UK's best kept secrets in its hidden Georgian square in Islington, Little Angel Theatre, through the extraordinary work of its dynamic touring department, is suddenly to be found in venues the length and breadth of the UK. And demand, both national and international, is growing all the time for its stunning puppetry productions. The next six months sees one of the busiest periods of touring in the theatre's 51 year history.

HANDA'S SURPRISE, a Little Angel favourite, has been touring since September. The popular two hander about life and wildlife in Africa has recently played more than fifty venues and schools all over the country and the run has had to be extended twice due to popular demand.

THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER by Michael Rosen, fresh from its success at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival, is the Christmas show for the New Wolsey, Ipswich, playing there from 4 December 2012 to 5 January 2013.

Carol Ann Duffy's THE TEAR THIEF, which just finished a sell out run at Little Angel, will tour from 7 November until 29 December 2012. It visits The Egg (Theatre Royal Bath), The Unicorn Theatre in London, North Wall Arts Centre (Oxford), The Lakeside Arts Centre (Nottingham) and finishes with a three week run at The Royal Exchange, Manchester.

A VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS, a co-production between Little Angel and Kneehigh Theatre that won incredible acclaim during its 2011/2012 Christmas season run at Little Angel, reopens at the Battersea Arts Centre on 4 January 2013 with a three week run there. It then visits Salisbury Playhouse, The Curve (Leicester), Bristol Old Vic, Falmouth Performance Centre in Tremough and returns for another season at The Little Angel in March.

DOGS DON'T DO BALLET, a new show for children aged 2-6, is one of The Little Angel's two Christmas shows for 2012/3, opening to the press on 9 December at 11.30 am. The show will subsequently tour the UK from 4 February-21 April 2013. Details of the tour are shortly to be announced.

All of this is made possible by Little Angel's touring team led by Tour Producer Miranda Pitcher, who enables Little Angel's extraordinary productions to reach tens of thousands of people across the UK. Little Angel's touring programme has grown immensely over the last five years, and is now a core and growing focus for the organisation. In 2011/12 Little Angel visited 55 venues and delivered 240 performances. In 2012/13 the company will visit 111 venues with a phenomenal 584 performances.

With recent trips to Canada and the Czech Republic, there is also increased interest in Little Angel's productions from abroad. Who is to say where the beautiful puppets from Little Angel's own workshop may end up next?

Says Miranda Pitcher "My passion has always been about taking affordable, accessible and brilliant theatre into all sorts of venues. Much of my time and energy is spent building relationships with people at schools, children's centres and community halls, as well as collaborating with rural touring schemes and education authorities to reach an ever wider audience. Nothing gives greater pleasure than looking into the faces of children experiencing live theatre for the first time."

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